How many offers in compromise does the IRS really accept?

The IRS offer in compromise program has been promoted endlessly over the last several years. Turn on your television, open up the newspaper, or listen to the radio, and there it is.  
My clients usually are very interested in the compromise program, but the first thing I do is set them straight that this is [...]

IRS by the numbers

IRS enforced collection activity continues to heat up.  Compromise settlements are down by 70% while bad debt accounts continue to accumulate.  Here are the numbers:
1.     779,000 taxpayer accounts were assigned to the IRS collection queue.
2.     The number of offers in compromises accepted by the IRS declined by 70% from 2001 (38,643) to 2007 (11,618).
3.     [...]