Currently Not Collectible Status

When the IRS agrees you can't pay, it stops active collection: no levies on wages or bank accounts and no collection calls. The debt doesn't go away. Interest and penalties keep growing, the IRS can keep future refunds and apply them to the balance, and it may file a tax lien. But the 10-year window the IRS has to collect keeps running, so for some people part of the debt eventually expires.

The IRS compares your income with allowable living expenses, using national and local standards for housing, transportation, food and health care, and looks at what you own. If there's little or nothing left after necessary expenses and no assets that could be sold or borrowed against, CNC status may be approved. Retirees on fixed income, people who've lost a job, and people with serious medical costs often qualify.

We gather your pay stubs, bank statements and bills, prepare the collection information statement, and present your case to the IRS, making sure every allowable expense is counted. All required tax returns usually need to be filed first, so we bring those up to date too. If a levy is already in place, we ask for its release because of hardship.