Can't afford to pay your income taxes? You may be able to qualify for an installment plan with the Internal Revenue Service. The minimum monthly payment for your plan depends on how much you owe.
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If you can’t afford to pay your taxes, you may be able to qualify for an installment plan with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
You can apply for an installment agreement online, over the phone, or through the mail by sending Form 9465 to the IRS.
If you can pay off your balance within 180 days, it won't cost you anything to set up an installment plan.
If you can't pay off your balance within 180 days, setting up a direct debit payment plan online will cost $22, or $107 if the plan is set up by phone or mail.
If you're not using direct debit, then setting up the plan online will cost $69, or $178 if the plan is set up by phone or mail.
If you're a lower-income taxpayer, you may be able to reduce these fees.
If you owe less than $10,000 to the IRS and are financially unable to pay the full amount when it's due, your installment plan will generally be automatically approved as a "guaranteed" installment agreement. Under this type of plan, you must agree to pay off your balance within three years.
However, during the past five tax years, you (and your spouse if filing a joint return) must have timely filed all your tax returns and paid any income tax due. You also can't have other existing installment agreement with the IRS.
With a balance due above $10,000, you can qualify for a "streamlined" installment plan. With a streamlined plan, you generally have 6 years (72 months) to pay. If you owe $25,000 to $50,000, you must agree to pay by direct debit or payroll deduction.
While acceptance isn't guaranteed, the IRS doesn't usually require additional financial information to approve these plans. However, i f you can't pay an amount equal to what you owe divided by 72, you will need to complete Form 433-F unless you qualify for an exception.
Qualifying for a plan with a higher balance due requires additional information. For instance, you must use Form 9465 to apply (i.e., you can't apply online or by phone). You also must file Form 433-A, where you'll have to provide detailed information on your investments, assets, income, employment, bank accounts, and more.
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