but you know what, you're not in jail. I suppose there is always that upside. There's a 10-year statute of limitations on collection of tax debt. But the IRS

but you know what, you're not in jail. I suppose there is always that upside. There's a 10-year statute of limitations on collection of tax debt. But the IRS know that too, and usually make spirited efforts to get theirs sometime before then. The only thing that works in my favour, if you can call it that, is that there's nothing to take. My net worth is negative even without the tax debt, and cash flow abysmal besides. I don't know whether to be grateful or not. If I had a house, a yacht, a retirement account, a stock portfolio or something else I could give them to make this go away, I'd much prefer to do that than pay monstrous debt + interest for a reasonable approximation of forever. Obviously, I am making efforts to settle it and enter into a long-term installment agreement. The first thing that has to happen is to contain the damage and be current on the current year. That's been impossible to do while being prostrated by legal expenses associated with the ongoing divorce, but would otherwise have been quite doable. Besides that, it's a process that involves catching up on some not-yet-filed returns (money) and getting tax attorneys to lift a few fingers (lots of money). I just need some more time to get the other obstacles in life squared away before I can afford to enter a full-time live-to-serve-the-IRS regime. In principle I have no objection to doing this. It's my problem to own. Unfortunately, state agencies don't necessarily operate on one's preferred schedule. They'll ignore/stonewall you when you want to talk to them and make a deal, and come levy bank accounts when you're at your lowest point and most need cash. Commonly, some computer is doing this to you and there isn't even a lot of human agency behind the collections process, and thus few places to cry uncle.