TAX RELIEF
Updated JULY 28, 2023

How Much Should I Offer in Compromise to the IRS?

So you’ve read up a bit on what an offer in compromise is and now you’re ready to submit one to the IRS.

But how much should you offer in compromise to the IRS?

As a CPA, I’m here to answer this exact question for you.

The good news is that there is in fact one right answer to this question, and it’s this: the amount of your offer must be greater than your reasonable collection potential.

So in this article I will primarily focus on how to calculate your reasonable collection potential and then share some final tips on offer in compromise calculations at the end.

Important: This article describes how to calculate the most common type of offer in compromise, the doubt as to collectibility (DATC) offer in compromise.  For more information on the other kinds of offers in compromise — doubt as to liability and effective tax administration — read this article.

How Much Should I Offer in Compromise to the IRS?

You should offer in compromise to the IRS an amount that is equal to or greater than your reasonable collection potential (RCP).

Throughout the rest of this article, I will tell you — step-by-step — how to calculate your reasonable collection potential.

How to Calculate Your Reasonable Collection Potential (RCP)

Most of the work required in submitting a doubt as to collectibility offer in compromise has to do with calculating your reasonable collection potential, which you do on Form 433-A (OIC).

Your reasonable collection potential has two components — the equity component and the income component — and the sum of these two components yields your reasonable collection potential.

I will address each of these below, but first I want to make it very clear that offers in compromise are signed under penalty of perjury, and you can be jailed for falsifying information on your offer.

Don’t try to hide anything or play games by transferring your property to a family member or something like that — when you make your offer, honestly report all income and assets you own.

If you’d like to refer to the IRS’ guidance regarding calculating your reasonable collection potential, refer to Part 5.8.5 of the Internal Revenue Manual.

How to Calculate Your RCP Equity Component

The equity component of your reasonable collection potential has to do with how much equity you have in your assets because the IRS assumes that you should be able to sell your assets, pay off any debts owed on the assets, and pay them the difference (net of selling costs) to settle your tax bill.

Now, when summarized in this fashion, this sounds extremely harsh.

Am I saying that if you owe the IRS $50,000 but you have $60,000 in equity in your home that you will not qualify for an offer in compromise?

No — there is actually more nuance to this calculation.

Below I get into what you need to know.

Cash

Cash accounts include but are not limited to:

  • Cash on hand
  • Checking accounts
  • Savings accounts
  • Money market accounts
  • Certificates of deposit
  • Stored value cards

You must include all cash at fair market value, less one month’s worth of allowable living expenses, less up to $1,000 (without your cash amount going below zero).

So if you have $8,000 in cash and your monthly living expenses are $2,000, your includable cash would be $5,000:

$8,000 actual cash
Less: $2,000 living expenses
Less: $1,000
Equals: $5,000

However, if in the example above you only had $2,500 in actual cash, you would simply report zero (not negative $500) as your includable cash.

For cash accounts, the IRS will typically request three months of statements for wage earners and six months of statements for non-wage earners.

Also, if a withdrawal from an account would trigger a penalty — such as an early withdrawal penalty on a certificate of deposit — the amount of that penalty will reduce your includable cash.

Note that money you submit with the offer in compromise is includable in your cash calculation.

Investments

You must include all investments in your equity component.

This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Investment accounts
  • Retirement accounts
  • Closely-held stock
  • Virtual currency / cryptocurrency
  • Safe deposit boxes

Note that while cash accounts are valued at full fair market value for offer in compromise purposes, investment accounts are valued at their quick-sale value of 80% of fair market value.

The tax resulting from the sale of an appreciated asset reduces your includable investment amount, as well as any penalties (for example, an early withdrawal penalty on an IRA) that would be assessed on the withdrawal

Any debts secured by the asset that are in a higher priority position than a federal tax lien on the asset would likewise reduce its value for purposes of calculating your equity component.

Naturally, any costs of sale (such as brokerage commissions) reduce the includable investment amount as well.

So let’s put this all together here.

Let’s say you have a Traditional IRA with a balance of $20,000.

And you have no basis in this IRA because you’ve always taken tax deductions for the contributions you’ve made to this Traditional IRA.

Let’s also assume that you are forty-five years old so you are not yet fifty-nine and a half, that’s the age when you can withdraw from a Traditional IRA penalty-free.

