Bravo for pushing back against the companies that say, "Come pay us thousands of dollars to file an OIC you probably won't get." Oh, and did we forget to mention that our fee is not refundable should you not be approved.
Unfortunately, that’s the name of the game of too many of the tax relief chop shops out there! I have, however, anecdotally heard that some are changing their sales practices for the better and actually walking the prospect through a financial analysis before making the sale.
Many, many retired people on fixed incomes can't afford the thousands of $$$ for this type of quality service. I don't blame them, they deserve to make money, but cheap help they can afford is really no help at all.
Not typically, no…the IRS’ position is the at credit card minimum payments are included in the miscellaneous allowance within the national standard: “Taxpayers can use the miscellaneous allowance to pay for expenses that exceed the standards, or for other expenses such as credit card payments, bank fees and charges, reading material and school supplies.” Source: www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/national-standards-food-clothing-and-other-items
