Did an ad promise to enroll you in Fresh Start? Learn what it is and what each option costs.
The IRS Fresh Start Program: What It Is Today and the Eligibility Rules
There is nothing to enroll in. Learn what the 2011 and 2012 changes left behind and what each real option costs today: $0 for a short-term payment plan, $29 to $178 for a long-term one, and $205 plus a first payment for an offer.
By the end you will know: the three IRS releases the name comes from; what is left of them in 2026: the $50,000 plan line, lien withdrawal, the offer formula; whether a tax forgiveness program exists (not as a program).
Quick answer
Fresh Start is the name the IRS gave to collection changes announced on February 24, 2011 and expanded in 2012; there is no Fresh Start application. What it left behind: if you owe $50,000 or less as an individual, you can get a payment plan without a financial statement, a lien notice can be withdrawn on some direct debit plans of $25,000 or less, and offers in compromise count 12 or 24 months of future income. A long-term plan can cost $29 to $178 to set up and an offer costs $205 plus a first payment, both with low-income waivers (irs.gov, read October 14, 2026).
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What Fresh Start left behind is mostly the payment plan. Use this free tool to see what a plan or an offer costs you to set up, with this quarter's interest rate and the penalty.
By the Legal Cost by State Editorial Team·Last updated and source-checked October 14, 2026
What to do next
1
Find the respond-by date on the IRS letter
The ad's deadline is not the IRS's; the date on the notice is the one that counts, and the notice number names the stage the account is at.
2
Check the balance against the $50,000 line, with every return filed
At or under it, you can request a long-term plan online as an individual with no financial statement; that line is the 2012 change still in force.
3
Request the option itself from the IRS
A payment plan through the online account or Form 9465, an offer with Form 656 and the $205 fee; the FTC says to ignore any promise that you qualify, because only the IRS decides that.
You can pay someone to file for you, but you do not have to.
Is Fresh Start real? Yes, as a name for 2011 and 2012 changes
The IRS announced Fresh Start in IR-2011-20 on February 24, 2011. It raised the dollar threshold at which the IRS generally files a lien notice, let taxpayers get a lien notice withdrawn after paying in full, allowed withdrawals for some Direct Debit Installment Agreements, opened streamlined payment plans to small businesses owing up to $25,000, and widened a streamlined offer in compromise to taxpayers with incomes up to $100,000 and liabilities under $50,000.
Two 2012 releases extended it: IR-2012-31 (March 7) raised the limit for a payment plan without a financial statement from $25,000 to $50,000, stretched the term from 60 to 72 months and gave some unemployed taxpayers a six-month grace period on the failure-to-pay penalty for tax year 2011; IR-2012-53 (May 21) cut the future income counted in an offer from four or five years to one or two.
The IRS now labels all three releases historical content: the origin of today’s rules, not the rules themselves.
Learn more. Tap a topic to open it.
Learn the four Fresh Start changes still in force, from the $50,000 plan line to the six-year rule.
Simple Payment Plans up to $50,000
As an individual, if you owe $50,000 or less in assessed tax, penalties and interest and are current on filing, you get a long-term plan with no collection information statement and no lien determination; the IRS says more than 90% of individual taxpayers qualify, most with up to 10 years to pay.
Lien withdrawal on direct debit plans
The IRS lien page lists two withdrawal options from the 2011 initiative: after a released lien with three years of filing compliance, or on a Direct Debit Installment Agreement when you owe $25,000 or less, the plan pays in full within 60 months or before the collection period ends, and three consecutive direct debit payments have gone through.
The offer formula
Form 433-A (OIC), revision April 2026, multiplies your remaining monthly income by 12 if you pay the offer in 5 or fewer payments within 5 months, or by 24 if you pay over 6 to 24 months, then adds your equity in assets: the 2012 change.
The six-year rule
When your balance does not fit a Simple Payment Plan, IRS staff may allow you living expenses above the national and local standards if you can pay the full balance, with penalties and interest, in six years, up from five in 2012.
Learn the IRS fees for a payment plan and an offer, the interest rate and the penalty.
These are the IRS fees you pay for the options Fresh Start changed.