So how do we calculate how much of this Traditional IRA account to count toward your reasonable collection potential for offer in compromise purposes?

Well, first thing we do is multiply the $20,000 by the quick-sale value of 80%, so $20,000 times 80% is $16,000.

So we’re going to assume we’re taking an early distribution of $16,000 from our IRA, but we don’t include the entire $16,000 in your calculation because we can reduce this amount by taxes and penalties.

Give all this, here’s what the includable amount would look like assuming you are single, make $65,000 a year, take the standard deduction, live in California, and have to pay $100 in broker commissions to liquidate your IRA:

$20,000 IRA Value
Times 80%
Equals: $16,000 Quick-Sale Value
Less: $3,520 Federal Tax (22% x $16,000)
Less: $1,488 State Tax (9.3% x $16,000)
Less: $1,600 Federal Penalties (10% x $16,000)
Less: $400 State Penalties (2.5% x $16,000)
Less: $100 Broker Commissions
Equals: $8,892

So as you can see in this example, having an IRA isn’t necessarily a death sentence for your offer in compromise.

In this example, the actual includable amount of the IRA is less than 45% of its actual value!

Quick-Sale Value

The IRS defines quick-sale value as “an estimate of the price a seller could get for the asset in a situation where financial pressures motivate the owner to sell in a short period of time, usually 90 calendar days or less.”

The rule of thumb for quick-sale value is 80% of fair market value, though you can submit documentation to show that the asset would likely sell for less than 80% of fair market value if you had to sell it within 90 days.

On the other hand, the IRS could very well have reason to believe that based on current market and area economic conditions that the property would likely sell for more than 80% of fair market value — and possibly full fair market value in a hot market.

Life Insurance

Life insurance policy with a cash value is includable in your equity component.

Refer to the table below to determine the amount you must include for your life insurance policy.

If...Then...
You will retain the policyInclude the cash surrender value of the policy
You will sell the policy to help fund your offerInclude the amount you will receive from the sale of the property (net, of course, from any selling expenses, selling penalties, etc.)
You will borrow against the policy to help fund the offerInclude the cash loan value less any prior policy loans or automatic premium loans required to keep the contract in force

Real Estate

The formula to determine the includable real estate is as follows:

Fair Market Value of Real Estate
x 80% Quick-Sale Percentage
Equals: Quick-Sale Value
Less: Selling Expenses
Less: Property Tax Arrearages
Less: Mortgage and Other Encumbrances
Equals: Includable Amount

Naturally, the crux of this calculation is the top line — the fair market value of the real estate itself.

Now, you can take one of several approaches when it comes to determining the fair market value of a piece of property.  Here are examples:

  • Use Zillow or Redfin.
  • Use the county assessor’s valuation.  Note that in some counties the assessor values property at 80%, in which case you would divide the assessor’s valuation by 0.8 to determine the fair market value figure.
  • Check comparable sales.  Keep in mind unique characteristics of your property, such as its condition.  If your property would require a lot of repairs before being sold for an amount similar to the comparable sales in its immediate vicinity, take that into account.  Having a contractor come in to estimate repairs would strengthen your position.  Also, keep in mind features of your property that could potentially devalue it significantly.
  • Have an appraisal done — possibly by a friendly appraiser who can do a market comparison in your favor.
  • Use your homeowner’s insurance policy’s replacement value.  Now, this option may not work in your favor because oftentimes this will result in a very high value, especially if construction costs are high in your area.
  • Current sales contract.

Your Primary Residence

Forcing a taxpayer to sell their primary residence to pay their tax liability is not a good look for the IRS — in fact, for a principal residence seizure, the taxpayer’s liability must exceed $5,000 — so it’s possible that you can argue that you should use a value even less than 80% quick-sale value when it comes to valuing your home for your equity income component.

Some practitioners go so far as to argue that a forced-sale value of 75% of the 80% quick-sale value — so equal to 60% of fair market value — is appropriate when valuing a taxpayer’s primary residence for offer in compromise purposes.

Note that while equity in real estate is generally included as described above, there are special circumstances that could cause your real estate equity to not have to be included.  Simply being unable to access your equity without selling is usually not a “special” enough circumstance; there usually has to be some other factor(s) involved.  Two examples are given below.

