An IRS levy is the legal seizure of a taxpayer’s property to satisfy his or her tax debt. The IRS may garnish wages, seize and sell real and personal property, and take money in any bank or financial account under the legal authority of a levy, which is given to the IRS in I.R.C. § 6331. The IRS may levy any property owned by a taxpayer, or on which there is a Federal tax lien, unless the property is exempt from levy.
Discharging, Withdrawing, And Subordinating A Federal Tax Lien
A federal tax lien is the government’s legal claim against your property when a taxpayer neglects or fails to pay a tax debt. A federal tax lien exists after the IRS assesses liability, i.e. puts a balance due on its books, and sends the taxpayer a Notice and Demand for Payment, a bill that explains how much tax is owed. If the full debt isn’t paid in a timely manner, the IRS files a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, a public notice, to notify creditors and other interested parties that the government has a legal right in a taxpayer’s property. When conditions are in the best interest of both the government and the taxpayer, other options for reducing the impact of a lien exist: