Like many people, I have a healthy skepticism for infomercials or to-good-to-be-true schemes, so when I kept hearing Alan Thicke – famous for the 1980’s show “Growing Pains,” marrying a Miss World, and the real life dad to pop star Robin Thicke – pitch a tax forgiveness program, I dismissed it. I assumed it was probably another borderline-legal payday loan scheme, reverse mortgage concoction, or debt forgiveness system which prey on fiscally at-risk and naive.

The pitch was about a “Fresh Start Program” offered by the IRS which, it turns out, is a real thing. The basic tenants of the program are to allow for taxpayers to satisfy their back taxes and avoid tax liens on their property. There are three main elements to the program: first, the IRS will, in many cases, hold off on filing a Notice of Federal Tax Lien on amounts up to $10,000.00 which means a delay in the IRS attempts at collection. Secondly, the taxpayer can have up to 72 months of installment payments to pay back taxes up to $50,000.00. Longer installments or back taxes greater than $50,000.00 require some additional disclosures and scrutiny by the IRS. Finally, the program allows for the taxpayer to enter into an Offer in Compromise to pay-off back taxes for less than the amount they owe. That determination is made by the IRS if the Offer in Compromise is a better or more secure outcome for the IRS than other options.

Mr. Thicke is in the celebrity pitchman for a tax preparation company which specializes in the Fresh Start Program, but what he says about it has merit. For individuals who have gone through a lengthy and difficult divorce, they may have tax liabilities which arose before they had the financial resources to properly address them.  The IRS Fresh Start Program may be a viable option to offer some relief and stability to such individuals before they incur the adverse credit event of a Notice of Federal Tax Lien or collection attempts by the IRS. It is certainly worth exploring with your attorney and tax professional.