Is the IRS Fresh Start Program/Offer in Compromise worth pursuing if I think the government actually owes me money?

The IRS Fresh Start Program and Offer in Compromise (OIC) are indeed designed for taxpayers who owe money to the IRS, not for situations where the IRS might owe you refunds. If you haven't filed for several years but had taxes withheld from your paychecks, your first step should be filing those back tax returns. There's a good chance you're owed refunds rather than owing additional taxes. However, keep in mind that you can only claim refunds within 3 years of the original due date. For example, you have until April 2026 to claim any refund for tax year 2022. I'd be cautious about any unsolicited calls claiming you qualify for the Fresh Start program. These are often from tax resolution companies trying to sell services, not from the IRS directly. The IRS typically communicates through mail, not phone calls. Your best approach would be to get those returns filed ASAP to claim any refunds you're entitled to before they expire. If you need help, consider using a tax preparation service or consulting with a tax professional.

I had a similar situation last year with unfiled returns where I was expecting refunds. What really helped me was using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to sort through my old documents and figure out what I was actually owed. Their system analyzed my tax documents and wage statements from previous years and showed me exactly what refunds I could still claim and which ones I'd unfortunately missed the deadline on. The service breaks down the status of each tax year and calculates potential refunds, which really cleared up my confusion about what I could still get back. In my case, I was able to claim about $3,700 in refunds that I didn't realize I was eligible for from the past few years, but unfortunately lost about $1,200 from an older return.

Just wanted to follow up and say I checked out taxr.ai after asking about it. I was actually able to recover W-2 information I thought was long gone! My situation was pretty similar - hadn't filed for 3 years but had been having taxes withheld from my paycheck the whole time. The analysis showed I'm owed about $4,250 in refunds that I can still claim (two years' worth), plus confirmed I'd lost about $1,800 from my oldest unfiled year since it was past the 3-year limit. The breakdown made everything super clear, and they generated draft returns I could review before filing. Honestly relieved to finally have this sorted out after dreading it for so long.

If you end up discovering you do actually owe the IRS after filing (which happens sometimes even with withholding if you had other income sources), and need to get through to them to discuss payment options, don't waste days trying to call them directly. I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to finally get an IRS agent on the phone after trying for weeks on my own. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was in a situation where I thought I'd be getting refunds, but after filing my back taxes, I discovered I actually owed about $5,200 due to some freelance work I'd done that didn't have taxes withheld. The IRS kept sending me notices but I could never get through on the phone. Claimyr had me speaking with an actual IRS representative in about 25 minutes, and I was able to set up a payment plan right away.

I was wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it because I've been trying to reach the IRS about a notice I received for months with no success. I hate admitting when I'm wrong, but it actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back in about 30 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. I was able to explain my situation about unfiled returns and the agent walked me through exactly what I needed to do, confirmed which years I could still get refunds for, and explained some penalty abatement options I didn't know existed. Saved me from paying a tax pro hundreds of dollars just to get basic information. Sometimes being a skeptic means you miss out on services that actually do what they claim.

Just a warning based on personal experience - be super careful about unsolicited calls regarding tax relief programs! I got a similar call last year about qualifying for the "Fresh Start" program and it turned out to be a company that charged me $1,500 upfront and did absolutely nothing. They kept saying they were "working on my case" but after 6 months, they hadn't even filed my back taxes. The real IRS Fresh Start program does exist, but it's for people who OWE money, not for claiming refunds. And the IRS doesn't call people to offer it - that's just not how they operate. If you're expecting refunds, just file your back taxes and claim what you can before the 3-year deadline expires.

Quick tip from someone who worked in tax prep: File the unfiled returns ASAP using the actual forms for each tax year (don't use current year forms for past years). You can download prior year forms from the IRS website. The sooner you file, the sooner you'll get any refunds you're entitled to. Also, you might need to mail in prior year returns rather than e-file them. And if you're missing W-2s or other tax documents, you can request a "Wage and Income Transcript" from the IRS which shows all information reported to them under your SSN. You can request this online through the IRS website by creating an account at irs.gov.

I'm dealing with a very similar situation right now - about 3 years behind on filing with taxes withheld from my paychecks the whole time. The stress and embarrassment kept me from dealing with it, but I finally started the process last month. One thing I learned that might help you: even though you're probably owed refunds, the IRS may have already filed substitute returns (called Substitute for Return or SFR) on your behalf if you're far enough behind. These automated returns don't include deductions or credits you're entitled to, so they often show you owing money even when you'd actually get refunds if you filed properly. I discovered this when I finally called the IRS and found out they had filed SFRs for two of my missing years, showing I owed about $3,000 total. But when I filed the actual returns with my W-2s and standard deductions, I was actually owed refunds for both years. So don't panic if you get scary notices - just get those proper returns filed as soon as possible to correct the record. The key is acting quickly before more time passes and you lose eligibility for refunds you're entitled to.