can anyone answer this?

What is the name of your state? IL
the oic-irs process has been described as that they will work with you, flexable, and so on...very friendly and welcoming, something to dive into, so...
when filing an oic, they give you an allowance for the basics of life, so is the oic process and irs really flexable?

if your trasportation exceeds the allowance, perhaps by $100-150, does the irs allow it or not?
what if you can not document part of your transportation expenses, does the irs allow the entire allowance or not?

is there anything that a person can do you get a better deal?

also, i have been told that the irs tends to not accept oics from people that submit their own oic. yet i have not heard if the irs makes a counter offer...do they?

question...
if a person if going to pay $3,000 or so for a tax pro to fix the tax problem, as a part of the oic or filing returns, is the fee an allowed deduction or oic-expense for the time that it is being paid off?

When I used to help people with OICs (back in my tax acct'g days), I found that it depended on how well the tax acct present the data, how experienced the tax acct was in dealing with the IRS, and who you got at the IRS. I do know that since that time (about 8 years ago), they got a little bit more "user-friendly" due to a serious P.R. problem caused by their nasty practices. However, I don't have any personal present experience with this.

I can't answer the rest of your questions (been too long and I can't remember!).

Good luck! I suggest you make sure your acct is experienced with OICs, and let him/her take care of it. They definitely do know that they can get away with less when they are dealing with someone who knows the ropes, and they will take advantage of those less knowledgeable (at least they used to) when they are able.

Lara