If you have tax debt problems with the IRS you are likely getting letters, calls or even visits from an IRS agent, this is a scary place to be because let's face it the IRS uses a lot of intimidation to get people to pay them. The question is whether it is better to hire an IRS debt settlement company or to settle with the IRS on your own. This article shares my opinion having tried both routes.

IRS Debt Settlement Company vs On Your Own

I began having tax problems years ago. I started getting letters in the mail and I wanted to pay the past taxes the problem was that I did not have the money and I was afraid to call the IRS because I didn't want to have them force me to pay when I didn't have the funds.

This was a problem because the letters turned into phone calls and one IRS agent got me to agree to a settlement. He was giving me 120 days to pay as much of my past due taxes as I could and if I showed good faith then the IRS would settle with me for the remaining balance.

I was able to send the IRS $8,000 over the next 120 days (not easy) and then I waited to hear about how they would work the settlement but I was in for a nasty surprise. The IRS took the entire $8,000 I had sent them and applied it to late penalties and interest. They did not reduce my total tax bill by one dime and I was out all that money! How crooked is that!

That is when I got online and found an IRS Debt Settlement Company. Here are the advantages I found: 1. They communicated with the IRS for me. I was not on the phone again with an IRS agent.

2. They knew how the IRS worked so they were smarter then I could have ever been. They filed the right papers for me and all but wiped out my penalties and interest fees saving me well over $10,000.

3. They were able to get me to a manageable payment plan within about 5 months and I paid them about $1,500 from start to finish and they not only got the penalties wiped out but got me a reduction in the owed tax so I came out thousands of dollars ahead and stopped all the harassment.

If I had it all to do over again I would not have put off contacting an IRS Debt Settlement Company, this does not have to be anyone local, you can find a great company online.