{"id":3235,"date":"2025-04-03T15:46:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T15:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/?p=3235"},"modified":"2026-05-12T16:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:39:34","slug":"irs-payment-plan-fees-could-be-going-away-if-youre-low-income","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/irs-payment-plan-fees-could-be-going-away-if-youre-low-income\/","title":{"rendered":"IRS Payment Plan Fees Could Be Going Away (If You\u2019re Low-Income)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m Darrin Mish. Tampa tax attorney, 32 years in, more than $100 million in IRS debt resolved.<\/strong> What follows isn’t theory – it’s what I’ve actually watched work.<\/p>\n\n\n

Let’s talk about something that could actually help<\/em> for once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve ever tried to work out a deal with the IRS to pay off your back taxes in monthly chunks, you know they charge you just to set up<\/em> the plan. Yep, even if you’re broke and trying to do the right thing, they still hit you with a fee. Makes no sense, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, that might be changing soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s a new proposal on the table called the Taxpayer Assistance and Service (TAS) Act<\/strong>, and it’s got a pretty decent idea in there: no more installment agreement fees<\/a> for low-income taxpayers<\/strong>. Basically, if you’re making less than 250% of the federal poverty line, you’d get a free pass on that setup fee<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Especially when you consider that most people who get hit with this stuff are already scraping by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here’s the kicker\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They want to base whether you qualify on your last tax return<\/em>. So let’s say you had a decent year last year, but this year you lost your job, had a medical emergency, or some other real-life curveball hit you – you’re outta luck. You’d still have to pay the fee<\/a>, even though your current bank account is crying for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That part? Needs fixing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What they should<\/em> do is give people a way to show what’s going on in real time<\/em>. If you’re broke now, you shouldn’t be punished because you weren’t<\/em> broke a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the bottom line:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This TAS Act is a move in the right direction. Anything that takes the pressure off folks who are already stressed is a win in my book. But if we really want to help the people who need it most, we’ve gotta account for right now<\/em> – not what the tax return said months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned. If this becomes law, it could make life a little easier for a lot of people just trying to get back on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n