  • You have equity in your home, but due to poor credit or some other factor you cannot access this equity without selling your home.  However, your child has a disability and is enrolled in a special program at the elementary school in your district.  There are no other living accommodations that you can afford in the area.
  • You have equity in your home, but due to poor credit or some other factor you cannot access this equity without selling your home.  However, the costs of moving would exceed the amount of equity you have in your home.
  • You have equity in your home, but the cost of repairs to get the home saleable exceeds the equity in your home — or is enough to challenge what the IRS is insisting the value of your home is.

If you believe circumstances such as those described above reasonably apply to you, consider filing your offer as “doubt as to collectibility with special circumstances” (DATSC) if you are unable to pay your tax liability in full or possibly as an effective tax administration offer in compromise if you are able to pay your tax liability in full.

Note that the Internal Revenue Manual specifically states that if your offer in compromise is rejected or withdrawn based on equity in an asset that you are not able to liquidate or borrow against, the offer examiner or offer specialist handling your offer should determine an alternative resolution for your situation such as installment agreement, currently not collectible status, Automated Collection System Support, or field assignment.

Doubt As to Collectibility With Special Circumstances

Be sure to think about any special circumstances about your situation that could cause the IRS to view your offer in compromise more favorably.

If special circumstances exist, you may be able to file your offer as doubt as to collectibility with special circumstances.  You do this by writing your reasoning underneath “Explanation of Circumstances” in Section 3 of Form 656.

Special circumstances include:

  • Economic Hardship: Generally this means that you are facing a particularly difficult life situation.  Examples include a long-term illness, a pending surgery or procedure, the inability to pay your reasonable basic living expenses, old age, etc.
  • Public Policy or Equity: This means that if the IRS were to collect the tax due from you in full, doing so would undermine public confidence that the tax laws are being administered in a fair and equitable manner.

Note that if you are able to pay the tax due in full, you should consider filing an effective tax administration offer in compromise rather than a doubt as to collectibility with special circumstances offer in compromise.

Vehicles

Vehicles include motor vehicles (such as cars and trucks), airplanes, and boats.

First, you determine the fair market value of the vehicle.  For cars and trucks, Kelley Blue Book is a good place to start.

Then you multiply the fair market value by 80% to arrive at the quick-sale value of the vehicle.

Then, you deduct any debt secured by the vehicle.

And finally, you exclude $3,450 per car (maximum of one car for single taxpayers and two cars for joint taxpayers).

So by way of example, let’s say you are a single taxpayer and have a car worth $10,000 encumbered by a $2,000 auto loan.  Your includable vehicle amount would be $2,550, determined as follows:

$10,000 Fair Market Value
x 80% Quick-Sale Percentage
Equals: $8,000 Quick-Sale Value
Less: $2,000 Auto Loan
Less: $3,450 Exemption
Equals: $2,550 Includable Vehicle Value

Note that unusual assets such as airplanes and boats may require an appraisal to determine fair market value.

Other Valuable Items

Other valuable items include jewelry, antiques, and artwork.  These can likewise be valued at 80% quick-sale value, though an appraisal is likely necessary to determine fair market value.

And of course, for these purposes, I’m referring to expensive jewelry and art — not cheap costume jewelry or mass-produced prints.

Don’t try to hide anything; the IRS will have no problems reviewing homeowners or renters insurance policies and riders in order to identify such items.

Furniture, Fixtures, and Other Personal Effects

While your furniture, fixtures, and other personal effects are includable, the IRS provides (for calendar year 2022) a generous exclusion in this category of $10,090.

Note that this exclusion amount is after the 80% quick-sale valuation, meaning that you can have $12,612 of personal effects and not have to include any of their value toward your equity component.

Tools of the Trade

Tools of the trade include books and tools necessary for your trade, business, or profession.

The IRS likely provides an exclusion for these amounts of $5,050 for calendar year 2022, meaning that you can have up to $6,312 worth of tools of the trade and not have to include any of their value toward your equity component.

Dissipation of Assets

Now, you might have the bright idea to transfer your assets to a friend or family member to reduce your offer in compromise amount.  This is something the IRS calls “dissipation of assets,” and it’s a bad idea.

Generally, the IRS will look back to the past three years — including the year you submit your offer in compromise — to see if you’ve dissipated any asset.  So if you submit your offer in 2022, the IRS will look at years 2020 – 2022.

The IRS may even look beyond three years if the tax was assessed before then.  In fact, they may go all the way back to six months prior to the tax assessment.

