Waiting It Out: What You Need to Know About IRS Collections

“Can I wait the IRS out?”

It’s a question I hear quite a bit from taxpayers—and one that, as a tax professional, I’ve discussed with clients. It’s not an easy answer, despite ads that suggest that they can calculate your exact end date by looking at your tax bill. (Spoiler alert: It’s not that easy.)

It may be tempting to jump straight to the collections piece when thinking about paying up, but that’s only half of the story. There are two parts to settling up with the IRS: assessment and collections.

Assessment

An assessment is the official record of your ...