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IRS Levy Notice Checklist

By the Tax Relief Answers editors · Sources checked November 3, 2026 · How we check

The short answer

After an IRS levy notice, the IRS sources point to a short list: find the date on the notice, note the 30-day window to request a Collection Due Process hearing with Form 12153 if it is a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing, gather your tax periods and financial records, and know the grounds on which the IRS releases a levy. If a bank account is levied, the bank holds the funds for 21 days before sending them. Items below come from the IRS levy page, Publication 594 (Rev. 1-2026) and Publication 1660, read November 3, 2026.

Read the notice

• The title of the notice. Publication 1660 lists the notices that carry Collection Due Process rights, including the Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing and the Notice of Levy on Your State Tax Refund.
• The date of the notice. A hearing request must be postmarked on or before the 30th day after the date of a levy notice (Publication 1660).
• The tax types and periods listed, and the phone number and address on the notice.
• Whether a levy has already happened. Publication 594 says that if property is seized, call the number on the levy notice, or 800-829-1040 for individuals and 800-829-4933 for businesses.

To request a hearing (Form 12153)

• Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing, or a written request with the same information, sent to the address on the notice.
• A copy of the lien or levy notice.
• Every tax and tax period on the notice that you want the hearing to cover.
• Your reasons or proposed alternatives. Publication 1660 lists examples: an installment agreement or offer in compromise, lien withdrawal, discharge or subordination, spousal defenses, the amount of the tax if you had no earlier chance to dispute it, and economic hardship.
• Financial information or returns if you propose an alternative; Publication 1660 says Appeals may need them.
• Form 2848 if a representative will act for you, or Form 8821 to let someone receive information only.

Publication 1660 notes that calling the IRS does not extend the 30-day period for a written request. A late request can still be made as an equivalent hearing within one year of the levy notice, but that does not stop levy and cannot be taken to Tax Court.

Grounds the IRS must release a levy (Publication 594)

• You paid the amount owed.
• The collection period ended before the levy was issued.
• Releasing it will help you pay your taxes.
• You entered a payment plan whose terms do not allow the levy to continue.
• The levy creates an economic hardship, meaning it keeps you from meeting basic, reasonable living expenses.
• The property is worth more than the amount owed and releasing it will not hinder collection.

Publication 594 also lists levies issued improperly, for example against exempt property, before the required notice, during a bankruptcy stay, or while a payment plan request, offer in compromise or innocent spouse request was being considered.

Records to gather

• Proof of payment, if you believe the balance was paid.
• Documents showing income that cannot be levied. Publication 594 lists examples such as unemployment benefits, certain annuity and pension benefits, certain service-connected disability payments, workers' compensation, certain public assistance and court-ordered child support income.

Timing to note

• Bank levy: the IRS levy page says funds are held and after 21 days sent to the IRS.
• Wage levy: continuous until the debt is paid, other arrangements are made, the collection period ends or the levy is released, with part of wages exempt.
• Return of levied money: a request can generally be filed up to 9 months after the seizure (Publication 594).

For the steps after a bank or wage levy, see IRS bank levy, wage garnishment and appealing IRS collection.

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