Tax Relief Services
Collection Due Process Hearing: Your 30 Days To Be Heard Before the IRS Levies
Updated
A collection due process hearing is the one point in the IRS's collection sequence where the taxpayer gets a formal hearing before anything is taken. The IRS describes it as an opportunity to discuss alternatives to enforced collection. The window to ask for it is 30 days, and it is the thing on the final notice most people do not read.
The short answer: a collection due process hearing, or CDP hearing, is a hearing with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals that you may request after receiving a final notice of intent to levy or a notice of federal tax lien filing. The IRS says it is an opportunity to discuss alternatives to enforced collection and to dispute the amount you owe if you have not had a prior opportunity. You have 30 days from receipt of the LT11 or Letter 1058, or 30 days from Letter 3172 for a lien, to request it using Form 12153.
Inside the 30 Days on a Levy or Lien Notice?
Send us the notice today. We calendar the deadline, file the request correctly, and prepare the collection alternative Appeals will actually consider. Free, confidential review, no obligation.
What a collection due process hearing is
The IRS's own FAQ defines it in one sentence: a CDP hearing is an opportunity to discuss alternatives to enforced collection and permits you to dispute the amount you owe if you have not had a prior opportunity to do so. It is held with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, which is separate from the collection function that sent the notice. That separation is the point. The revenue officer who wants to levy is not the person deciding whether the levy proceeds.
The hearing exists at two moments. Before a levy, when the IRS issues its formal Notice of Intent to Levy and Your Right to a Hearing, the LT11 or Letter 1058. And after a lien filing, when the IRS issues Letter 3172, the Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing and Your Right to a Hearing. The IRS's full FAQ is its Collection due process (CDP) FAQs page, and it points to Publication 1660, Collection Appeal Rights, for the detail.
The 30 days, on both notices
The IRS states the windows directly. You have 30 days from receipt of an LT11 or Letter 1058 to request a CDP hearing, using Form 12153, if you feel the levy is inappropriate. Letter 3172 gives you 30 days to request a CDP hearing to discuss the lien filing, on the same form.
Two things about those windows. The levy window runs from receipt, so the date on the letter and the date it arrived can differ, and the letter itself states the deadline the IRS is using. And the request has to be on Form 12153 and has to be timely to be a CDP request at all. A late request gets an equivalent hearing, which the form provides for, but the protections are not the same. We write the deadline down on the day the letter arrives, for every client, before anything else is discussed.
Why a CP504 does not start the clock
The IRS's FAQ answers this with a question it clearly gets often: a taxpayer holding a CP504 that says the IRS intends to levy, asking how to appeal. The IRS's answer is that it cannot levy with just this notice. It must first issue the formal Notice of Intent to Levy and Your Right to a Hearing, which is the next step, and that final notice is what advises you of the right to a CDP hearing before levy action is taken.
The IRS adds that you do not need to wait for the final notice and that it is in your best interest to respond to the CP504. That is our advice too. Our CP504 page explains what that notice can do on its own. The hearing right belongs to the letter after it.
What the hearing can decide, and what it usually cannot
The IRS is careful here and so are we. It says that in a CDP hearing with Appeals you can only discuss the existence of or the amount that you owe under limited circumstances. The hearing is mainly about how the debt is collected, not whether it is owed. Collection alternatives are the substance: an installment agreement, hardship status, an offer in compromise, or a challenge to whether the levy or lien is appropriate at all.
If Appeals cannot consider the underlying liability, the IRS lists three ways to reopen it. Pay the amount in full and file a claim for refund, with a right to appeal if the claim is disallowed. Request an audit reconsideration under Publication 3598, which the IRS says requires new information it did not previously consider; our audit reconsideration page covers it. Or file an Offer in Compromise on the basis of doubt as to liability using Form 656-B. Each of those is a separate track from the hearing, and choosing the right one depends on why you think the number is wrong.
CDP or CAP
The IRS's FAQ notes that some collection actions qualify for appeal under the Collection Appeals Program, CAP, and some under CDP, that the two offer different advantages depending on the facts, and that participation in one type of hearing could preclude certain issues from being considered in the other. It points to Publication 1660 to decide which is best.
In broad terms, CAP is faster and narrower and is what the CP504 itself names. CDP is the fuller hearing and the one that comes with the levy held while it is pending. Which to use is a real decision, and the IRS's own warning that one can foreclose issues in the other is why it should be made on the facts rather than by filing whichever form is closest.
What the request also protects
A timely CDP request on a levy does more than get you a hearing. The IRS's passport certification page lists debts for which a collection due process hearing regarding a levy has been timely requested among the debts it does not treat as seriously delinquent. For a taxpayer over the passport threshold, the request is also what keeps them off that list while the hearing runs. Our passport revocation page covers the rest of that rule.
What Clarity does with a CDP request
The request is one page. The hearing is not, and the difference between a hearing that ends in a levy and one that ends in an agreement is preparation.
