Are you planning to appeal your rejected Offer in Compromise?

We file many appeals for rejected offers in compromise that other tax firms previously filed.  To be kind, many of these offers never had a chance out of the gate. Some of these large firms had no business taking monies to file offers in compromise when the offer never met the strict offer criteria used by the IRS.

True tax professionals know the standards and can pretty much tell you whether your offer stands a fighting chance. The IRS rate of acceptance for an OIC is 25 %.

As for appealing your Offer in Compromises, chances of acceptance after rejection is only about 7%.  I have spoken to two different IRS Appeals Officers and both verified that this was approximately a good figure.

The key to get your offer accepted through the appeal process is to correct the information that the IRS rejected in the first place. If you cannot correct the information, do not even bother to file an appeal. The same criteria is used by the appeals function as well as the normal offer group with one exception and this is where you might stand a chance.

If you have an extenuating circumstance that was not covered the first time around, document the case and the circumstance well and you may have a chance. Most expenses you use to meet the national standard must fit the national average. Expenses that are higher are automatically knocked out. If you can document to the IRS that there is a special circumstance, they will re-look at the case.  An example of this:

You have private schooling for your child and there is a special need that requires your child to attend a special school. If you did not document this special need, the IRS will flat out reject the claim or additional expense.

Make sure you talk to a professional before filing an offer in compromise appeal so you do not waste your time and money.