IRS Collection Due Process Rights.

The best method to request any IRS accepted tax collection remedy is through collection due process rights procedure- period!  This article discusses what collection due process rights are and how to get collection due process rights.

You Must Understand Basic IRS Collection Procedure, And How To Get Collection Due Process Rights.

IRS cannot levy {involuntarily take} seize your or your business entity’s assets and/or income, until IRS first certified mail serves you with a Final Notice of Intent to Levy for each tax period you, or your business entity, have an assessed but open unpaid balance due.  There are a few exceptions that usually do not apply.  You have 30 days from the date on IRS’ Final Notice of Intent to Levy, to file IRS Form 12153 to request collection due process rights (click upper left arrow after reading):
IRS Form 12153 Request For Collection Due Process Hearing  
I strongly advise that you file for collection due process rights by certified mail, return receipt requested, and keep timely certified mail filing proof so that you can prove you timely filed.  Type the certified mail article number on the bottom of page one of Form 12153.   If you fail to request collection due process rights within 30 days from an IRS Final Notice of Intent to Levy, then IRS is free to levy take your assets/income thereafter without any further notice to you.  See my separate article “Final Notice of Intent to Levy – How To Stop IRS from Levy”, to the left of this article, for more details.

What Are Collection Due Process Rights?

Collection due process rights are your legal right to argue before IRS levy seizure of your assets/income, that IRS should not levy seize your assets/income, rather, IRS should accept your less intrusive collection remedy like offer in compromise, installment agreement, innocent spouse relief, or currently not collectible status.  Individuals and business entities are entitled to collection due process rights.  If you certified mail file Form 12153 for collection due process rights within 30 days from IRS’ Final Notice of Intent to Levy, your IRS tax collection case is transferred out of the nearly impossible to deal with IRS Collection Division, to the usually more reasonable and more experienced IRS Appeals Division.    Based on current trends, IRS Appeals will delay working and completing of your collection due process case for ten or more months after you certified mail file your Form 12153.

If you certified mail file Form 12153 within 30 days from an IRS Final Notice of Intent to Levy, IRS is barred as a matter of law from levy seizing your assets/income for the duration of your collection due process case plus 30 days after it ends by IRS Appeals’ Notice of Determination.  If you disagree with IRS Appeals’ Notice of Determination, you have 30 days from the Notice of Determination date to sue IRS by filing a “petition” in United States Tax Court, and if done IRS is further barred from levy seizing your assets/income until your United States Tax Court case ends.

Collection due process rights are by far the best method to request IRS acceptance of any collection remedy you desire.  In a collection due process case, whatever collection remedy you desire to file will be filed directly to IRS Appeals, rather than the hard headed rejection oriented IRS Collection Division.   In addition, timely filing for collection due process rights gets you the right to challenge an IRS Appeals’ Notice of Determination rejection, in United States Tax Court litigation if needed. IRS Appeals is more likely to accept your collection remedy, {a} if you have an aggressive tax attorney/CPA like myself representing you, and {b} if you have United States Tax Court litigation jurisdiction through collection due process rights, to challenge an IRS Appeals’ Notice of Determination rejection.  For example, if you or your business files an offer in compromise seeking to settle tax liabilities for pennies on the dollar, and if you file the offer the normal way with IRS’ Collection Division, IRS’ Collection Division will likely reject it, then you may appeal, and if IRS Appeals later also rejects your offer your case is lost – no United States Tax Court litigation jurisdiction in a non-collection due process offer in compromise.  Conversely, if IRS Appeals’ Notice of Determination rejects your collection due process offer in compromise, you can challenge IRS Appeals’ rejection in United States Tax Court!   Only through collection due process rights can an IRS Appeals’ rejected collection remedy like offer in compromise or installment installment agreement, or sometimes disputing liability, be challenged in United States Tax Court litigation.   I have had huge success in quickly getting IRS lawyers to reasonable settle collection due process litigation, without the need to conduct expensive litigation discovery or pre-trial motions practice or prepare/conduct a trial.

The  Bottom Line.

IRS’ Collection Division is mean and angry, difficult to deal with, and you need a fair level battle field to engage IRS in collection remedy request practice.   If you face IRS’ Collection Division and later Appeals Division the normal way, not through collection due process procedure, IRS is far more likely to reject your collection remedy desired.   Conversely, if you face IRS Appeals Division through collection due process procedure, you are spared the waste of time and legal expense of fighting IRS’ Collection Division, only to end up in IRS Appeals anyway, and you get collection due process rights protection of no levy seizure of your assets/income during the pendency of your collection due process case.   Also, you get United States Tax Court litigation jurisdiction if you need it, and you may indeed need it.

I advise you call me for a free telephone consultation to discuss your case facts. You will be glad you called, and you have no obligation to hire me.  Toll Free:  (877) 895-2950.