How to Dispute a Tax Lien Easily

How to Dispute a Tax Lien Easily in 3 Steps

If you've ever taken out a loan with a significant amount of money, you may be familiar with a tax lien. Tax liens are meant to serve as a guarantee that someone will repay their debt, such as a loan. A lien is ultimately a claim the government can make against certain assets of an individual or business if they're unable to pay their taxes.

For example, a storeowner that takes out a business loan can have their store, and any other assets of significance, repossessed by the government if they fail to pay their taxes. If you’re dealing with issues involving tax liens and , let DoNotPay help you get started quickly and easily!

What Is a Tax Lien?

A tax lien is placed on someone's assets when they don't pay their taxes and don't respond to payment demands. Liens can be created from payment issues with both federal, state, and local governments.

While receiving a on your assets doesn't mean that they'll be immediately seized, if you continue having monetary issues and have multiple creditors seeking possession of your assets, a lien means that the government will get the first claim.

How Do I Know if I Have a Tax Lien?

If you've been having issues with tax payments, you're probably wondering if you have any current tax liens on your assets. While everyone's situation with tax liens is unique, the steps of the process are the same for everyone:

You'll receive a "Notice and Demand for Payment" letter in the mail. This letter states how much is owed and the potential consequences that could occur if the balance remains unpaid.
If you're able to pay the balance, you won't receive a tax lien. If you aren't able to pay the balance or you avoid the IRS, whatever tax agency you're dealing with has the ability to place a tax lien on your assets.
Considering filing for bankruptcy to avoid paying the tax lien? While filing for bankruptcy may be helpful in regard to other debts, federal tax debts remain after filing, so if your tax lien is with the federal government, filing for bankruptcy will ultimately do more harm than good.
If you receive a tax lien, it will remain in place until the debt is paid off or the statute of limitations for the debt expires. During this time, your assets that are under the tax lien could be taken from you at any time.

You can contact the IRS to see if you have a tax lien through:

Department	IRS Centralized Lien Unit
Phone Number	800-913-6050
eFax	855-390-3530

How to Dispute a Tax Lien on Your Own

If you believe that you've received a tax lien unfairly, you have the ability to dispute it. Potential problems that could lead you to follow this path include:

The IRS makes a mistake with the filing process for the lien, like not giving you adequate notice or filing the lien in your name by mistake.
You were never given a chance to dispute the tax amount you owe.
The tax lien has been discharged, subordinated, or withdrawn.
The taxes in question had been paid before the tax lien was filed.

Disputing a tax lien is a lengthy process, but it's absolutely necessary when you consider the precarious position your assets are in. You can get started disputing your tax lien by following the steps below:

Complete IRS Form 12153, which will allow you to request a Collection Due Process hearing with the Office of Appeals. You must do this within 30 days from the date the tax lien was filed.
Choose what you would like to do with the tax lien: discharge, withdrawal, or subordination. Submit the form and wait for the IRS to contact you to schedule a meeting.
After you have the meeting, the IRS will decide what to do about your appeal. You'll receive their decision in a determination letter. If your request for the tax lien to be forgiven is denied, you can petition the court within 30 days of the determination letter's issuance date.

You can learn more on how to get rid of a lien with the IRS from their website.

Let DoNotPay Help You Dispute a Tax Lien Easily and Efficiently

DoNotPay removes the stress from the process of disputing your tax liens. With only a few details about your specific situation with tax liens, DoNotPay gets to work advocating for you by developing a professionally written letter to send to the tax agency involved.

Get started with DoNotPay with these three simple steps:

Search for remove my lien on DoNotPay.
Start our Remove My Lien product.
Answer some questions about your specific lien and let us help you craft a letter to your creditor to resolve the issue.

What Else Can DoNotPay Help Me With?

Assisting you with tax lien disputes is just the beginning of what DoNotPay can help you with. Explore the links below to see how DoNotPay can help you with other liens today!