How long does it take to get approved for an offer in compromise or an installment plan for my tax debt relief?

If you don't meet any of the minimum requirements, the IRS will return the offer to you without considering it. It generally takes about a month for the IRS to complete this phase. Your offer will then be assigned to an OIC examiner. You will receive a letter with the contact information of the OIC examiner informing you that your case is moving forward.

The length of this phase may depend on your financial situation. If you have few assets and only one source of income, it may be easier for the OIC examiner to complete this step quickly. If you are a business owner or have many assets and sources of income, the OIC examiner will have more work to do. This phase is expected to last at least a couple of months, but possibly much longer.

OIC's are used as a means of collecting what is due and, at the same time, providing relief to taxpayers who cannot pay their tax debt in full. A compromise offer is often the best option to get rid of tax debt you can't pay. It's an IRS tax debt relief program that allows you to settle your tax debt for less than the full amount you owe. A “compromise offer” is a little known but extraordinarily effective way for thousands of people with problems with the IRS to routinely eliminate tens of thousands of dollars in tax debts.

The IRS can also accept an OIC in other circumstances, for example, if there are “doubts” about liability, when paying the full tax bill would create economic hardship, or when exceptional circumstances would make paying the entire tax bill unfair and inequitable. Jim is also the author of the Tax Problems and Solutions Manual, a publication intended to help tax professionals work more effectively on post-tax filing issues and to resolve their clients' most common tax problems. Debt consolidation and debt settlement are two terms that are often linked together, but they are two completely different ways of managing debt. The Gartzman Law Firm offers tax settlement help for federal and state tax debt, including compromise offers.

An OIC is an agreement between the taxpayer and the IRS that settles the taxpayer's tax liability to the IRS for less than the full tax liability. Most people won't qualify for an OIC unless they've filed all of their tax returns and made all the estimated tax payments required for the current year (if applicable). He has been a leader in helping taxpayers and tax professionals resolve tax issues with the IRS, where he worked for 19 years in various compliance positions. Before taking up his current position, Jim's consultancy focused on the areas of tax controversy and tax administration, including leading the development of software products on tax issues for tax professionals, testifying before Congress, advocating for the transparency and efficiency of the IRS, and proposing innovative solutions on a large scale for taxpayers and tax professionals.

Lorraine Cernota
Lorraine Cernota

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