What type of fees have to be paid to the IRS just for the opportunity to work some kind of deal for the different types of things you mentioned? It's a hundred and twenty dollar application fee just to set up an installment agreement with them. So, to set up an interest payment plan, you have to pay them. It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense since pre-filing. There are just a lot of fees with the IRS - penalties, fees, interest. The best thing to do is to reduce the debt, settle on the debt, and get into a non-interest repayment.