Payment plan setup
Short-term plan (180 days or less): $0. Long-term plan with direct debit: $29 online, $107 by phone, mail or in person. Other long-term plans: $69 online, $178 otherwise. Low-income individuals pay $0 with direct debit, or $43 that may be reimbursed.
Offer in compromise
$205 to apply, sent with the initial payment: one fifth of a lump-sum offer, or the first installment of a periodic one. Individuals at or under the Form 656 income table skip both during the review.
Interest
The underpayment rate for October to December 2026 is 7% a year, compounded daily, on every option until the balance is paid.
Failure-to-pay penalty
0.5% of the unpaid tax a month, capped at 25%. It drops to 0.25% a month during an approved payment plan if you filed your return on time.
Learn the three ways a tax debt can shrink or end, and what Currently Not Collectible leaves.
Not as a program. Three things can reduce or end what you pay: an accepted offer in compromise settles the debt for less; penalty relief removes penalties, not tax; and under 26 U.S.C. 6502 the IRS generally has 10 years after assessment to collect by levy or in court, a period that installment agreements, offers and appeals can extend or suspend.
Currently Not Collectible status is often sold as forgiveness. It pauses most collection while your finances do not allow payment, but the IRS says the debt "is not forgiven or cancelled": penalties and interest keep running, and refunds still go to the balance.
Learn the four conditions the IRS checks before a payment plan or an offer.
The IRS’s own conditions, from its payment plan pages and the Form 656-B booklet; they describe how the IRS decides, not what any taxpayer should do.
1
Filing compliance
A Simple Payment Plan applicant must be current on all filing and payment requirements. An offer from someone who has not filed every required return is returned with its fee, and any initial payment goes to the tax debt (Form 656-B, Rev. 4-2026).
2
The $50,000 line
At $50,000 or less, with all returns filed, an individual can apply online with no collection information statement. One who cannot apply online may file Form 9465, with Form 433-F where the instructions require it.
3
Whether the debt can be paid in full
The IRS generally does not accept an offer when the tax debt can be paid in full through an installment agreement or with the equity in assets. Its free Offer in Compromise Pre-Qualifier applies that test to the figures entered.
4
The low-income table
Individuals at or under the Form 656 low-income table (for example $39,900 for one person or $82,500 for four in the 48 contiguous states, D.C. and U.S. territories) pay no $205 application fee and make no payments while the offer is reviewed.
Learn what the IRS and the FTC warn about companies that sell Fresh Start.
In its 2026 Dirty Dozen list (IR-2026-30) the IRS warns that "OIC mills" overpromise and charge high fees to taxpayers who do not qualify. The FTC says to ignore promises that you qualify and to avoid anyone who asks for the whole fee upfront.
You can request every option on this page directly from the IRS, online, by phone or by mail, for the fees listed above.
Yes, as a name for collection changes announced in 2011 and 2012. It has no application of its own; its changes sit inside payment plans, lien rules and offers in compromise.
You apply for the underlying option: a payment plan through your IRS online account, by phone or with Form 9465, or an offer in compromise with Form 656 and the $205 fee. There is no Fresh Start form.
For a Simple Payment Plan, individuals who owe $50,000 or less and are current on filing. For an offer, taxpayers who have filed every return, made required estimated payments, are not in an open bankruptcy and cannot pay in full through a plan or asset equity.
No. Penalty relief is separate: reasonable cause, First Time Abate, and from summer 2026 an Automatic Exemption from Penalty for taxpayers with three years of timely compliance. The IRS reduces interest only when the penalty or tax it ran on is reduced.
Paying in full gets the lien released within 30 days; the public notice can then be withdrawn in the two cases set out under what is left today.
Nothing as such. You pay the IRS fees of the option you use, listed above, with waivers for low-income individuals.
Only by accepting an offer in compromise, which settles it for less, or when the collection period runs out. In fiscal year 2025 the IRS received 38,797 offers and accepted 5,464 (IRS Data Book, Table 4-1).
Not to apply; the forms and the online account are built for individuals. Representation matters more in appeals, Tax Court or a business payroll tax case.
Information on this page reflects laws and published figures as of October 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, and not a prediction for any matter. Rules and fees change; check the court or agency page linked for each figure.
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