IRS LT 11: What It Means and What to Do Next
An IRS LT11 notice isn’t a routine payment reminder or bill. It’s a serious collection notice that indicates the IRS is planning to seize your wages or assets due to your unpaid taxes.
Notice LT11, Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing, gives you 30 days to respond. If you don’t, the IRS may garnish your wages, levy your bank accounts, or seize other assets with no additional warning.
Find out what LT11 means, your options, and how the team at East Coast Tax Consulting Group can help. Learn more about our levy release services.
Key Takeaways
- An LT11 notice is a Final Notice of Intent to Levy, so it allows the IRS to seize your assets if you do not take action.
- The deadline is generally 30 days from when the IRS sent the notice.
- Ignoring this notice can lead to wage garnishment, bank levies, or loss of assets.
- To respond, you can appeal, request payments, or contact a tax expert for help.
- There are still resolution options available, but you need to seek assistance now to protect your assets.
What is an IRS LT11 Notice?
An LT11 notice is one of the final notices in the IRS collection process. It serves two purposes:
- Gives you a final warning before the IRS levies your assets.
- Informs you of your right to request a Collection Due Process (CDP) or equivalent hearing.
At this point, the IRS has assessed taxes, sent notices about what you owe, and has not received payment. Because prior notices have not been successful in securing payment or payment arrangements, the IRS plans on moving forward with levies on your assets unless you take steps to resolve your tax debt.
The notice gives you a 30-day deadline to request a CDP hearing. If you request a hearing or set up payment arrangements by that date, you won’t have to go through the stress and inconvenience of having assets levied.
However, after the 30-day window passes, the IRS can move forward with enforcement. At that point, reversing a levy is much harder than preventing one.
Reasons the IRS Sends an LT11 Notice
The IRS doesn’t send an LT11 notice to blindside you. It is one of many collection notices that the IRS sends after a tax debt is assessed. You may receive this notice if:
- You have an unpaid tax balance
- Prior IRS notices were ignored or unresolved
- Payment arrangements were either never made or not maintained
Once you reach the point of receiving an LT11 notice, your account is significantly delinquent. The IRS prefers to secure tax payment voluntarily, but when that does not appear possible, they will take payment by force.
Notices Preceding LT11
By the time you get LT11 in the mail, you have likely already received multiple notices from the IRS. These letters increase in urgency. Although the exact notices may vary, here’s an overview of what most taxpayers receive:
| IRS Notice | What It Means | Recommended Action |
|---|---|---|
| CP14 | First bill for unpaid taxes | Review and either pay or respond |
| CP501 | Reminder of your unpaid balance | Pay or contact the IRS if you cannot pay |
| CP503 | Urgent reminder of your unpaid balance | Pay, set up a payment arrangement, or contact the IRS for other options |
| CP504 | Final reminder before the final intent to levy notice | Immediately pay or set up other payment arrangements |
| LT11 | Final notice, sent by certified mail | Respond within 30 days or risk losing assets |
At this point, the IRS has already tried multiple times to resolve the issue voluntarily. While you do still have the option to resolve your tax debt voluntarily, your time is running out, and your options become increasingly limited the longer you wait.
What Happens If You Ignore an LT11 Notice
Ignoring an LT11 notice can lead to serious financial consequences. After the 30-day window expires, you can no longer request a Collection Due Process hearing. Additionally, the IRS then has the legal right to seize your assets to cover your tax debt.
Some of the collection actions you may face include:
- Wage garnishment: The IRS can order your employer to garnish your wages. Your employer must comply by sending the IRS all of your wages over a small exempt amount based on your filing status and number of dependents. The IRS will continue garnishing your wages until the tax debt is paid off.
- Bank account levy: The IRS can instruct your bank to freeze the funds in your bank account up to the amount owed. After a short holding period, the bank will send the money to the IRS.
- Social Security garnishment: Certain types of Social Security benefits are subject to garnishment if you have tax debt.
- Property seizure: In more severe cases, the IRS may seize real or personal property, sell it, and use the proceeds to pay off your tax debt.
