Home |IRS Tax Return | My girlfriend gets paid through her school and it was all initially untaxed, now she owes $8,000 in taxes. I don't have money to pay it for her or I would. She can do a payment plan but she makes little to no money. Keeping up with the $8,000 even in installments and now on top of her rent and bills is near impossible.

My girlfriend gets paid through her school and it was all initially untaxed, now she owes $8,000 in taxes. I don't have money to pay it for her or I would. She can do a payment plan but she makes little to no money. Keeping up with the $8,000 even in installments and now on top of her rent and bills is near impossible.

Robert James, 20+ years of experience in IRS matters
Answered on September 16,2023

With $8,000 in tax debt she would need to pay about $115 a month for a standard IRS payment plan.

However she may be able to get a much lower payment amount, like $25 a month for now, if she calls IRS and tells them she cannot afford the standard amount.

She also may qualify for Currently Not Collectible status, which is a temporary status where IRS won't require any payments if she's not making enough to pay her living expenses and the tax debt.

Before calling IRS she can download and fill out Form 433-F:

Currently Not Collectible

For some of the expenses she can use the allowable amounts here:

Collection Financial Standards

The problem with any of these options is that interest and penalties will still accrue. She also needs to stay on top of filing tax returns on time - she needs to stay in compliance with IRS, even if she can't pay.

It's also important that she try to put some money aside to cover the Doordash income, since no taxes are withheld from that. It's not a good idea to get further and further in tax debt.

If she needs help with payment options, she can contact her local Low Income Taxpayer Clinic:

Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITC)

She may qualify for First time penalty abatement for this year, which will get rid of Failure to Pay penalties but not interest. The interest rate itself is 7% per year right now; with Failure to Pay penalties it's roughly equivalent to a 13% APR credit card. She should wait until she pays the original tax balance due to request penalty abatement.

Penalty Relief due to First Time Abate or Other Administrative Waiver

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