IRS Alters Financial Analysis in Fresh Start Initiative With Flexible Terms in OIC Program

The IRS May 21 expanded its Fresh Start Initiative with changes to the financial analysis it uses to determine which taxpayers qualify for its Offer in Compromise program.

The new, “more flexible” terms will enable financially distressed taxpayers to clear up their tax problems more quickly, IRS said in a news release (IR-2012-53). Some taxpayers will be able to resolve their tax problems in two years as compared to four or five years previously, it said.

“This phase of Fresh Start will assist some taxpayers who have faced the most financial hardship in recent years,” IRS Commissioner ...