Taxpayers who receive this notice often think that it’s just like the notices they received earlier. They often assume that the IRS will continue to send notices, add penalties and interest to their bill, and encourage payment. However, this notice arrives via certified mail and is essentially one of the last steps in the collection process.
If you ignore LT11, the IRS won’t send another reminder. Instead, they’ll just start levying assets.
What to Do When You Receive an IRS LT11 Notice
If you want to avoid garnished wages, frozen bank account balances, and seized assets, you need to take action. We recommend:
- Do not ignore the notice. If you ignore the notice, the IRS will take action. Losing your wages or savings can cause serious financial difficulties. You have to face this situation head-on.
- Review the notice thoroughly. Look over the amount due, the years involved, and the response deadline.
- Confirm the balance. At this point, errors aren’t common, but they do occur. If you haven’t had a chance to dispute the debt, you can do so now.
- Respond within 30 days. This is a hard deadline, and if you miss it, you lose out on appeal options. If you’re not sure how to respond, reach out to a tax professional.
- Consider requesting a Collection Due Process hearing. A CDP hearing gives you a chance to challenge the proposed levy, present other resolution options, and hold off on collection actions while your case is officially reviewed.
- Explore resolution options. There are several options that can help you tackle your tax debt in an effective and realistic way, but you have to seek them out. This is where talking to a tax professional is essential.
If you missed the deadline, you still have options. For instance, you can request an equivalent hearing for up to a year. However, that doesn’t give you the same rights as a CDP hearing, and in particular, it doesn’t necessarily stop pending collection actions. For the best course of action in your situation, contact us today.
Options to Resolve the Tax Debt
Even if you’ve received LT11, the IRS is often still willing to work towards a resolution, especially if that means securing payment voluntarily. Let’s go over some of the resolution options that may suit your situation.
- Installment agreement: The IRS offers several types of monthly payment plans that let you pay off your tax debt over time, as long as it’s paid off in full by the Collection Statute Expiration Date (CSED). Most people can apply without a financial disclosure, but if you have a history of default or a high balance owed, you may need to provide financial information to the IRS.
- Partial payment installment agreement: A partial payment installment agreement also requires monthly payments, but the amount is lower than the minimum for a standard installment agreement. After the IRS verifies that you meet the criteria for this option, they accept lower payments until the tax debt expires. They may periodically check on your financial situation to see if you can resume normal payments.
- Offer in compromise: Taxpayers who qualify for this option can settle their tax debt for less than they owe. While this is a popular option, most applications are rejected, so you should discuss it with a tax professional first.
- Currently not collectible status: If paying the tax debt would cause serious financial hardship, the IRS may temporarily stop collection efforts. This can give you some breathing room while you get caught up.
- Penalty abatement: If a significant amount of your tax debt comes from penalties, penalty abatement may drop your balance and make it easier to pay off the rest.
How East Coast Tax Consulting Can Help
Responding to an IRS notice is stressful, especially when you realize that you are at risk of losing your income or the money in your bank account. Experienced guidance can make a big difference to what happens next.
At East Coast Tax Consulting Group, we provide help with reviewing and responding to LT11 notices, requesting CDP hearings, advocating for your rights as a taxpayer, negotiating payment options with the IRS, and handling all communications with the IRS on your behalf. To get help, all us at 888-550-7655 or contact us online now.
And if the IRS has already levied your assets, we can also help with pursuing a tax levy release.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an IRS LT11 notice?
LT11 is a Final Notice of Intent to Levy. It’s the last in a long line of notices that gives the IRS the right to seize your assets.
How serious is an LT11 notice?
It’s a very serious notice. While previous notices escalate in severity, they don’t allow the IRS to seize assets. This notice does.
How long do I have to respond to an LT11 notice?
You have 30 days from the date on the notice to respond, request a hearing, or otherwise resolve your tax debt.
Can the IRS levy my bank account?
Yes. If you do not respond within the 30-day window and take steps to resolve your debt, the IRS may levy assets. That includes your bank accounts.
How can I stop an IRS levy after receiving this notice?
You may be able to stop or delay a levy by requesting a CDP hearing, entering into a payment agreement, or pursuing another resolution option.