An IRS levy permits the legal seizure of your property to satisfy a tax debt. It can garnish wages, take money in your bank or other financial account, seize and sell your vehicle(s), real estate and other personal property.
You can avoid a levy by filing returns on time and paying your taxes when due. If you need more time to file, you can request an extension. If you can't pay what you owe, you should pay as much as you can and work with the IRS to resolve the remaining balance.
The IRS can no longer simply take your bank account, automobile, or business, or garnish your wages without giving you written notice and an opportunity to challenge its claims. When you challenge an IRS collection action, all collection activity must come to a halt during your administrative appeal.
When the levy is on a bank account, the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provides a 21-day waiting period for complying with the levy. The waiting period is intended to allow you time to contact the IRS and arrange to pay the tax or notify the IRS of errors in the levy.
How Many Times Can the IRS Levy Your Bank Account? Levies are not able to occur after the IRS's 10-year statute of limitations for collecting debts is up. Unfortunately, while in that 10 year period, there is no limit to the amount of times they are able to levy your account.
An IRS levy permits the legal seizure of your property to satisfy a tax debt. It can garnish wages, take money in your bank or other financial account, seize and sell your vehicle(s), real estate and other personal property.
If the IRS denies your request to release the levy, you may appeal this decision. You may appeal before or after the IRS places a levy on your wages, bank account, or other property. After the levy proceeds have been sent to the IRS, you may file a claim to have them returned to you.
Opening New Account Must Be Done Carefully
Opening an account with the same bank, right after a levy, is very risky. The bank may freeze the funds upon deposit, pursuant to the court's execution writ, and you would then be out of luck.
Under federal law, most creditors are limited to garnish up to 25% of your disposable wages. However, the IRS is not like most creditors. Federal tax liens take priority over most other creditors. The IRS is only limited by the amount of money they are required to leave the taxpayer after garnishing wages.
The IRS sends these notices to your last known address, or the agency gives them to you in person at home or work. Once you receive the final notice, the levy may occur after 30 days have passed. In rare cases, the IRS can levy your bank account without providing a 30-day notice of your right to a hearing.
A bank account levy allows a creditor to legally take funds from your bank account. When a bank gets notification of this legal action, it will freeze your account and send the appropriate funds to your creditor. In turn, your creditor uses the funds to pay down the debt you owe.
Here is a link to the IRS website that explains what notice the IRS must give before levying. The good news is that normally the IRS sends you five letters (five for individuals and four for businesses) before actually seizing your assets.
If you owe less than $10,000 to the IRS, your installment plan will generally be automatically approved as a "guaranteed" installment agreement. Under this type of plan, as long as you pledge to pay off your balance within three years, there is no specific minimum payment required.
Yes, the IRS can take your paycheck. It's called a wage levy/garnishment. But – if the IRS is going to do this, it won't be a surprise. The IRS can only take your paycheck if you have an overdue tax balance and the IRS has sent you a series of notices asking you to pay.
IRS procedures prior to garnishment
If you fail to pay this invoice, at some point after you will receive a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and a Notice of Your Right to a Hearing. These last two documents must be sent at least 30 days before the IRS begins to garnish your wages.
The IRS rarely forgives tax debts. Form 656 is the application for an “offer in compromise” to settle your tax liability for less than what you owe. Such deals are only given to people experiencing true financial hardship.
The IRS usually sends several notices before garnishing your wages. These notices are called the IRS collection notice stream (usually 5 IRS notices), and they provide you with several chances over multiple months to pay your tax bill, or set up an agreement with the IRS.
In many states, some IRS-designated trust accounts may be exempt from creditor garnishment. This includes individual retirement accounts (IRAs), pension accounts and annuity accounts. Assets (including bank accounts) held in what's known as an irrevocable living trust cannot be accessed by creditors.
Foreign or "offshore" bank accounts are a popular place to hide both illegal and legally earned income. By law, any U.S. citizen with money in a foreign bank account must submit a document called a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) [source: IRS].
A bank levy can be attached to personal checking and savings accounts as well as business accounts. When the bank receives the levy notice, they are required to freeze current funds up to the amount owed. These funds must be held for 21 days before releasing them to the IRS. A bank levy is a one-time levy.
And for good reason—failing to pay your taxes can lead to hefty fines and increased financial problems. But, failing to pay your taxes won't actually put you in jail. In fact, the IRS cannot send you to jail, or file criminal charges against you, for failing to pay your taxes.
Taxpayers may still qualify for an installment agreement if they owe more than $25,000, but a Form 433F, Collection Information Statement (CIS), is required to be completed before an installment agreement can be considered.
The IRS debt forgiveness program is an initiative set up by the Internal Revenue Services to facilitate repayments and to offer tools and assistance to taxpayers that owe money to the IRS. Only certain people are entitled to tax debt forgiveness, and each person's financial situation needs to be assessed.