I am Michael L. (Mike) Davis. In late 2002 I retired from the IRS after 30 years of service, the last 11 as an OIC Specialist/Examiner. Now I am an Enrolled Agent, meaning I am enrolled to practice before the IRS (in effect, licensed by the IRS to represent taxpayers).

As an IRS OIC Examiner, I had no choice but to reject many inadequate OICs which could not possibly be accepted and, therefore, never should have been submitted. Some of these dead-on-arrival OICs were prepared by taxpayers without professional help, but the great majority of them were prepared by attorneys, CPAs and, most of all, large firms which sell OIC services through TV commercials and impressive websites. At the IRS we had a name for firms which submitted large numbers of unacceptable OICs. We called them "offer mills," and we felt sorry for the people who paid sizable fees to them.

During my last several years as an IRS OIC Examiner, I worked in an office with approximately twenty other Examiners. Most of them were fair, reasonable and competent, but others were not. Some of the Examiners search diligently for reasons to reject offers, and they almost always find one. Therefore, the fate of an OIC can be determined, in large part, by the luck of the draw, meaning, which IRS OIC Examiner is it assigned to (a "good" one or a "bad" one). It was no surprise to me, but I have encountered the same problem as an Enrolled Agent representing taxpayers for whom I have submitted Offers in Compromise. For example, IRS OIC Examiners normally require a great deal of financial information and documentation from taxpayers who submit Offers in Compromise, but some of them make burdensome, even unreasonable requests. Believe me, the OIC process is long and difficult, even for someone with my high level of expertise, and the outcome is never a certainty. Beware of anyone who tells you otherwise!