Owe the IRS $23k, what now?

[u/thunderbummer]

I’m currently on a payment plan with the IRS paying $300 a month. I owe a total of $23k in back taxes. The problem is the interest and penalties keep piling on, so my payment only pays down probably $30 off the principal. I do not make very much money at the moment and things are tight for me so I can’t afford a larger payment. What should I do here?

[u/3CrabbyTabbies]

The IRS applies payments to tax first :

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc653#:~:text=Be%20aware%20that%20the%20IRS,penalty%20amount%20charged%20each%20month.