Easy Street Check out the IRS' new options for tax-debt management. You'll drive away happy--and compliant!

If the "new and improved" IRS doesn't impress youmuch, take another look. Changes are taking place that are designedto make it easier to pay the taxes you owe.

The IRS still expects all taxpayers to pay their taxes on timeeach year, and it still charges interest and penalties if you failto do so. Nothing new there. But if you find yourself in a realfinancial bind, there are a few payment options that have recentlybeen changed a bit to make them more customer-friendly.

In fact, the IRS, feeling pressure from lawmakers to be nicer totaxpayers, is reportedly going a bit easier on the collection ofunpaid taxes. Take a look at recent IRS statistics: In thenine-month period ending July 31, 1999, the IRS seized property tosatisfy overdue taxes only 180 times, down from 2,193 seizures in acomparable period one year earlier. Garnishments of paychecks andlevies of bank accounts in the later nine-month period fell to488,834, down from 2.8 million one year earlier. Liens, which arewhat the IRS claims against property, went from 331,843 in theprevious nine-month period to 143,747.