IRS Tax Debt Relief Issues and Resolutions | CuraDebt
IMPORTANT: The case studies below describe specific individual outcomes. Results vary significantly based on individual circumstances including debt amount, financial hardship, and IRS program eligibility. The outcomes described are not typical. Not all applicants qualify for all IRS programs, and no specific outcome is guaranteed. Actual results depend on IRS review of each case.
The case studies below reflect outcomes from CuraDebt’s in-house tax resolution work between 2001 and early 2026. That 25 years of hands-on IRS case experience is what now informs how CuraDebt matches consumers and small business owners with independent tax resolution providers. Every IRS situation is different - the first step is to check tax relief options online.
CuraDebt’s in-house tax work over 25 years followed a three-phase approach: first, investigation of the tax situation and IRS account; second, tax return preparation or corrections if needed; third, implementation of the resolution program the case qualified for. The independent tax resolution providers CuraDebt now works with follow the same methodology.
Past outcomes are not a guarantee of future results. Each case varies by debt amount, financial hardship, IRS program eligibility, and provider. Future results will vary. The first step is to check tax relief options online.
More case examples are being added as cases are reviewed and included.
Click on the link below to read more information about the specific case. Names have been removed to protect client privacy.
Every case below was resolved through one of the IRS programs covered in the full guide to tax debt relief including Offer in Compromise, Currently Not Collectible status, installment agreements, and penalty abatement. If you’re unsure which path fits your situation, start there.
2025 Tax Debt Relief Issues And Solutions
Penalty Abatement Saves Retiree $22,000
SITUATION: A retired client preparing to move overseas owed $250,000 in tax liability due to an early 401(k) withdrawal, resulting in substantial penalties. Despite making regular payments, the penalties caused his balance to remain high…
SITUATION: A woman in her 50s, serving as a single mother and caregiver, faced a $45,000 IRS tax debt. The client’s limited resources and caregiving responsibilities made it difficult to manage…
SITUATION: A full-time caregiver was responsible for supporting his ill mother and disabled sisters while managing his own financial obligations. He faced $135,000 in IRS debt, which placed significant stress…
Retired New Yorker Settles $187,000 IRS Debt for $100
SITUATION: A retired woman from New York faced more than $187,000 in IRS debt along with over $100,000 in state tax obligations. With her accounts garnished and financial stress mounting…
$55,000 IRS Tax Debt Settled for Just $676 Through Offer in Compromise
SITUATION: A business owner burdened with $55,000 in IRS debt-caused by missed estimated payments, audit penalties, and business management challenges-sought our help…
$135,000 IRS Tax Debt Settled for $4,380 Through Offer in Compromise
SITUATION: The client carried $135,000 in IRS tax debt from tax years 2015–2021, primarily due to insufficient withholdings. After her mother’s passing, she became the primary caregiver…
$163,000 IRS Tax Debt Resolved with Currently Not Collectible Status
SITUATION: A client burdened with $163,000 in IRS debt was facing serious financial hardship, compounded by unfiled tax returns. Due to equity in his assets, he was not eligible for an Offer in Compromise…
Florida Client’s $25,000 IRS Debt Placed in Currently Not Collectible Status
SITUATION: A Florida client, struggling with a serious health condition, came to us burdened by $25,000 in IRS tax debt. With only disability benefits as her source of income, she was under significant financial…
$397,610 IRS Tax Debt Placed In Currently Not Collectible Status
SITUATION: An elderly man facing severe illness, came to us with an overwhelming IRS tax debt of $397,610. He was under aggressive collection actions, with the IRS threatening to levy his bank accounts…
$21,000 Tax Debt Resolved With Streamlined Installment Agreement And Penalty Abatement
SITUATION: A client came to us with a manageable IRS tax debt of $21,000. He was proactive about resolving his debt and sought an affordable monthly payment plan…
$21,087 Tax Debt Resolved With Streamlined Installment Agreement
SITUATION: A client was facing significant issues with the IRS due to a defaulted installment agreement. The client owed $21,087 for multiple tax years and was at risk of impending collection actions…
An $89,000 IRS Tax Debt Settled For $100 Through An Offer In Compromise
SITUATION: Someone from New York reached out to us, burdened with an overwhelming IRS debt of $89,000. She was facing significant financial hardship and was unsure how to resolve her tax issues…
