What the IRS says: “The IRS intends to levy your wages, bank accounts and other property, and you have 30 days to request a Collection Due Process hearing.” Here’s what it actually means, your deadline, and exactly how to respond.
This is the notice that actually unlocks levies — and simultaneously your strongest procedural right. Filing Form 12153 within 30 days stops all levy action while an independent Appeals officer reviews your case, where you can propose an installment agreement, offer in compromise, innocent-spouse relief, or dispute the liability itself. Missing the window forfeits Tax Court review; you'd get only a weaker 'equivalent hearing.'
Notice family: Collection & Balance Due — The IRS says you owe money and is escalating toward liens and levies. Each notice in the chain is more serious than the last — and each one still has an off-ramp: pay, arrange payments, or dispute in writing before the deadline.
30 days — to request a CDP hearing (Form 12153) and freeze levy action.
Counted in calendar days from the notice date. The exact respond-by date printed on your notice always controls — check page 1.
Calendar the 30-day date today — it's on page 1
File Form 12153 requesting a CDP hearing; state your proposed alternative (IA, OIC, CNC, dispute)
Keep making any current payments — compliance strengthens every alternative you propose
Gather financials (Form 433 series) now; Appeals will want them for any collection alternative
The CDP request itself is the response letter that matters — Form 12153 plus a statement of your grounds. Send it certified mail. Levy action freezes the day it's filed.
Describe the notice and your side of it — use placeholders, never your SSN or account numbers (the letter keeps [YOUR NAME]-style fields so you fill in the real details privately before mailing). A mail-ready draft with an enclosure checklist comes back in ~20 seconds.
Your IRS response letter draft will appear here.
The IRS intends to levy your wages, bank accounts and other property, and you have 30 days to request a Collection Due Process hearing. In practice: This is the notice that actually unlocks levies — and simultaneously your strongest procedural right. Filing Form 12153 within 30 days stops all levy action while an independent Appeals officer reviews your case, where you can propose an installment agreement, offer in compromise, innocent-spouse relief, or dispute the liability itself. Missing the window forfeits Tax Court review; you'd get only a weaker 'equivalent hearing.'
You generally have 30 days — to request a CDP hearing (Form 12153) and freeze levy action. The respond-by date printed on your own notice always controls.
The CDP request itself is the response letter that matters — Form 12153 plus a statement of your grounds. Send it certified mail. Levy action freezes the day it's filed.