Call the agency named on your tax levy notice, and do it before the response deadline printed on the letter. For a federal levy, that means the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 for individuals or 1-800-829-4933 for businesses, Monday through Friday, 7 AM to 7 PM local time.1USAGov. Contact the IRS for Questions About Your Tax Return For a state levy, call the revenue or taxation department listed at the top of the notice. If your letter shows a direct number or the name of an assigned revenue officer, use that first. You’ll reach someone who already has your file open.
Check the Notice to See Who Sent It
Look at the header before you dial. A federal notice carries the IRS logo and usually a form code such as CP504 or LT11.2Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP504 Notice A state notice will show the name of your state’s Department of Revenue, Franchise Tax Board, Department of Taxation, or similar office. Each agency runs its own phone lines, resolution programs, and appeal deadlines, and calling the wrong one burns time you may not have.
What to Have in Front of You Before You Dial
The conversation goes faster when you can answer the representative’s questions without a callback. Pull the notice itself, because it contains your case number and the tax periods at issue. Have your Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number ready for verification. Copies of the returns for the years in question and records of any payments already made will settle questions about the balance.
If you plan to argue you can’t pay, or to ask for an installment plan, gather recent bank statements, pay stubs, and a rough monthly expense breakdown. The representative will ask about your ability to pay. Actual numbers keep the call from stalling.
IRS wait times get long between January and April. Wednesday and Thursday, later in the day, tend to be shorter.
Calling a State Tax Agency
State procedures vary. Your notice will name the issuing department; the phone number is typically on the notice itself or under a “Contact Us” section of the agency’s official website, usually within a collections or taxpayer assistance page. If nothing on the notice or the site works, call your state’s general government information line and ask to be transferred.
State deadlines are often shorter than federal ones. Some states give as few as 20 days to respond before the liability becomes a collectible judgment. The specific deadline is printed on the notice, and missing it can eliminate your ability to dispute the amount or negotiate. Read the notice for that date before you call.
Protect the 30-Day Appeal Deadline First
If your federal notice is a Final Notice of Intent to Levy (LT11 or Letter 1058), the phone call is not the only clock running. You have 30 days from that notice to request a Collection Due Process hearing by filing Form 12153.3Internal Revenue Service. Collection Due Process (CDP) FAQs A timely CDP request generally pauses the levy while your case is pending and preserves your right to take the dispute to U.S. Tax Court if you disagree with the outcome.4Internal Revenue Service. 5.11.2 Serving Levies, Releasing Levies and Returning Property
At the hearing, you can argue that you don’t owe the tax, that the IRS made errors, that the levy would cause economic hardship, or that you want to propose a different way to pay. Innocent spouse relief and bankruptcy discharge are also on the list.5Internal Revenue Service. Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing The hearing is handled by the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, which is separate from the collections division that sent the levy.
If more than 30 days have already passed, you can still file Form 12153 within one year and request an equivalent hearing. It does not pause the levy, and losing it does not give you a path to Tax Court. Better than nothing, but far weaker than the timely version. If you need time to hire help or gather documents, file the form first to lock in the deadline and refine your argument later.
Come to the Call With a Specific Proposal
Agencies respond to plans, not complaints. Decide which of the following fits your situation before you call, so you can name it.
Installment Agreement
If you can pay over time but not at once, ask for an installment agreement. The IRS is required to release a levy once you enter one, unless the agreement itself allows the levy to continue.6Internal Revenue Service. How Do I Get a Levy Released? You can also apply through your IRS online account.7Internal Revenue Service. Online Account for Individuals Interest and penalties keep running on the unpaid balance.
Offer in Compromise
An offer in compromise settles the debt for less than the full amount. The IRS looks at your income, expenses, assets, and future earning potential to decide what it could reasonably collect. If you could fully pay through installments, you generally won’t qualify. There is an application fee, but individuals whose income falls at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty guidelines are exempt.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 204, Offers in Compromise
Currently Not Collectible Status
If paying anything would leave you unable to cover basic living expenses, ask about currently not collectible status. When the IRS places your account in this status, it stops active collection and must release any wage levy.9Internal Revenue Service. 5.16.1 Currently Not Collectible The debt remains, interest and penalties continue, and the IRS will revisit your finances later.
Hardship Release of a Specific Levy
You can also ask the IRS to release the particular levy on hardship grounds. Federal law requires release if the seizure would prevent you from meeting reasonable basic living expenses.4Internal Revenue Service. 5.11.2 Serving Levies, Releasing Levies and Returning Property This matters especially for a bank levy, where funds sit frozen for 21 days before being sent to the IRS.10Internal Revenue Service. Information About Bank Levies Calling within that window and explaining the hardship can produce a partial or full release before the money leaves the account.
Numbers to Call for Free Help
If your income is at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, you may qualify for free representation through a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. For 2026, that threshold is $39,900 for a single person and $82,500 for a family of four in the contiguous United States.11Taxpayer Advocate Service. Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITC) LITC attorneys and tax professionals handle levy disputes, negotiate with the IRS, and represent clients at CDP hearings at no cost. The Taxpayer Advocate directory lists clinics by state.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent organization inside the IRS. Call 877-777-4778.12Internal Revenue Service. The Taxpayer Advocate Service Is Your Voice at the IRS TAS steps in when a levy is threatening your ability to pay for housing, food, or transportation, or when normal IRS channels have stalled.13Taxpayer Advocate Service. Submit a Request for Assistance The service is free, and they can sometimes push through a levy release faster than regular collections.
Attorneys, certified public accountants, and enrolled agents can also call the IRS on your behalf, negotiate the resolution, and appear at a CDP hearing. They will file Form 2848 to act as your representative.
Mistakes That Make the Levy Worse
Ignoring the notice is the biggest one. Silence reads as refusal to cooperate and pushes the case toward harder enforcement. The second is calling without a proposal. If you tell the representative you can’t pay but offer no alternative, they choose the path, and their default rarely favors you.
Watch the calendar. The 30-day CDP deadline is not flexible, and missing it by a day costs you both the automatic pause and the route to Tax Court.3Internal Revenue Service. Collection Due Process (CDP) FAQs If you’re not ready to argue the case, file Form 12153 first to hold the deadline, then work out the details.