Collection Alternative Router
By Forrest Baumhover, CFP®, EA · Last verified August 29, 2026
Answer once. See which payment plan, hardship status or offer in compromise fits, with the IRM or IRC citation for every branch it passed through, not just the final answer.
What this router shows
This router compares the collection alternatives in one pass. It shows the IRM or IRC citation behind every branch it passed through.
The decision this router makes
The router ends in one of eight outcomes: Guaranteed Installment Agreement, Simple Payment Plan, Simple Payment Plan (Business Trust Fund), Non-Streamlined IA, Currently Not Collectible (hardship), Currently Not Collectible (borderline), Partial Payment IA, or a choice between a Partial Payment IA and an Offer in Compromise. It checks them roughly in order of how little documentation each needs, since the last ones need the deepest financial disclosure.
The Guaranteed Installment Agreement test counts income tax alone, not penalties or interest. The IRS must accept the agreement when income tax is $10,000 or less, the taxpayer has not failed to file or pay or had an installment agreement in the past five years, the IRS finds the taxpayer cannot pay in full now, and the taxpayer can pay within three years (IRC §6159(c); IRM 5.14.5.3). Above that, the router checks Simple Payment Plan eligibility next, which counts the full assessed balance with penalties and interest: $50,000 or less, or $25,000 or less for a business's in-business trust fund liability (IRM 5.14.5.2, 5.14.5.4). Failing both, it falls back to a full Non-Streamlined IA, which needs a financial statement and tests whether the account can full-pay before its Collection Statute Expiration Date (IRM 5.14.2.1).
An account that cannot full-pay at all runs the Currently Not Collectible hardship test (IRM 5.16.1.2.9), which sizes allowable expenses under the same Collection Financial Standards the Form 433 Auto-Populator uses — a borderline result flags for practitioner judgment rather than forcing a binary answer. Below that, the router reaches its most document-intensive branch: choosing between a Partial Payment Installment Agreement (ongoing, reviewed every two years) and an Offer in Compromise (one-time, if the IRS accepts it) — IRM 5.14.2.1 and IRM 5.8.4 govern the two paths, and where the facts support either one, the router names both and defers the choice to the taxpayer and practitioner rather than picking for them.
Worked example: an individual with a $45,000 balance, $6,000 monthly income, and a two-person household in Harris County, Texas has no income-tax-only amount entered, so the router tests the whole $45,000 against the $10,000 Guaranteed IA threshold and misses it. The very next branch finds a Simple Payment Plan fit ($50,000 or less) — three steps, no financial statement, but full payment by the CSED.
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This tool gives you the numbers and the citation, but every case has details a calculator can’t weigh. For a second opinion from a tax professional, email Forrest directly. Do not email Social Security numbers, account numbers, or other sensitive information. An email creates no client-practitioner engagement; case-specific advice starts only after both parties have mutually accepted terms and payment has been made.
Email Forrest Baumhover, CFP®, EA →Read the Deep Dive behind this tool: Deep Dive: The Complete IRS Collections Timeline