If the IRS determines that the value of a dissipated asset should be included in your reasonable collection potential, and you do not include the value of this asset, the IRS will categorically reject your offer.

The fact patterns below are examples of when the IRS would likely determine a dissipated asset should be included in your reasonable collection potential:

  • You sold investments to pay for expenses — such as to pay for a vacation or college tuition — that were neither vital to you making money nor the health or welfare of you or your family.  Note that by “the health or welfare of you or your family,” the IRS has in mind essentially basic living expenses.
  • You refinanced your home and used the funds to pay off a credit card that you used not to purchase necessary costs of living, but expenses such as the cost of your child’s wedding or new clothes.
  • You gave a family member appreciated real estate you own or you sold appreciated real estate and gave the proceeds to a family member.

On the other hand, liquidating or taking cash out of assets to pay for necessary living expenses — medical or otherwise — will generally not cause the IRS to determine that the dissipated asset should be included in your reasonable collection potential.

How to Calculate Your RCP Income Component

The income component is your monthly excess income (as determined by IRS rules and standards, not your actual monthly cash flow) multiplied by a future income multiplier of either 12 or 24 months (I will discuss later when 12 is used and when 24 is used).

Now, you might be thinking, “I don’t have any money left over every month!  My income component should be a big, fat zero!”

Unfortunately, the IRS doesn’t view things this way.

While you must include all of your actual income — taxable or non-taxable — as your top-line in your income component calculation, the IRS is quite stringent about what expenses you can claim against this top line in arriving at your final income component for reasonable collection potential purposes.

In fact, the IRS has a set of standard expenses — known as the Collection Financial Standards — that you generally must use in calculating your income component.

The general formula for your monthly excess income is below.  The “National Standard Expenses”, “National Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenses”, “Local Standard Expenses for Housing and Utilities”, and “Local Standard Expenses for Transportation” make up the Collection Financial Standards.

Gross Monthly Income
Less: National Standard Expenses
Less: National Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenses
Less: Local Standard Expenses for Housing and Utilities
Less: Local Standard Expenses for Transportation
Less: Other Monthly Expenses
Equals: Monthly Excess Income

Gross Monthly Income

Your gross monthly income is just that — the gross amount of money (taxable and non-taxable) you receive every month.  This includes:

  • top-line on your paycheck (before taxes and other deductions are taken out)
  • unemployment compensation
  • worker’s compensation insurance compensation
  • alimony and child support
  • net monthly business cash flow (this is generally your net income on Schedule C with add-backs for non-cash expenses like depreciation and subtractions for non-deductible cash outlays such as principal payments on loans)
  • net monthly rental cash flow (calculated in the same general manner as net monthly business cash flow)
  • retirement income such as Social Security income

National Standard Expenses

The national standard expenses are set by the IRS based on your family size.  You can take these five expenses no matter what — whether you actually paid this much per category or not.

ExpenseOne PersonTwo PersonsThree PersonsFour Persons
Food$431$779$903$1,208
Housekeeping Supplies$40$82$74$85
Apparel and Services$99$161$206$279
Personal Care Products and Services$45$82$78$96
Miscellaneous$170$306$349$412
Total$785$1,410$1,610$1,900

If you have more than four persons in your household, add to the four-person total allowance $344 per each additional person beyond four.

Taking More Than National Standard Expenses

Now, you can make the argument that a particular person or persons in your household ought to be allotted more than the national standard — but you will have to prove it.

For example, let’s say one member of your household has a particular condition that requires them to consume a special diet and you can show — based on grocery receipts, for example, which you will have to submit as documentation — that this special diet costs more to maintain than the national standard.

You may be successful in arguing that this member of your household should qualify for a higher food expense.

National Out-Of-Pocket Health Care Expenses

The national out-of-pocket health care expenses are likewise set by the IRS and are an even simpler determination than the national standard expenses; they are simply based on the age of members of your household and represent amounts you pay for healthcare in addition to your health insurance premiums.

AgeExpense
Under 65$75
65 and Older$153

So if there are three members of your household under the age of 65 and one member age 65 or older, your national out-of-pocket health care expenses would be $378 ($75 + $75 + $75 + $153).

And as with the national standard expenses, it does not matter if you actually have out-of-pocket health care expenses; the IRS is giving you these expenses just for breathing.

However, just like with the national standard expenses, if you want to claim more than the standard expenses for a member or members of your household, you must provide documentation for the additional amounts.

