IRS notice LT11 is intent to levy notice the IRS sends if it plans to seize your assets. You normally only get this notice if you have seriously delinquent tax debt that you have not tried to resolve. It references a tax period for which you owe taxes. The IRS must send you a notice the first time, for each tax and period; it intends to collect by taking your property. The IRS normally cannot take your property unless it provides you notice before hand.

Under the law, the IRS must take the following steps at least 30 days before seizing any assets:

• Offer you a written notice of the intent to levy and explain your right to appeal
• Include details of the motive for the levy, the seizure process, and your options.
• Send the notice personally or send it to your law known address via registered mail.

However, there are exceptions to the 30-day rule with the following exceptions: state tax refunds, if the IRS feels the collection of tax is at risk, Disqualified Employment Tax Levies (DETL), and federal contractor levies.

What to do when you receive an LT11 Notice

• If you can pay the unsettled amount, make the payment to prevent interest and penalties. However, if you cannot afford the amount they are charging, you can also contact them to talk about the possibility of setting up a payment plan.
• If you can’t make the payment, you should call the IRS to let them know. You may find their contact number in the notice.
• Ensure you inform them if you already settled the amount due. Send the IRS evidence of payment to the address provided in the LT11 Notice.

How Long Do You Have to Respond to LT11?

The IRS offers you 30 days to reply to LT 11. The final date for a response is indicated on the left side of the letter, next to the amount you owe. If you do not take action by that date, the IRS may issue a lien on your assets or start seizing them.

What Are the Options With LT11?

LT11 typically come Form 12153, Request a Collection Due Process Hearing. If you think that you don’t owe the amount on Letter 11, you can appeal the bill with this form. With an appeal, the IRS will appoint an appeals representative to go over your return, and the case may go to Tax Court. If you agree with the amount due, you can pay the bill in full.

What Happens If You Ignore LT11?

The IRS can fix a levy to your wages or bank accounts up to the amount owed. They can also take enforced collection action to collect the amount including the filing of a Notice of Federal Tax Lien. A lien is a public notice to your creditors that the government has a right to your interests in your existing assets and any assets you acquire after they file the lien. Unfortunately, this can affect your credit score and your ability to get credit.

Based on the amount you owe, your US passport may also be at risk. The IRS has the ability to revoke or deny your passport.

As stated above, if you disregard this letter or refuse to pay, the IRS has the right to seize your assets. In addition, you risk losing your passport.

Under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, the IRS may seize your passport if you refuse to pay taxes. If you don’t have a passport, the IRS can stop you from getting one.

What Assets Can the IRS Take If You Don’t Pay Your Taxes?

• Property (cars, homes, personal property)
• Rights to property
• Funds in bank accounts
• Social Security benefits
• Wages from your employer
• Contractor or vendor payments due to you
• Employee travel advances
• Commissions
• Retirement benefits
• Government retirement benefits from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

If you have already paid

• If you already paid in full or think the IRS hasn’t credited a payment, send proof of that payment to the IRS at the address on the notice.
• You’ll then want to follow up with the IRS. Call them to ensure they have received your payment and have properly applied it to your account.

What If You Don’t Have Enough Money to Pay Your Tax Debt?

If you can’t afford to make the payment in full, make contact with the IRS to arrange a payment plan.

To get assistance with this process, call the number at the top of the page. Tax professionals can stop the levy process and help you deal with your tax debt.

If you haven’t paid, or can’t afford to pay

Interest and applicable penalties will keep accruing until your balance is paid in full. The IRS says you can “Quickly and without difficulty, pay your balance online”! I’m guessing that if you haven’t paid yet, you can’t afford to. A mistake a lot of people make at this point is borrowing money from a friend or family member to pay off the balance. If you can’t afford to pay your tax due, this is the appropriate time to negotiate with the IRS. Not later, when you could have more money in the bank. When trying to discuss payment options with the IRS, they will look at your current assets and liabilities. The less you have, the less you can pay for.

Tax negotiation options

Below are the most regular tools used to agree on a debt or repay it over time. A legal opinion may be useful to find and implement the optimum course of action:

• An Installment Agreement is a monthly payment program
• An Offer in Compromise is a onetime lump sum payment, negotiated down from the current amount you owe
• Currently non-collectible will put the IRS at bay for a while
• Sometimes, bankruptcy can discharge certain IRS tax debts
• First time penalty abatement can reduce the amount you owe
• There is only a certain amount of time that the IRS has to collect on the tax debt. This is called a CSED (Collection Statute Expiration Date).
• You might not actually owe the tax! If you assume the tax has been calculated incorrectly, you may be able to succeed in audit reconsideration.

If you don’t agree

Sometimes, the IRS can make mistakes. Perhaps you don’t agree with the amount owed, or you have already paid but the IRS applied your payment wrongly. You can request an appeal to the proposed levy action by following the instructions on the letter.

What happens if you fail to do take appropriate steps

When the due date has passed, the IRS can start levying your bank accounts, garnishing your wages and may issue a Notice of Federal Tax Lien. Since the creditors will be informed that the government has rights to your present and any future assets you may have, your credit score will be greatly affected. There is also a possibility that IRS will deny your US passport, but you will be given a separate notice before that takes cause.

You have the right to make a Collections appeal

If you don’t agree with what the LT11 notice is requiring from you or that you have not been given due process, you can file an appeal before collection action takes place Taxpayers request an appeal due to the following:

• They assume that there was an error with the amount being charged to the taxpayer
• A payment was already made but it wasn’t shown on the taxpayer’s account
• Lack of due process

What are the other tax negotiations available?

There are several kinds of tax negation options available if you are looking for other ways to settle your debt.

• Payment Agreement – this is a monthly installment plan that is usually paid for three years
• Offer In Compromise– the IRS will agree to allow you pay your debt at a lesser amount
• Currently Not-Collectible– the IRS will put your tax debt temporarily on hold. They review this every two years.
• First Time Penalty Abatement- this can also lower the amount that you owe