09/04/2026
💰 $140 MILLION owed to the IRS.
$1.5 MILLION offered to settle it.
The IRS said NO — and the federal appeals court backed them up.
Tech entrepreneur attempted to resolve an enormous tax liability through an Offer in Compromise. 👀 you cannot do that if you can liquidate your assets and pay the entire bill in full 🤷🏼♀️
His proposed settlement: $1.5 million.
The tax liability at issue: approximately $140 million.
The IRS rejected the offer. He fought the decision through Tax Court and ultimately appealed to the Eleventh Circuit.
The result? The IRS won again.
The appeals court found that the IRS did not abuse its discretion when it rejected the offer.
📌 Why should the average taxpayer care?
Because an Offer in Compromise isn’t simply:
“I owe $100,000, but I’ll give you $10,000 and we’ll call it even.”
The IRS evaluates whether you actually qualify and whether accepting the offer is appropriate based on your circumstances.
And the bigger lesson?
Don’t wait until a tax problem becomes a tax catastrophe.
If you owe the IRS, there may be options — installment agreements, penalty relief, Offers in Compromise, Currently Not Collectible status, appeals and other resolution strategies — but the right option depends on your specific situation.
Ignoring the IRS is not a tax strategy. 😉