IRS Payment Plans and Installment Agreements, Set Up by an Enrolled Agent in Raleigh

The IRS would rather be paid slowly than not at all, and its installment agreement program exists for exactly that reason. The job is to get a plan you can actually keep, stop any levy that is already moving, and make sure penalties are not quietly doubling the bill while you pay.

When you can do it yourself, and when you should not

If every return is filed and you owe $50,000 or less including penalties and interest, you can usually set up a payment plan with the IRS online and it will be accepted on the spot, and James will tell you so. People come to him when one of these is true:

• The balance is above $50,000, or a business owes payroll tax
• Some returns are not filed yet
• A previous plan defaulted
• A levy, garnishment or lien notice has already arrived
• The payment the IRS proposes is more than you can afford
• You owe North Carolina as well and need both plans to work together

The kinds of IRS payment plans

You may also see the phrase IRS Fresh Start. It is the IRS’s name for its 2011 expansion of streamlined plans and lien thresholds, not a separate program, and nothing on this page requires applying for it. If even a partial payment plan is out of reach, settling for less than you owe through an Offer in Compromise may be the answer.

How James sets up your plan

1. Transcripts firstHe pulls your IRS account to confirm the real balance, which years are open, and whether any return is missing. Missing returns get prepared and filed before the plan is requested.
2. The right plan at the right numberFor larger balances he prepares the financial statement so your necessary living expenses are fully counted, which is what determines the monthly payment.
3. Levy release and penalty reliefWith the plan in place he requests release of any levy or garnishment and asks for first-time or reasonable-cause penalty abatement where your record supports it.

Business owners: payroll tax balances need a plan fast

Unpaid payroll taxes get the IRS’s attention faster than any other balance, and the trust fund recovery penalty can make the owner personally liable. In-business trust fund express agreements exist for smaller balances, and larger ones need a careful financial presentation. If this is your situation, call the week the notice arrives, not the month after.

North Carolina payment plans

The NC Department of Revenue has its own installment process, its own forms and its own willingness to levy, and an NCDOR payment plan has to be requested separately. When federal and state balances exist together, James sets both up so one does not break the other, and so the combined monthly figure is one you can keep. This is a common situation and a routine part of our IRS tax resolution work.