Note that amounts paid for elective or cosmetic surgeries generally don’t count for purposes of claiming more than the standard.

Local Standard Expenses For Housing and Utilities

The local standard expenses for housing and utilities are derived at both the state and county levels from the U.S. Census Bureau and American Community Survey and BLSA data.

These are the expenses that the housing and utilities standard covers:

  • Mortgage Payment (including interest) or Rent
  • Property taxes
  • Insurance
  • Maintenance
  • Repairs
  • Gas
  • Electric
  • Water
  • Heating Oil
  • Garbage Collection
  • Telephone Service
  • Cell Phone Service
  • Cable Television Service
  • Internet Service

Here are the 2022 standards for Los Angeles County, where I live:

Household SizeStandard
1 Person$2,544
2 Persons$2,987
3 Persons$3,148
4 Persons$3,510
5 Persons$3,567

Now, unlike the national standards, the amounts you put on your offer for local standards are equal to the lesser of the amount you actually paid and the amount on the chart for your location.

And similar to national standards, if you can document that you ought to be able to take more than the local standards, you should make that argument.

For example, if you have a physical disability or an unusually large family that requires a housing expense greater than the local standard, you may be able to deduct more than the local standard expense for housing and utilities for your area.

Another example of a situation where you may be able to deduct more than the national standard is if you have owned your home for several years, your monthly payment is above the national standard, and you would not be able to rent an apartment in your area for less than your current monthly payment.

Local Standard Expenses For Transportation

The local standard expenses for transportation are broken down into three components: public transportation costs, ownership costs, and operating costs.

Interestingly enough, public transportation costs and ownership costs have one standard for the entire nation, while operating costs are determined regionally.

Also, as with the local standard expense for housing and utilities, you generally must take the lesser of the actual amount you paid or the standard (unless you pay more than the standard and have a good reason for doing so related to the production of welcome or the health and welfare of your family).  So if you own your car outright and don’t make any monthly payments on it, you can’t deduct any ownership costs.

Below are the local standard expenses for transportation for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), where I live.  Note that the public transportation costs and ownership costs are the same nationally; only the operating costs are regionally-determined.  Also, you can claim all three amounts; owning a vehicle does not exclude you from claiming public transportation amounts as well.

Expense TypeAmount
Public Transportation (Same Nationwide)$242
Ownership Costs, One Car (Same Nationwide)$588
Ownership Costs, Two Cars (Same Nationwide)$1,176
Operating Costs, One Car (MSA-Specific)$375
Operating Costs, Two Cars (MSA-Specific)$750

Note that unlike the local housing standard expenses, the local transportation standard expenses for operating costs are at the region and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) levels rather than at the county level.

For example, the Los Angeles region for the transportation standards includes Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County.

However, some counties in a state do not fall into a specific MSA for which the IRS has separate standards for; in these cases, the taxpayer would simply use the standards for that region.

By way of example, Ventura County here in California doesn’t fall into either of the two specific MSAs in California that the IRS has specific transportation standards for (Los Angeles and San Diego).  So taxpayers in Ventura County would simply use the operating costs for the entire West Census Region, which includes New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California.

Why Are Public Transportation and Ownership Standards Called "Local"?

So if the public transportation costs and ownership costs are the same throughout the country, why are they still part of the local standard expenses?

This is because unlike the national standard expenses, you are still required to take the lesser of your actual costs or the standard costs, which makes it a “local” expense.

It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but this is how the IRS has organized these expenses.

Note that if you commute a long distance for work and as a result have unusually high vehicle operating costs, it’s possible that you can deduct a greater amount than the local transportation standard expense for operating costs for your region or MSA.

Also, if your car is currently more than eight years old or has reported mileage of 100,000 miles or more, you are generally allowed an additional monthly operating expense of $200 on top of the standard operating expense for your region or MSA.

Now let’s talk a bit about the one-car vs. two-car expenses, which as you can see in the table above applies to the ownership costs and operating costs.

First of all, if you’re a single taxpayer, you can only based your expenses on one car (even if you own multiple vehicles).

The two-car standards are only available to married taxpayers.  However, the one-car standard must still be considered on a per-car basis.

For example, if your ownership costs for Car A is $400 a month and your ownership costs for Car B is $800 a month, you can’t claim the maximum two-car ownership standard of $1,066 per month; you can claim $400 (your actual expenses) for Car A and $533 (the one-car maximum) for Car B for a total of $933 in monthly ownership costs.

