I owe money to the IRS, can I discharge that when I file bankruptcy?

There answer to that question is that it depends. Have all of the related returns (i.e. all your tax returns for the tax years for which these taxes are owed) been on file at least 3 years? If the answer to this question is yes, then you can file bankruptcy and discharge the IRS debt. If the answer is no, you can either (a) wait until it has been 3 years and then file bankruptcy, or (b) try an "Offer in Compromise" now and see what happens. You can find info on Offers in Compromise on www.irs.gov. Or you can hire a tax dispute attorney, to help you try to negotiate a settlement with the IRS. If you decide to go this route, be sure you hire a reputable attorney and not one of the Fly-By-Night organizations that claim to be able to handle tax problems.

Something to keep in mind, if some of this tax debt is for monies withheld from employees' paychecks that you failed to forward to the IRS, then the debt may not be dischargeable.