The road to tax relief can sometimes be traveled by filing an Offer in Compromise, or OIC, with the Internal Revenue Service.  An OIC is a proposal to the IRS. You are asking them to allow you to pay less than what you owe. Example: You owe the IRS $125,000 and you file an OIC with an offer to pay $35,000. If they accept it you will only pay $35,000 and your IRS debt will be permanently settled.