What mainly distinguishes the Offer in Compromise and the Voluntary Payment Agreement is the temperature of the hot water that precedes them. Seekers of an offer in compromise usually do not have criminal prosecution hanging over their heads. However, with the voluntary payment agreement, criminal tax offenders can “fall on their sword,” plus, like seekers of the offer in compromise, can negotiate for a reduced tax liability amount, void of the interest and penalties normally attributed — and most importantly, without time served.

Voluntary payment agreements are mostly requested by employers or business owners. Agreements usually derive from extreme cases of  trust fund or payroll liability abuse, employee misclassification as independent contractors, or tax liability owed from a decade of underreported or unreported income. If a criminally negligent taxpayer promises strict compliance going forward, a voluntary payment negotiation is often possible to reduce a considerable amount of their extreme tax debt.