A commitment offer allows you to settle your tax debt for less than the total amount you owe. It may be a legitimate option if you can't pay your tax obligations in full or if doing so creates financial difficulties. If you qualify, you are not required to make any payment of the application fee at the time of submission or during the consideration of your offer. Local standards are the amounts allowed for housing, utilities, and transportation.
Local standards are limited to the amounts you actually spend per month or to standard amounts, whichever is less. National and local regulations are guidelines. If the IRS determines that the rules would not cover basic living expenses in a particular case, deviations are allowed. The IRS will calculate the correct amount of the offer.
If it's more than you offered and you don't have special circumstances, the IRS will give you an opportunity to increase the amount of your offer. If you don't, the offer will be rejected. If the IRS determines that you can pay the full liability, you can request an installment agreement. If you have an installment agreement, you don't have to make payments while your offer is being processed.
If your offer isn't accepted and you haven't incurred any additional tax debt, your installment agreement with the IRS will be reinstated at no additional charge. During the offering process, the IRS may file a Federal Tax Lien Notice (NFTL). This is a public notice to creditors that you owe a tax debt. However, an NFTL usually won't be filed until a final decision has been made on your offer.
There is no requirement to release a tax that was collected prior to the submission of the offer. Your circumstances will be taken into account when deciding to release or maintain the tax while the offer is pending. We may be able to eliminate the tax if it was deposited in your account after the IRS received the date of the transaction offer. The investigation of your offer may not be completed while there is a pending claim or an open audit of any fiscal year in which you owe liability.
If you file a claim for compensation under the innocent spouse provisions, have been notified that a fiscal year will be audited, or you currently have a fiscal year in the process of being audited, we recommend that you wait for the matter to be resolved before submitting an offer. If we are unable to complete the investigation of your offer due to a pending review or complaint, we can return it and any payments or application fees that have been made will not be refunded. A form can be used if your company is a sole proprietorship linked to your SSN. If your company is not a sole proprietorship linked to your SSN, a separate offer is needed, with the application fee and payment of the offer.
Checks that combine the application fees for several offers will not be accepted and the offers will be returned. Each Form 656 must have separate checks attached. Offer payments that must be sent along with the offer are non-refundable. If you send MORE than the required amount AND designate the payment as a deposit on Form 656, Commitment Offer, the payment that exceeds the required amount is refundable.
The IRS will try to contact you to provide an opportunity to pay the missing amount. If you do not make the payment, your offer will be withdrawn and returned to you without the right to appeal. All payments already received will be applied to your tax obligations. The IRS will also keep the application fee.
If a trigger occurs and you successfully enter into a transfer agreement under section 965 (i) (), your net tax liability under section 965 (i) associated with the transfer agreement will not be assessed. If you do not enter into a transfer agreement under section 965 (i) (), you will have to timely pay the net tax liability of activated section 965 (i), either in full or according to the installment schedule, if you correctly choose section 965 (h) with respect to the net tax liability of the activated section 965 (i) or the offer will default. You must comply with the filing and payment of all tax returns for a period of five years from the date the commitment offer is accepted, including extensions. If you don't pay for the commitment offer on time and you continue to meet the requirements for the five-year period after the acceptance of the commitment offer, including extensions, your offer will not be accepted.
The terms of the offer cannot be extended or changed once the offer is accepted. The refund that is withheld as part of the offer agreement applies to the total tax debt and is not considered a payment of the amount of the accepted offer. You must continue to declare and pay all your taxes on time for the period indicated in the offer contract, including any collateral agreements signed as part of the accepted offer. Interest will be added to the amount of tax you owe until the offer is accepted.
From the date the offer is accepted, no additional interest will be added to your tax debt or to the amount of the accepted offer. A compromise offer is an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS that settles a tax debt for less than the total amount due. A compromise offer is an option when a taxpayer can't pay all of their tax liability. It is also an option when paying the entire tax bill would cause financial difficulties for the taxpayer.
The goal is to achieve a commitment that is tailored to the interests of the taxpayer and the agency. The Offer in Compromise (OIC) program allows you to offer a smaller amount for the payment of an undisputed tax liability. As part of the accepted offer agreement, the IRS will keep any refunds, including interest, of taxes due until the date the IRS accepts the offer. .
