The time limit for the IRS to collect taxes is Ten Years from the time you file the tax return.
The IRS only has ten years from the date a tax is assessed to collect it from you. The IRS refers to this statute of limitation as the Collection Expiration Date. The ten years starts from the date of assessment, usually a week or so after the tax return is received.
Please note that if you do not file a tax return the ten year collection statute never starts.
The Cock Can Stop Running
There are a few actions that will stop the IRS statute of collection from running. For instance, any time that you are in bankruptcy, have an offer in compromise pending or a request for a collection due process hearing in the IRS statute of collection will stop running extending the ten year time frame. Basically, any time the IRS is barred from pursuing collection of the tax debt, like while you have an offer in compromise pending, the collection statute will not be running.
If You're Close to the Limit, Do Nothing
This means that if you are near to running the ten year statute of limitations the worst thing you can do is submit an offer in compromise. You would be much better off just letting the collection statute expire.
If you would like to know the exact date that your IRS collection statute will expire I will provide this information to you as a part of my free consultation. Just give me a call at 866-353-2257 and I'd be glad to get that information for you.