ExcerptIRS ‘Collection Notices’ Going Out to Millions of Americans Starting Next WeekThe IRS is sending out the notices to millions of people starting in January.The IRS next week will start sending letters to millions of Americans regarding unpaid tax bills, resuming a practice that was suspended several years ago.
The federal tax agency said in a recent news release that automated letters and “collection notices” will start going out “in January,” although it didn’t provide a specific timetable.
The letters will be sent to people with tax debts before the tax year 2022 and to tax-exempt organizations, businesses, and trusts and estates with tax debts before 2023.
WarningsGenerally, the CP14 notice is the first one the agency sends out for an unpaid tax balance, which is usually followed by three to four reminder letters that are sent out every five weeks or so, according to Darren Guillot, who previously served as an IRS deputy commissioner.
“You can’t bury your head and pretend it’ll go away,” he told CNBC earlier this month. Most taxpayers can set up a payment plan for themselves by scanning a QR code, he added.
Multiple tax specialists warned that Americans who receive these letters could face significant penalties, including funds being taken out of their bank accounts by the federal agency.
Daniel Gibson, a tax partner at accounting firm EisnerAmper in New Jersey, told The Messenger that anyone who receives the letter from the IRS should attempt to resolve it.
“People have been sticking their head in the sand since time immemorial,” he said. “They see something from the IRS, and they don’t want to open the envelope.”
If the IRS sends a final notice, “you can wake up one morning and see money is taken out of your account” to pay the Treasury Department, he warned.
A third letter sent by the IRS will likely include a demand to pay the IRS within 90 days or file an appeal, Mr. Gibson noted. When that happens, the taxpayer will be “dealing with revenue agents, and their objective in life is to collect money.”
“They can be somewhat ruthless,” he said.
For millions of Americans, the initial notices sent in 2024 “will be an unpleasant wake-up call,” said Niles Elber, a tax lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale. It’s because many likely haven’t received the notices for the past two years because of the pandemic-related pause.
“Ignoring the problem will not stop the notices from coming, which will ratchet up in intensity and ultimately lead to tax liens and levies,” he added. “Taxpayers who have outstanding balances should start thinking now about how they are going to pay their tax debt.”
The final notice is a “Notice of Intent to Levy.”
“If you don’t pay the amount due immediately, the IRS can levy your income and bank accounts, as well as seize your property or your right to property including your state income tax refund to pay the amount you owe,” the IRS website states.
According to a report issued by the IRS last year,
more than 9 million Americans owed some $120 billion in back taxes, penalties, and interest as of September 2022. Tax debt accumulates because there is “usually some sort of a calamity that’s happened, like a health issue, a divorce, a gambling problem,” Mr. Gibson said. “There’s always a story when it comes to the collection problems I’ve seen.”
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