IRS Payment Plan Calculator

By Forrest Baumhover, CFP®, EA · Last verified October 23, 2026

If you owe the IRS and cannot pay it all now, this free calculator shows which IRS payment plan likely fits you and about how much you would pay each month.

What you type stays in your browser. This page does not send it anywhere or save it.

How much do you owe the IRS in total?

Use the total on your latest IRS notice, with penalties and interest. Add any tax on a return you filed recently that the IRS has not billed yet.

How much of that is tax alone, not penalties or interest? (optional)

One IRS plan, the Guaranteed plan, looks at tax alone. Your notice often lists tax, penalties and interest on separate lines.

Have you filed every tax return you had to file?

Are your tax payments for this year on track?

That means enough tax comes out of your pay, or you make the estimated tax payments you owe. If you run a business, its tax deposits and payments, including payroll tax deposits, must be on track too. You do not have to pay all of this year’s tax first.

Did you start an IRS payment plan at any time in the last 5 years?

If you owe on a joint return, answer for your spouse too.

In the last 5 years, did you skip a tax return or leave unpaid tax you owed for that year? (optional)

If you owe on a joint return, answer for your spouse too.

When does the IRS’s time to collect this debt end? (optional)

You must pay off one plan by this date, so its estimate needs the date. Find your date, or leave it blank.

How much could you pay each month? (optional)

This page checks the two IRS monthly payment plans that need no financial statement, then the plan for everyone else. It does not check the IRS short-term plan, which the IRS page Payment plans; installment agreements describes as paying in 180 days or less. It uses the payment plan law, IRC §6159, and the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM), the rulebook IRS staff follow.

What This Estimate Does Not Tell You

The IRS decides whether you get a plan, and it sets the payment. This page cannot see your IRS account. It does not know your collection deadline unless you enter it, and it does not know about tax the IRS has not billed yet for a return you have not filed. The IRS also counts the interest and penalties that keep adding up, so its monthly figure can be higher than this one.

The Three Plans This Page Checks

Guaranteed payment plan. You owe $10,000 or less in tax, not counting penalties and interest. In each of the last 5 years you filed your return, paid all the tax you owed for that year, and started no payment plan. If you owe on a joint return, your spouse must pass these tests too. When you meet every condition and cannot pay in full now, IRC §6159(c) says the IRS "shall enter into an agreement." The plan pays the tax within three years, or sooner if your collection deadline comes first (IRM 5.14.5.3).
Simple Payment Plan. You owe $50,000 or less in total, counting tax and the penalties and interest the IRS has already billed. You have filed your returns and your tax payments for this year are on track. You do not send a financial statement, and you pay the whole balance before your collection deadline (IRM 5.14.5.2).
A plan with a full financial statement. If neither plan fits, you can still ask for one. The IRS asks what you earn, spend and own, then sets the payment from that. IRM 5.14.1.2 tells staff to "secure a complete Collection Information Statement" in that case.

How the Monthly Estimate Works

For the Guaranteed plan, the page divides your total by 36, or by the months left before your collection deadline if that comes sooner. For a Simple Payment Plan, it divides your total by the months left before the deadline. That is why the Simple Payment Plan needs the date.

Your collection deadline is the day the IRS’s time to collect ends. It usually falls 10 years after the IRS assesses (formally records) the tax, under IRC §6502(a)(1), but some events pause the clock. Find your date.

Treat the estimate as a floor. The IRS keeps adding interest, and some penalties, until you pay in full. IRM 5.14.5.2 also says the payment "may increase or decrease in the future."

Before You Apply

If you can pay in full within 180 days, ask for a short-term plan instead (the IRS page Payment plans; installment agreements). It has no setup fee and needs no financial statement, and you can apply online if you owe less than $100,000 in total. If you must file payroll tax returns for a business, the IRS does not offer you this plan.
The IRS lets you apply online, in your IRS Online Account, if you owe $50,000 or less in total and have filed all required returns. You need a photo ID to create the account. If a revenue officer (an IRS employee who works your case in person) has contacted you, the online tool cannot set up your plan. Call that officer instead.
No online account? Call the number on your notice, or 800-829-1040.
If penalties make up much of what you owe, see whether the IRS will remove them: penalty relief.
If you cannot afford a monthly payment at all, see which other option fits.
This page covers individuals, including sole proprietors. A business with payroll tax debt can use the Installment Agreement Calculator.

Common Questions

Does the IRS have to accept my payment plan?

For the Guaranteed plan, yes, when you meet every condition in IRC §6159(c). For the Simple Payment Plan, IRM 5.14.1.2 tells staff to grant it when you qualify and ask for it, "even if the taxpayers could pay the liability in full." If you defaulted on an earlier plan, the IRS may first check whether you ask only to delay collection. In both cases the IRS checks its own records first, and this page cannot see them.

I owe a little more than $50,000. Can I still get a Simple Payment Plan?

Yes, if you pay the balance down first. IRM 5.14.5.2 lets the IRS approve the plan when you "make a payment on the liability to reduce" the balance before you enter the plan.

Do interest and penalties stop while I pay?

No. The IRS keeps adding interest, and some penalties, until you pay the full balance.

Does asking for a plan stop IRS collection?

Mostly. The IRS says it generally does not seize wages, bank accounts or property while it considers your request or while your plan stays in effect. That protection starts only after you file every return you had to file. It still keeps any future refund and applies it to what you owe. Miss a payment or a filing and the plan can end.

Does a payment plan cost anything?

A monthly payment plan carries a setup fee, due with your first payment. Applying online costs less than applying by phone or mail. If your income is low, the IRS charges no fee when you pay by automatic withdrawal from your bank account. If you cannot pay that way, you pay a lower fee at the start, and the IRS pays it back when you finish the plan. If your approval letter does not show the low-income fee, send Form 13844 within 30 days of the letter’s date.

Why does the page ask about the last 5 years?

The Guaranteed plan has two 5-year tests in IRC §6159(c). You must not have skipped a return or left unpaid tax you owed for that year, and you must not have started a payment plan. On a joint return, the tests cover your spouse too. If you are not sure whether you missed a return or a payment, choose "Not sure," and check with the IRS before you count on the Guaranteed plan.

More from the Desk

More practitioner writing from Forrest Baumhover, CFP®, EA at The Federal Tax Desk on Substack.

Sources

Read The Federal Tax Desk: every Deep Dive and Cheat Sheet, with primary-source citations →