The IRS does give you ample warning that they intend to levy your bank account. You undoubtedly received the notice and demand for payment from the IRS which included the amount you owed in back taxes. You probably did not contact the IRS at that time, and that was very important. The next communication you received was called the Final Notice which did express their Intent to Levy and also included a notice of your right to a hearing after the levy has been placed. That final notice arrives 30 days before the IRS actually talks with your bank and proceeds with freezing your accounts. It comes in the form of a certified letter directly from the IRS. If you are now facing the impending crisis of the IRS bank levy, then you have obviously procrastinated the handling of your IRS past due tax problem (probably because you did not have the money to pay the back taxes). All is not lost and it is still possible to stop the IRS levy. However, the time to act is right now. You need fast, professional tax debt help and you have just 21 days to get this handled, and the clock is counting down each day!
An IRS levy is clearly one of the most powerful collection tools in the IRS arsenal and the IRS bank levy can be incredibly frightening when the freeze is actually implemented. Once the IRS freezes your bank account, you have no access to your funds. They are waiting for the 21 days to expire before they withdraw these funds to pay your delinquent tax debt bill. Any personal bills that you have that need to be paid in this timeframe will not get paid. In fact, you will probably be hit with insufficient funds fees and the refusal of any preset automated debits you have set up on your account to pay for goods/services. Even the newly deposited funds that come in as paycheck direct deposits will be frozen once they are received by your bank! The IRS intends to be paid the back tax money that you owe, one way or the other. Keep in mind that your bank is required by law to comply with the IRS bank levy and hold all funds that have been deposited into your bank accounts. They will not be able to provide you with any tax debt help in this matter.
During the 21 day period, it is now prudent to seek expert IRS tax debt help so that a tax attorney or tax specialist is able to negotiate with the IRS to release the funds. Unless an IRS bank levy release is obtained, once the 21 day period has expired, the bank sends the money to the IRS and you will never get it back. You may also consider contacting the Taxpayers Advocate in your area. This would require you to complete paperwork to prove economic hardship in hopes of having the IRS bank levy lifted or released. Time is of the essence and your financial future does hang in the balance.
Other Important Things You Need to Know About an IRS Levy:
How does the IRS know where I bank? The IRS knows your banks accounts from the 1099s that are filed every year with your tax returns. Even if your tax returns are unfiled, they have still received those 1099s from the financial institutions themselves.
What other accounts might be affected? Certificates of Deposit and any account where you have your name and social security number listed. Keep in mind that if you have joint accounts for whatever reason, with family members or even friends, those will be subject to the IRS bank levy also.
What types of accounts are excluded from an IRS Levy? Life Insurance, Workers Compensation, Benefits received from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Scholarships or Grants.
Will the IRS levy both my bank account and my wages too? The IRS does not typically levy both your bank accounts and your wages. They intend to be paid for your delinquent taxes, but they must leave you just enough to live on, and while they can enforce an IRS levy on your wages and your bank accounts, they dont tend to collect past due taxes in this manner.
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