IRS Form 433-A
Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-Employed
Form 433-A is the IRS's primary financial disclosure form for individuals. It asks for every account, asset, income source, and monthly expense you have. The IRS uses 433-A to calculate your 'reasonable collection potential' — the amount they believe they can extract from you over the next 10 years. Every Offer in Compromise and most installment agreements over $50,000 require it.
Wage earners, self-employed taxpayers, and sole proprietors who owe federal tax and are negotiating an Offer in Compromise, a larger installment agreement, or Currently Not Collectible status.
Tax Attorney · Villanova University School of Law · Admitted in Delaware, New Jersey, United States Tax Court
What's at Stake With Form 433-A
Form 433-A is signed under penalty of perjury. Understatement of assets or overstatement of expenses can trigger fraud penalties and criminal exposure. Overstatement of your ability to pay locks you into payments you can't sustain.
How to File Form 433-A Correctly
- 1Gather 3 months of bank statements, pay stubs, and bills
The IRS requires substantiation for almost every line. Pull 3 months of every account and every recurring expense before you start.
- 2Use IRS Collection Financial Standards for expenses
The IRS will only allow housing, transportation, food, and out-of-pocket healthcare up to published national/local standards. Listing actual expenses above those numbers won't help you.
- 3Disclose every asset — including retirement accounts
401(k)s, IRAs, life insurance cash value, and cryptocurrency must be listed. Omissions are how taxpayers end up with criminal referrals.
- 4Calculate dissipated assets carefully
If you spent assets that should have gone to the IRS in the prior 3 years, the IRS will add them back to your offer. A tax attorney can characterize these correctly.
- 5Review with a tax attorney before signing
Once submitted, the 433-A defines your collection picture for years. Errors are expensive and very hard to undo.
Why File Form 433-A With a Tax Attorney
Once you sign IRS paperwork, every fact you disclosed becomes evidence. Privilege protects the conversation before you commit.
Collection Financial Standards, RCP math, and ACS vs. Field Collection rules change what number you should put on this form.
Direct-debit triggers, dissipated-asset addbacks, AMT preference items — most of the cost of these forms is in what you didn't know to negotiate.
If the IRS rejects, defaults, or audits you off this form, we represent you through Appeals, Tax Court, or U.S. District Court.
Costly Mistakes With Form 433-A
Listing actual expenses above IRS Collection Financial Standards instead of the allowed amount.
Forgetting to list retirement accounts, life insurance, or cryptocurrency.
Submitting without the required 3 months of supporting documents.
Filing 433-A when 433-A (OIC) is what's needed for an Offer in Compromise.
Frequently Asked Questions About Form 433-A
Any Offer in Compromise, any installment agreement above the streamlined threshold (~$50,000), Currently Not Collectible status, and most negotiations with a revenue officer require Form 433-A.
Form 433-F is a shorter version used by the IRS Automated Collection System (ACS) for smaller balances. Form 433-A is more detailed and required when working with a revenue officer or filing an Offer in Compromise (with the 433-A (OIC) variant).
The IRS will fall back to the national/local Collection Financial Standards. Some expenses (housing, utilities, transportation) are allowed up to standard amounts even without receipts.
The IRS can levy retirement accounts in some circumstances, and they will count the equity in calculating your collection potential. A tax attorney can argue for exclusion based on hardship or characterize the accounts to protect them.
Related IRS Forms
Related IRS Notices
Primary Sources & Authority
We cite the underlying IRS publications and statutes so you can verify everything on this page.