Other Monthly Expenses

Your other monthly expenses are just that — other monthly expenses listed out in Section 7 of the Form 433-A (OIC).  These include:

  • Health Insurance Premiums
  • Court-Ordered Payments (Alimony, Child Support, etc.)
  • Child/Dependent Care Payments (Daycare, etc.)
  • Life Insurance Premiums
  • Taxes (Monthly Cost of Federal Taxes, State Taxes, Local Taxes, Property Taxes, etc.)
  • Payments on Secured Debts
  • Other

Now, the “Other” category is obviously quite interesting.  Here are examples of expenses that I’ve seen fly in the “Other” category:

  • Employer-Mandated Payroll Deductions
  • Accounting and Professional Fees for IRS Representation (yes, my fees would count — it’s right there in Part 5.15.1 of the Internal Revenue Manual, which is referred to in Part 5.8.5 of the Internal Revenue Manual, which is the section covering financial analysis for offer in compromise purposes)
  • Disability Insurance for Self-Employed Taxpayers
  • Union Dues
  • Professional Fees
  • Expenses Related to Handicap or Disability
  • Expenses Necessary for Family Health and Welfare
  • Expenses Necessary for Production of Income

Other Income Considerations

While as a general rule, your current income will be used to determine the income component of your reasonable collection potential, it is possible that unique circumstances could warrant using something other than current income.

Retired Debt

Retired debt is the IRS’s term for an expected change in necessary or allowable expenses.

Naturally, if this change results in decreased expenses, you may be able to pay more money toward your tax debt in the future than you can now.

For example, perhaps right now you are making child support payments.  But you will no longer have to make these payments in six months.

It’s possible that the IRS would want to adjust the income component of your reasonable collection potential for this expected change.

Note that there is a special exception for car loan payments.  The IRS will not consider the first $400 of a loan payment on a vehicle as retired debt.

Unemployment or Underemployment

Obviously if you’re unemployed you are likely generating less household cash flow than you were when you were gainfully employed.

If this is the case, the IRS may very well say that you need to use the level of income expected if you were fully employed.

Future Income Collateral Agreements

A future income collateral agreement can be used to persuade the IRS to accept an offer when the IRS is supposing that the income component you offered is too low.

These agreements basically state that if the taxpayer makes more a certain dollar amount before the statute on collections expires, the taxpayer will remit a portion of each payment to the IRS.

IRS Future Income Examples

Below are examples of situations where you may be permitted to use your current income or, alternatively, the IRS may require you to use some other income amount.

If:Then:
Your income is expected to increase or decrease OR your current necessary expenses are expected to increase or decrease.Adjust the amount or number of payments to what is expected during the appropriate number of months.
You are a seasonal worker whose income naturally fluctuates during certain parts of the year.The IRS may require you to use the previous year's annual income or use income averaging to accurately determine your income.
You are temporarily or recently unemployed or underemployed.The income to use depends on the potential of being re-employed. If it can be shown that potential for employment is apparent, then the IRS may require you to use the level of income expected.
You are long-term unemployed or underemployed.The IRS may accept using your current income insofar as there are truly no employment opportunities for you available. Note that the IRS may expect a future income collateral agreement in case your circumstances change.
You were long-term unemployed and recently began working.Use the most recent three months' pay statements to determine future income.
You are self-employed with irregular income.The IRS may want you to average your earnings over the prior three years. If there are drastic swings in income, the IRS may want a future income collateral agreement.
You are in poor health and your ability to continue working is questionable.Use your current income for the length of time you are reasonably expected to be able to continue working and then reduce your income to the anticipated amount thereafter.
You are close to retirement and have indicated that you will be retiring.The income to use depends on how well you can substantiate that your retirement is imminent. If you can substantiate this, then your expected future income and expenses in retirement may be used. If you cannot substantiate that retirement is imminent, current earnings and expenses will be used.
You are paid overtime.If your overtime pay is regular and customary, overtime income will be included in current income. However, if your overtime pay is earned sporadically, then base pay will be used.
You receive gifts from friends or family to support your lifestyle.If you have no guaranteed rights to the funds in the future and the amount does not appear to be based on you giving your friends or family something in return, the amount of the gifts will not be included as income.
You made money gambling.Unless you are a professional gambler, and insofar as these winnings are inconsistent, they do not need to be included in income.
You are in medical school, law school, or some other professional school where your earnings are currently low but are expected to increase substantially after the completion of your program.The IRS will likely want a future income collateral agreement.
You are a real estate agent who had high income the past two years but this year, due to the real estate market, your earnings are low.Based on the real estate market, the IRS may use your current income but may want a future income collateral agreement in lieu of income averaging.

