The final notice starts a 30-day clock. Use it.

The notice sequence

IRS collection runs on a series of letters, each more pointed than the last. For an individual balance due it usually looks like this:

• CP14. The first bill after assessment.
• CP501 and CP503. Reminders that the balance is unpaid.
• CP504. Notice of intent to levy. After it, the IRS can take a state tax refund. It does not, by itself, open the door to your paycheck or bank account.
• LT11, Letter 1058, or CP90. The final notice and the notice of your right to a hearing. This is the one required by section 6330 of the Internal Revenue Code before most levies.

Not every taxpayer gets every letter, and notices go to the last address the IRS has on file. A notice you never opened still counts if it was mailed correctly.

The deadline

You have 30 days from the date on the final notice to request a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing. The request is made on Form 12153 and mailed to the address on the notice. Count from the date printed on the letter, not the day it reached your mailbox, and send the request by a method that proves the mailing date.

What you can raise at the hearing

• Collection alternatives: an offer in compromise, an installment agreement, or currently not collectible status.
• Whether the levy is more intrusive than necessary given your finances.
• Spousal defenses, including innocent spouse relief.
• The underlying liability itself, but only if you never received a notice of deficiency or otherwise had no earlier chance to dispute the tax.
• Whether the IRS followed its own procedures in assessing and noticing the debt. Appeals must verify this in every CDP case.

Appeals expects you to be current on filing. Unfiled returns are the most common reason a collection alternative is refused at a hearing, so they are usually the first thing to fix.

If the 30 days have passed

You can still request an equivalent hearing within one year of the notice date. It is held by the same Appeals office and considers the same issues. The differences are significant: levy action is not automatically suspended, and you cannot take the result to Tax Court. It is a weaker tool, but it is often still the fastest route to a person with authority to approve a payment arrangement.

What happens if you ignore it

After the 30 days run, the IRS may levy without further warning. In practice that means a notice to your employer that continues every pay period, a notice to your bank that freezes whatever is in the account that day, or both. A levy can be released, but it is far easier to prevent one than to unwind one.

When a lawyer matters

A CDP hearing is the one point in the collection process with a record, a neutral decision-maker, and court review. What is said and submitted there frames everything after it. Counsel is most useful when the balance is large, when a business or payroll taxes are involved, when you dispute the tax itself, or when a revenue officer is already assigned to the account.