IRS LT11 Notice: You Have 30 Days to Protect Your Rights

What an LT11 means

The LT11 is issued by the IRS's Automated Collection System (ACS), the centralized phone-and-mail unit that handles most individual collection accounts. It's the legally required notice the IRS must send before most levies. In plain terms, it says: we intend to levy, and you have the right to a hearing first.

After the 30-day period, the IRS can levy:

• Wages, through a continuous wage garnishment
• Bank accounts, through a bank levy
• Retirement accounts and pensions
• Social Security and other federal payments, often through the Federal Payment Levy Program
• Accounts receivable and payments from clients if you're self-employed
• Other property, though seizing a home or business assets is much less common and has additional requirements

Your Collection Due Process (CDP) rights

The most valuable thing about an LT11 is the right it gives you. If you request a Collection Due Process hearing within 30 days of the date on the letter:

• Levy action is generally suspended while the hearing is pending, for the years covered by the request.
• Your case goes to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, which is separate from the collection unit that sent the letter.
• You can propose a collection alternative, such as an installment agreement, currently not collectible status, or an offer in compromise. Appeals must consider it.
• You can challenge the underlying liability in some cases, if you didn't already have a chance to dispute it (for example, if you never received a Notice of Deficiency).
• You can raise procedural issues, like whether the IRS followed the law before issuing the notice.
• If you disagree with the Appeals determination, you can generally petition the U.S. Tax Court.

The hearing is requested on Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing. It needs to be filed by the deadline, sent to the address on your LT11, and should state the specific reasons you're requesting the hearing and the resolution you want.

Missed the 30 days?

You're not out of options. You can request an equivalent hearing using the same Form 12153 within one year of the LT11 date. An equivalent hearing goes to Appeals too, and you can still propose a resolution, but:

• Levies are not automatically suspended while it's pending
• You generally can't take the decision to Tax Court

Beyond that, you can still negotiate a payment plan or other resolution directly with the collection unit, or through the Collection Appeals Program, at any time. It's just that the formal protections are weaker.

Is a hearing always the right move?

Not always. A CDP hearing is a strong tool, but it's slower than resolving the account directly, and it pauses the collection statute while it's pending. For many clients with straightforward balances, the fastest path is to set up an installment agreement directly with ACS, which also generally stops levies. For others, especially when there's a dispute, an offer in compromise, or a collection unit that won't agree to reasonable terms, the hearing is the better route.

We usually decide within a day of reviewing your transcripts. When in doubt and the deadline is close, we file the Form 12153 to preserve your rights, then pursue the fastest resolution available.

What to have ready when you call

• The LT11 itself (we need the date and the tax years listed)
• Any other recent IRS letters
• A rough idea of your monthly income and expenses
• Whether all your tax returns for the past six years have been filed

Don't worry if you don't have everything. The LT11 date is the most important piece.

LT11 vs. Letter 1058

Both are Final Notices of Intent to Levy with the same 30-day hearing right. The LT11 typically comes from the Automated Collection System. Letter 1058 is used in some ACS cases too, and is often what a field Revenue Officer sends. If you have a Letter 1058 and a Revenue Officer assigned, the dynamics are a bit different. See that page for details.