txnlady,
Getting them to place it noncollectable status was a very hard task. Dealing with them was one of the worst times of my life. I owed alot, but I was no longer making the money I used to make and had been out of work for about 3 years so I had no income. When they came after me, I had just started a new job and I was making 3x less then what I made before, so based on my income and expenses, there was no way I could pay what they were asking for. I educated myself on the process and the laws. I was consumed with it. It was to late for me to do anything about the lien, but I was able to stop them from any collections. They sent me one of those threatening letters about garnishment and bank accounts and with that I filed an appeal. When you file an appeal, it goes to one dept, where you speak with one person which is better than dealing with the many different IRS collectors. I got all my bank statements and every bill from the mortgage to the prescriptions to show that it would cause a hardship if they continued collections. So just like
CW, they want you to prove your hardship. I did this with the help of legal aid. Which was totally free. I actually got the information for free legal help in my area from the IRS website! Of course you get what you pay for, meaning that I did most of the work before I went to see them, but I read that they respond better if your represented by an attorney. The attorney basically went to the face to face hearing I requested from the appeal, to further drive home the point that I couldnt afford to pay. Even though its in uncollectabe status doesnt mean they cant come back for me. My tax debt is old, and with tax debt they have a statue of limitations on the time they are allowed to collect on it. Next year one of the years I owe for will fall off. So I am hoping with this economy they will lay off of me for a while. You can also get rid of it in bankruptcy but its some stipulations for that such as how old the tax debt is and other requirements. But just like
CW they try to take advantage of the fact were scared and ignorant of the laws and offer us horrible payment arragments. Its amazing how so many people in congress owe tens of thousands in back taxes but everyday people like us who are barely able to pay our bills are pursued relentlessly by the IRS.