$15,000 In IRS Tax Debt Resolved with A Currently Not Collectible Status ($0 Paid)
SITUATION: A client from Florida was facing a significant IRS debt of $15,000. The client’s financial situation made it challenging to make regular payments, and there was a risk of aggressive collection actions from the IRS…
$186,000 In IRS Tax Debt Resolved With An Offer In Compromise ($21,000 Paid)
SITUATION: A business in Florida, was facing a substantial debt of $186,000. Given the significant amount owed and the financial difficulties the business was experiencing, we needed to find a solution…
Tax Debt Of $23,656 Reduced By Correctly Filing Tax Return And Setting Up Installment Agreement
SITUATION: A couple reached out to us with an IRS balance of $23,656 accumulated over several years. They had not filed several tax returns and were unsure how to address the mounting debt…
$140,226.36 IRS Tax Debt Resolved with An Offer in Compromise in 24 Installments of $875
SITUATION: A couple called our office with a very stressful situation – the IRS had issued a notice of Intent to Levy and had placed a lien on their property. The husband was a 25% shareholder in a small business…
$83,083.86 In IRS Tax Debt Resolved With An Offer In Compromise ($8,773 Paid)
SITUATION: A taxpayer contacted us to seek help with his IRS tax debt of approximately $83K Unfortunately, he is on a fixed income and had health issues that were not allowing him to pay back on his tax debt owed and was unsure of his options…
$17,236 In IRS Tax Debt Resolved with A Currently Not Collectible Status ($0 Paid)
SITUATION: An elderly married couple contacted us with a tax debt of around $17K. They were very scared of the collection notices they were receiving and didn’t know how to deal with this situation…
SITUATION: An independent contractor reached out to us because he had a high balance with the IRS and didn’t know how to fix his problem or where to begin. The IRS was threatening to garnish his bank …
$16,458.55 tax debt resolved with an Offer in Compromise for $50
SITUATION: A taxpayer called in to seek help with her $15,000 of IRS tax debt. She was receiving certified notices which mentioned that a levy would be filed. On top of the tax debt she had, her mom was having very serious medical issues. All this was causing…
$87,635.16 In IRS Tax Owed Resolved With A Currently Not Collectible Status ($0 Paid)
SITUATION: A 74 years old retired teacher contacted us with a tax debt of what she thought was $70K. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with Parkinsons which had progressed to a point where she was unable to live a normal life and …
$29,340.61 In IRS Tax Owed Resolved With an Offer in Compromise In 5 Monthly Installments of $980.00
SITUATION: A lady who is self-employed reached out to us because the IRS placed a levy on her bank account. The IRS took the little money she had in her savings account. She was urgently seeking help as this money was used to pay her personal living expenses. She was aware that she owed the IRS over 20K for several years, but she …
$47,954 In IRS Tax Owed Resolved With A Currently Not Collectible Status ($0 Paid)
SITUATION: A self-employed taxpayer reached out to us expressing he was very worried about his tax debt. He was seeking help with his tax debt he was used to prior to finding out about his almost $50K tax liability. He informed us that he …
$28,461 In IRS Tax Owed Resolved With A Currently Not Collectible Status
SITUATION: A taxpayer contacted us to seek help with her IRS tax debt of approximately $32K. Unfortunately, her mother’s illness and she had to quit her job to become her mothers caregiver. The tax debt and her mother’s illness was causing a lot of stress and she needed …
$71,420.46 In IRS Tax Owed Resolved With an Offer in Compromise for $5,044
SITUATION: A gentleman contacted us to get help with over $70K in IRS tax debt. He and his wife live overseas and have a steady income since they both receive social security. He received letters from an IRS revenue officer aggressively collecting on the debt owed. He also had …
Tax Debt of $22,476 resolved with a Offer in Compromise In 5 Installments of $579
SITUATION:A woman reached out to us thinking she had an IRS tax debt of approximately $8,000. She knew she owed back taxes from years 2013 – 2017. When she enrolled, she was paying towards an Installment Agreement with the IRS, but she was not clear how long she would need to make…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$70,383 In IRS Tax Owed Resolved With Currently Not Collectible Status ($0 Paid)
SITUATION: A gentleman called in to seek help with his IRS tax debt of approximately $70,000. He was continually receiving threatening letters from the IRS and was in a major risk of being levied by the IRS.This was causing him a lot of stress as he couldn’t afford …