Future Income Multiplier

Now that you have determined your monthly excess income, you have to multiply it by a future income multiplier of either 12 or 24 months to arrive at the income component of your reasonable collection potential.

The question of whether to use 12 or 24 months is answered by the length of time over which you plan on paying off the amount you offer, which is equal to your reasonable collection potential (equity component plus income component).

Here are your options:

Offer TypeTermsFuture Income MultiplierDown Payment
Lump Sum Cash OfferOffer amount paid in a lump sum or no more than 5 monthly installments within 5 months after offer acceptance12 Months20% of offer amount
Periodic Payment OfferOffer amount paid in more than 6 monthly installments within 24 months after offer acceptance24 MonthsNone, but you must make monthly payments while IRS is considering your offer; otherwise, the IRS will consider you to have withdrawn your offer.

Obviously, the lump sum cash offer results in a lower amount you have to pay the IRS, but you have to pay off your entire offer amount within a shorter timespan and you have to include a 20% down payment along with the offer.

Note that if you send in a dollar amount of less than 20%, the IRS may give you 30 days to correct that and submit an additional payment to reach the 20% down payment requirement.

Also, your monthly installment agreements do not have to be equal; you can make smaller payments and then make a large balloon payment in the final (typically fifth or twenty-fourth month, though of course you can make it earlier).

If you do not have the 20% down payment for a lump sum cash offer right away, you can submit your offer as a periodic payment offer but then switch it after acceptance to a lump sum cash offer, assuming that by that point you have the cash for the 20% down payment.

Periodic payment offer payments beyond the application fee and the initial payment should be made using Form 656-PPV or through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) (select “Offer in Compromise – Subsequent Periodic Payment”).

Reasonable Collection Potential Example

To summarize this section on calculating your reasonable collection potential, let’s run through an example.

Let’s say you have calculated your equity component as $20,000 and your monthly excess income as $1,000/month.

Because you have the cash available, you opt for the lump sum cash offer and so you multiply your $1,000 monthly excess income by 12 month to arrive at your $12,000 income component.

Therefore, your reasonable collection potential — and the amount of your offer in compromise — is $32,000 (the sum of your $20,000 equity component and your $12,000 income component).

Did you notice that the amount of tax you owe is completely absent from this calculation of your offer amount?

That’s right; the amount of tax you owe is not a part of the calculation.

Of course, the amount of tax you owe matters: If you owe less than your reasonable collection potential or just a little bit more than your reasonable collection potential, the IRS may reject your offer.

Offer Amount vs. Installment Agreement

When you submit your doubt as to collectibility offer in compromise, one final check you should do is to compare the amount the IRS would get from you on an installment agreement vs. the amount of your offer.

If the amount the IRS would get from you if you were on an installment agreement is greater than your offer amount, they will likely reject your offer.

One way to approximate this calculation is to simply take your monthly excess income amount and multiply that by the number of months remaining in the collections statute for your tax liability.

Offer in Compromise Calculation FAQs

Here are some common questions that taxpayers ask when calculating their doubt as to collectibility offer in compromise.

What is an appropriate offer in compromise with the IRS?

An appropriate offer in compromise with the IRS is one that is equal to or greater than your reasonable collection potential, which is a combination of your available monthly income (multiplied by 12 or 24) and your net equity in assets, calculated according to IRS rules.

My spouse and I are married but are submitting separate offers in compromise.  How do we allocate our jointly-owned assets between each other?

The general rule in this situation is allocate equity in the assets equally between you and your spouse.

An exception exists if you and your spouse demonstrate that your respective interests in a piece of property is not equally divided, in which case you would allocate the equity based on your respective contributions to the value of the asset.

Also, if you are offering to settle both joint and individual tax liabilities, equity will first be applied to your joint liability and then to your respective individual liabilities.

If you are liable for tax debt that you believe is rightfully the responsibility of your spouse or ex-spouse, consider these options.