The Offer In Compromise, or OIC, program with the IRS is a great option for many people and like many good things in life, it takes patience to earn.

Mr. Lothamer likes to describe the OIC as a “Mother may I” situation with the IRS. You are asking the IRS to settle your tax balance for less than what you owe, and they may accept that Offer if you qualify.

Here at Lothamer, we determine whether you are eligible for an OIC by reviewing your current income and assets.  If we determine that you are eligible for an OIC, we will prepare and submit the OIC. Alll your assets, income and expenses must be documented and accounted for in the OIC.

Prior to filing the OIC, we will also check your federal tax transcripts to make sure you have no unfiled tax returns and that all federal tax balances due are included in the OIC. We will also confirm that you are correctly paying your current year taxes because owing on a year after the OIC is filed will cause the OIC to fail, with no chance for an appeal.

Once the Offer In Compromise is submitted to the IRS, they assign it to the appropriate department for review, based on whether you are self-employed or a wage earner. Wage earner offers tend to be reviewed quicker and can take on average 3-6 months for the IRS to assign, review, and make a decision. An OIC submitted for a self-employed individual can take on average 6-9 months to go through the IRS system. These are of course averages and some OICs can move quicker while others can take longer.

The IRS has a rule that the OIC can’t take longer than 24 months from the date submitted. If the OIC goes 24 months without an IRS decision, the OIC gets an automatic acceptance.

To find out you qualify for the program, please contact us at 877-829-2455 to schedule a initial consultation. Learn about the IRS Fresh Start program through Lothamer.