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$18,586.93 Tax Debt Resolved with a Currently Non Collectible Status ($0 Paid)
SITUATION: We received a call from a gentleman with an IRS tax debt. He didn’t have a clear picture of his entire tax situation. He knew he owed for various years and needed our help to …
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
2019 Tax Debt Relief Issues And Solutions
$15,193.53 tax debt resolved with a Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: We received a call from a person who thought he owed $13,000 from an IRS notice he received. We later learned that he actually owed $15,193.53. He thought that the reason for his debt was due to not having enough withholdings. In addition to this…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$17,024.45 tax debt resolved with an Offer in Compromise for $50
SITUATION: This client called to seek help with his tax debt since he was receiving several notices in a very short matter of time. He explained to us that these notices were causing him a lot of stress since the notice had a very short time frame for client to pay this off. The client…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$12,083.19 tax debt resolved with a Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: A client called in as she received an unexpected tax bill. She thought that the debt was for approximately $12,000. The IRS notice was for 2017 and she was seeking immediate help to get this resolved. The client also explained how things were very difficult for her after her husband…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
2018 Tax Debt Relief Issues And Solutions
$11,675.00 tax debt resolved with an Offer in Compromise for $100
SITUATION: An individual reached out to us with tax debt of $11,675.00 owed to the IRS. This person thought that the debt was due to a withdraw he made from his individual retirement account (IRA) in 2016. The client told us…….
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$26,000 tax debt resolved with a Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: A gentleman contacted us seeking our help with his tax situation. He informed us that he had not filed his tax returns from 2004 thru 2006. He stated that he’d claimed too many dependents on past tax returns but he wasn’t sure….
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$24,000 tax debt resolved with a Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: An individual contacted us and wanted help with her tax situation. She explained to us that she had filed for bankruptcy and it was completed in 2011. She also told us that she did not file her tax returns for a few years and….
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$13,444.76 tax debt resolved with an Offer in Compromise for $50.00
SITUATION:A person was interested in our tax debt program because he owed $13,444.76 to the IRS. He was needing help because he thought that his tax returns for the years of 2013, 2014 and 2015 were filed…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$8,863.19 tax debt resolved with an Offer in Compromise for $50.00
SITUATION:A husband and wife reached out to us very concerned with their tax situation. The couple was already set up on a monthly payment plan with the IRS. However, they…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$39,024 tax debt reduced to $3,633 and then resolved with Partial Payment Install Agreement
SITUATION:An individual reached out to us with a tax debt of $32,000.00. We later learned she owed $39,024. She had filed jointly with her ex-husband who did not want to be responsible for any part of his the …
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
2017 Tax Debt Relief Issues And Solutions
$13,444.76 tax debt resolved with an Offer in Compromise for $50.00
SITUATION: A Client called in with a total liability of about $14K, client was in an installment agreement when he enrolled in the program. The reason the client owed the IRS was due to a mistake on claiming when he wasn’t entitled to. The total amount…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$8,271.60 tax debt resolved with a Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: A woman contacted CuraDebt for assistance with her tax debt issues. She explained that she owed about $17,000 to the IRS. And she felt that it was because of the IRS disallowing her claiming of her children as dependents on several years of returns. As is often the case, the client hadn’t received all…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$425,546.42 tax debt resolved with a Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: A taxpayer called in with an IRS tax debt of over $420,000 The IRS had done an audit on the Taxpayer’s account for over a year. Due to the amount of debt a Revenue Officer (RO) had been assigned this case and even went to visit them. The audit was done for….
