You can be denied a passport if you have a "seriously delinquent tax debt" of over approximately $62,000 (for 2024/2025), which includes taxes, penalties, and interest, and the IRS has filed a lien and exhausted administrative remedies. This triggers the IRS to certify your name to the State Department, which can then deny a new application or revoke an existing passport.
The State Department may also deny a taxpayer's passport application or revoke their current passport. If taxpayers with certified tax debts are overseas, the State Department may issue a limited-validity passport allowing the taxpayer to return directly to the United States.
The IRS escalates its collection efforts when the amount owed exceeds $25,000, which can result in severe penalties such as asset seizure, bank levy, wage garnishment, and even passport revocation. If you're unsure how much you owe, you can find more information and guidance here.
If you owe more than $59,000 in tax debt (including penalties and interest), your name could end up on the IRS's certification list which is a serious red flag for the State Department. Once that happens, your ability to renew or use your passport may be put on hold, or worse, revoked.
Generally, the U.S. Department of State will not issue passports to taxpayers after receiving their delinquent debt certification from the IRS. The U.S. Department of State may also deny a taxpayer's passport application or revoke their current passport.
Yes, you can get a passport with debt, but seriously delinquent federal tax debt (over ~$66,000 as of 2024-2025) or over $2,500 in child support arrears can lead to passport denial or revocation; regular credit card debt or other non-governmental debts usually won't stop you unless tied to a court order or felony warrant. The IRS notifies the State Department of serious tax debt, triggering denial, but you can resolve it by paying, setting up payment plans, or disputing it with the IRS to get your passport back, notes Omni Tax Help and IRS.gov.
Yes, you can be denied a passport if you owe back taxes. Not only can you be denied when applying for a new passport, but your renewal may also be turned down. However, there is some leeway in how these actions are deployed. Instead of an automatic denial, your application will be held for 90 days.
We cannot refund the passport application fee and the execution fee. By law, we collect both fees and keep them even if a passport is not issued.
The duration of being flagged by TSA or CBP can vary widely depending on the circumstances and the reason for the flagging. In some cases, being flagged may only last for a single trip or a short period, while in other cases, it could persist for an extended period or even indefinitely.
One-time forgiveness, officially known as First-Time Penalty Abatement (FTA), is an IRS program that allows qualified taxpayers to have certain penalties removed from their tax accounts.
Notices – The IRS will start sending you notices a month or two after you miss a tax deadline. Penalties and interest – If you don't respond to notices for missed tax payments, you'll continue to accrue penalties and interest.
If the Secretary of the Treasury let us know you have seriously delinquent tax debt, we cannot issue a U.S. passport to you. We may also revoke your valid U.S. passport. If you are in a foreign country, you may be eligible for a limited-validity passport for direct return to the United States.
The IRS Fresh Start Program helps individual taxpayers by allowing those who owe up to $50,000 to repay their taxes through monthly direct debit payments over 72 months, while also preventing further collection actions like liens and levies. How much does it cost to set up an IRS installment agreement?
Passport restrictions are law, and the IRS has now put procedures in place to continuously enforce the program. This means that if you find yourself with seriously delinquent tax debt in the future, you can expect the IRS to start the process with the State Department to restrict your passport.
Passport denial or passport revocation
If you have what the IRS classifies as a seriously delinquent tax bill, the government can stop you from getting, renewing, or using your passport. Since 2018, the IRS has been able to flag (or certify) anyone who owes the IRS a large amount of money.
Your application will be rejected and you won't get a refund if: we withdraw your application because we haven't received all the information we've asked for. you're not entitled to a passport. you miss your appointment - you'll need to withdraw your application, apply and pay again.
Under the program, the federal Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) submits a record of parents certified by a state as having arrearages exceeding $2,500 to the State Department. The State Department denies the parents U.S. passports upon application or the use of a passport service.
Their latest strategy is an implementation of the FAST Act. Simply put, if you owe more than $50,000 to the IRS, the IRS can seize your passport, thus prohibiting your ability to travel outside the U.S. This can be particularly problematic if you frequently travel overseas or have a residence in another country.
The detail that causes most gate denials is the validity window printed on the passport, tied to both the expiration date and, in some places, the issue date. Many governments require extra validity beyond the planned stay, such as three months after departure or six months after arrival.
How to Ascertain my Passport Status? If you need to verify whether your US passport has been cancelled or revoked, contact the State Department by calling the National Passport Information Center at 877-487-2778.
Certain court orders, being convicted of a felony, or if you're wanted on an arrest warrant, can also result in a passport denial. A convicted felon you would also need to check with their parole office before applying for a passport.
The background and security checks include collecting fingerprints and requesting a “name check” from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
Refusal on identity grounds: you cannot confirm identity
If the customer cannot provide enough evidence to confirm their identity, you must consider: if there are genuine reasons why (for example, they would be put at risk if they tried to get the evidence)