Guess you didn't read, per Galluss's and Tamianth's posts from the IRS page: The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any tax due via the U.S. mail.
I'm familiar with the compromise tax thing and have gone thru it 2 years ago. (unsuccessfully I might add) I think in your case I would be very hesitant in sending them a copy of an actual tax return. I don't think they need the returns, just the offer forms and validating hardship papers needed to consider lowering taxes.
I had 2 calls from them. First call, I had accidentally put the current date/year down as 1914 instead of 2014. They wanted my RECORDED approval to correct it. Second call came months later asking if I wanted to make any last minute changes to my offer amount before their decision is made.
I ask if I could lower my offer since I had been off work with a broken arm and the bills lowered my assets and she told me to download a copy of a request to modify form, change the offer amount, give cause, sign and date it, and fax it to them. That's the only telephone calls I got and they still turned me down flat......They withhold monthly payments from my pay check until Tax amount, fines and penalties are paid. Their letter said that they had found that my ability to pay over an extended period of time was within my capabilities and liabilities. I don't like those people!
And perhaps you didn't read my posts when stating that 10 years of not filing taxes brought on the Compromise proposal. The IRS first notified in a letter showing 2 years of unfiled taxes. This brought on further research in finding out that a total of 10 years were not filed. In my post I stated that I had to file 10 years of 1040 tax forms after getting copies of employer tax information from the IRS. With that, the forms were filed resulting in a bill from the IRS bringing on a need to submit tax form 656 Offer of compromise. Of course the IRS will always send written notification of taxes.....just as they did with my sons. Then, the exchange of phone calls began. Yet, if you will read a little further, each of their post reference unknown scammers and callers not consistent with an ongoing investigation or case existing of any type, let alone an ongoing formal proposal for compromise. A call from the wild blue claiming taxes owed and demanding immediate payment through threats and intimidation is what the posts mainly covered. If what part of their posts did they refer to or reference the IRS concerning the process Compromise which is entirely what my posts refer to, based upon the initial starting threads of this subject concerning the Compromise center in Memphis, Tennessee. Each state that the IRS will never initiate a phone call for tax collections. Granted...no argument here. But once Pandora's box is opened through being notified by mail or by the citizen contacting the IRS, the IRS will indeed call you for information or input.......but never to collect. Take your next shot, I'm ready.
That first line should have read that the IRS will ALWAYS contact you via USPS mail first - NEVER by phone call. This is not about people who have contacted the IRS previously about making arrangements to pay - this is about the INITIAL contact made by the IRS!
In re-reading each of the Posts that you reference, I see where the posts center on the IRS never making initial contact via phone call. I read posts stating the IRS never calls to collect. I see where the IRS will always send written notifications of any taxes due via us mail. I have never argued those points. Would you show me on my posts where I have denied any of this? If you will re-read my posts you may ascertain that the entire point of my postings was concerning telephone calls from the IRS Offer Compromise center in Memphis, Tennessee. I have pointed out that once a case in ongoing, it is not uncommon for the IRS to make a phone call rather than delay the process. It has happened to my son during his ongoing Compromise case as well as others. I have invited others to call the IRA and check out the Compromise center in Memphis. Yet this seems out of the question to some. Call the 1-866 number and listen to the gov menu. Talk to someone in the Center. Call the phone number on the IRS site that gives you the toll free number to inquire about the Offer to Compromise. It's a simple deal. Or is it just easier to bash someone because they don't agree with you. Your last sentence. "The IRS will always send taxpayers a written notification of any due via the U.S. Mail." Can you show me a single sentence of my posts where I have argued or denied that statement. I can show you statements where I supported this well known point. Can you show me where the IRS says that they will never call a person for any other reason? I have carefully read the posts. Once again, my entire point began and has continued to be that of the IRS Offer Compromise center in Memphis, and the fact that these are ongoing cases submitted by people asking for a lower settlement, in which they have submitted a for 656 in compromise offer in response to written notification by the IRS of a tax deficiency, and that they will in fact call people with reference to the proposal.