- We file in time, on the right form, with the issues named. Form 12153 asks what you want Appeals to consider. A request that just says I disagree gives the officer nothing to work with.
- We build the alternative. A plan proposal comes with the financial statement to support it. A hardship claim comes with the numbers. An offer comes as an offer.
- We separate the liability question from the collection question, and route a real dispute about the amount to the track the IRS says can hear it.
- We attend the hearing under a power of attorney and deal with Appeals directly.
The investigation fee is $495 for an individual and $695 for a business. It covers the transcript pull, the deadline review and a written plan for the hearing, and it comes with a 15-day money-back policy from the date you sign. You have the written agreement before anything is charged.
The hard part, stated plainly
The hard part is that the hearing is not a place to argue you should not owe the tax, and most people who request one want exactly that. The IRS says the liability can be discussed only in limited circumstances, and a hearing spent on the wrong question ends with the levy sustained. The useful version of the hearing is a negotiation about how you will pay, backed by documents, and it works when the taxpayer arrives with a proposal rather than a grievance.
The second hard part is the 30 days. Nothing on this page applies after them.
When you do not need anyone
If the balance is right and you can set up a payment plan through the IRS's online tool before the deadline, you may not need the hearing at all. An approved plan is a collection alternative in its own right, and the IRS's CP504 FAQ points people to exactly that route first.
Where a review earns its fee: you are inside the 30 days and do not know what to ask for, the balance is disputed, a lien has been filed, the debt is over the passport threshold, a levy has already issued, or the decision between CAP and CDP could close off an issue you need. Those are the cases where the form matters less than what goes on it.
Collection Due Process Hearing Questions, Answered
What is a collection due process hearing?
The IRS describes a CDP hearing as an opportunity to discuss alternatives to enforced collection with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, and one that permits you to dispute the amount you owe if you have not had a prior opportunity to do so. It is available after a final notice of intent to levy or a notice of federal tax lien filing.
How long do I have to request a CDP hearing?
The IRS says you have 30 days from receipt of an LT11 or Letter 1058 to request a collection due process hearing on a proposed levy, and that Letter 3172 gives you 30 days to request one on a lien filing. The request is made on Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing.
Can I request a CDP hearing on a CP504?
No. The IRS says it cannot levy with just a CP504 and must first issue the formal Notice of Intent to Levy and Your Right to a Hearing, which is the notice that advises you of the CDP right. The IRS says it is still in your best interest to respond to the CP504 rather than wait, and that the CP504 itself qualifies for a Collection Appeals Program appeal.
Can I dispute the amount I owe at a CDP hearing?
Only under limited circumstances, according to the IRS, generally where you have not had a prior opportunity to dispute it. If Appeals cannot consider the liability, the IRS lists three routes to reopen it: pay in full and file a claim for refund, request an audit reconsideration with new information, or file an Offer in Compromise on the basis of doubt as to liability.
What is the difference between CDP and CAP?
The IRS says some collection actions qualify for appeal under the Collection Appeals Program and some under collection due process, that the two offer different advantages depending on your facts, and that participating in one type of hearing could preclude certain issues from being considered in the other. It points to Publication 1660, Collection Appeal Rights, to decide.
Does requesting a CDP hearing stop the levy?
A timely CDP request on the final notice of intent to levy brings the proposed levy before Appeals before action is taken, which is the purpose the IRS describes for the hearing. Separately, the IRS's passport page lists debts with a timely requested CDP hearing on a levy among those it does not treat as seriously delinquent for certification.
Results vary based on individual facts and circumstances. Whether Appeals sustains a levy or accepts a collection alternative depends on the facts and documentation presented, and no specific outcome is guaranteed. This page is general information about IRS collection due process hearings, not tax or legal advice.
Related Services: LT11 / Letter 1058 Final Notice · Federal Tax Lien Help · Audit Reconsideration · IRS Payment Plans · or return to All Tax Relief Services.
Which IRS notice carries which appeal right
| Notice | Appeal right | Window | What the IRS says |
|---|---|---|---|
| CP504, Notice of Intent to Levy | Collection Appeals Program | Per the notice instructions | The IRS cannot levy with just this notice; it must first issue the formal Notice of Intent to Levy and Your Right to a Hearing. |
| LT11 / Letter 1058, Final Notice of Intent to Levy | Collection due process hearing | 30 days from receipt | Request on Form 12153 if you feel the levy is inappropriate. |
| Letter 3172, Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing | Collection due process hearing | 30 days | Request on Form 12153 if you feel the lien is inappropriate. |
| Any of the above, filed late | Equivalent hearing | Per Form 12153 | Available after the CDP window, without the same protections. |
Figures from IRS, Collection due process (CDP) FAQs · IRS, Understanding your LT11 notice or Letter 1058.
“A CDP hearing is an opportunity to discuss alternatives to enforced collection and permits you to dispute the amount you owe if you have not had a prior opportunity to do so.”
— IRS, Collection due process (CDP) FAQs
The passage quoted above is from IRS, Collection due process (CDP) FAQs.