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$10,045.02 tax debt resolved with a Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: A Taxpayer called in with an IRS debt and thought her balance was of $8,000.00 which was incorrect. She was seeking our help as she was having her wages garnished by the IRS, they IRS had assessed her a balance for not filing and not paying taxes on time…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$22,237.33 tax debt resolved with Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: A taxpayer called us for help with his IRS debt of approximately $22,000.00, who had been unemployed for several years. In the initial consultation he stated he owed for years 2013 and 2014 which he did not file. Consequently the IRS filed on his behalf a substitute for a….
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$39,000 tax debt reduced to $6,480 and then resolved with Partial Payment Install Agreement
SITUATION: A taxpayer contacted us with an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) debt of approximately $40,000.00 for years 2003 – 2004. Client was not paying his debt, he forgot about the debt until the IRS proceeded with garnishment. When the taxpayer’s employer…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$103,836.70 tax debt resolved with an Offer in Compromise for $50.00
SITUATION: A taxpayer contacted us with an IRS TAX debt of approximately $90,000.00. We later learned the balance was over $100,000. In the initial consultation she informed us there were unfiled taxes for year 2007. She was unable to file due to a divorce, and consequently her wages were…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
2016 Tax Debt Relief Issues And Solutions
$19,072.42 tax debt resolved with a Partial Payment Installment Agreement and comfortable monthly payments of $100
SITUATION: A woman called us because she owed the IRS due to not having had her federal taxes deducted from her paycheck for a couple of years. As a result, her wages were garnished. She tried to work something out on her own with the IRS. She agreed to a payment plan but was unable to continue with the payments as they were too high…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$42,473.40 tax debt resolved with a Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: A woman called us with about $42,000 that she owed to the IRS. This was for her and her husband for several prior years of unpaid taxes. She mentioned that they were compliant with their returns, as they had always filed on time. She continued to explain that $19,000 of the tax debt was from unpaid self employment tax, which was incurred by her husband…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$31,358.75 tax debt resolved with a Currently Non Collectible status
SITUATION: A man called us because he was receiving threatening notices from the IRS for over $30k. He tried to solve it on his own, but the IRS would not explore a resolution due to him not being in tax compliant. His taxes due were from unpaid balances from the years 2004, 2005, 2009, 2011, and 2012. He also had lottery winnings and was not aware that it was enough to file…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$29,198.37 tax debt resolved with a Partial Payment Installment Agreement and comfortable monthly payments of $200
SITUATION: A man contacted us thinking he owed approximately $23,000 to the IRS because of insufficient withholdings on his 401k contributions. He was forced into early retirement, had nine different back surgeries and was finding it difficult to get a job…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
Tax debt of over $500k resolved with a Partial Payment Installment Agreement and comfortable monthly payments of $300
SITUATION: A woman who called us, unfortunately, had her own business which failed. To keep her business afloat, she used the funds that were supposed to have been paid over for payroll taxes to fund her business operations. As a result, she was personally assessed with a trust fund recovery penalty…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
SITUATION: A man called us to assist him with a solution to resolve about $30,000 that the IRS was coming after him for. During the initial consultation, the client informed us that he had been audited. He was also concerned about a Form…
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$75,000 tax debt resolved with an Offer in Compromise for $25
SITUATION: A woman called in with about $75K to the IRS. She had been in an installment agreement with the IRS, but they were asking for more money, which she could not afford. The reason she had unpaid taxes was as a result of higher withholdings….
Results vary. This reflects one individual's experience and is not a guarantee of outcome.
$24,000 tax debt resolved with an Offer in Compromise for $1.00
SITUATION: A woman called in stating that she had about $24K of debt owed to the IRS. She explained that the liability stemmed from issues dating back to 2006. She has 2 children and she had applied for the Child Tax Credit, but….
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