IRS NOTICE REFERENCE
Letter 3820
You will receive this letter from the Independent Office of Appeals (Appeals) as an acknowledgement that your Offer in Compromise (OIC) has met the standards for processing your OIC. The Appeals hearing officer who condu…
General information only. Not legal or tax advice.
Notice details
- Notice code
- Letter 3820
- Category
- Installment agreement and collection alternatives
- Severity tier
- Tier 2 — Action or response expected. The IRS has taken or proposed an action and expects a response or payment.
- Governing law
- §6159 (Internal Revenue Code section)
- Source
- IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service
What this notice is
You will receive this letter from the Independent Office of Appeals (Appeals) as an acknowledgement that your Offer in Compromise (OIC) has met the standards for processing your OIC. The Appeals hearing officer who conducted your Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing will remain assigned to your CDP case.
Source: IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service. Reproduced for reference. General information — not legal or tax advice.
What the IRS says to do
The letter will have instructions on what to expect and how to respond. If you have any questions, you can call the person listed at the top of your letter. If you chose the Periodic Payment option on Form 656, Offer in Compromise, the remaining balance after your initial payment must be paid within 24 months, according to your proposed offer terms. Under the Periodic Payment option, you must continue to make all subsequent payments while the IRS is evaluating your offer, or the IRS will consider your offer withdrawn. IRS Collection or Appeals may request additional supporting information. You must provide the additional information by the specified deadline or request additional time. If y
This is the IRS’s own guidance reproduced from the IRS notice page. It describes the IRS’s process — it is not legal or tax advice from TaxRiskOS.
Governing IRS procedure (Internal Revenue Manual)
The IRS’s own internal procedures for handling this notice type are documented in the Internal Revenue Manual:
- IRM 5.14.1 — 5.14.1 Securing Installment Agreements
- IRM 5.14.5 — 5.14.5 Streamlined, Guaranteed and In-Business Trust Fund Express Installment Agreements
- IRM 5.14.2 — 5.14.2 Partial Payment Installment Agreements and the Collection Statute Expiration Date (CSED)
Reference to published IRS procedure. General information — not legal or tax advice.
Official IRS reference
Read the official notice page on IRS.gov: https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/notices/letter-3820/
Related tools
TaxRiskOS is workflow software for practitioners — it captures the notice, computes the deadline, surfaces the escalation tier, and builds a document checklist. It documents process; it does not give advice or draft responses.
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