Got an IRS balance-due notice? What to do first
What IRS.gov says to do if you agree, can’t pay in full, or disagree with a bill like a CP14, plus a 48-hour checklist.
Guides
IRS tax debt guides, grouped by what you’re facing
Educational information only, not tax, legal, or financial advice. We are not a CPA, enrolled agent, attorney, or the IRS. Talk to your own tax professional about your situation.
Pick the group below that matches the letter or problem in front of you. Each guide answers one question, links to the IRS.gov pages it relies on, and is checked against those sources by our editor, JT Williamson. If you are not sure where you fit, start with IRS tax debt: a plain-English guide, stage by stage, which walks through every step in order.
You just got an IRS letter
What IRS collection notices mean, by notice type
What CP14, CP501, CP503, CP504 and LT11/Letter 1058 usually mean and what each one signals next, with a free notice log.
How to ask for more time on an IRS notice
Which deadlines can move, which can’t (like a Tax Court date), how to ask, and a free notice deadline log.
What an IRS account transcript can tell you
Which free transcript to get when you owe, how to get one fast, and a worksheet to check it against your notice.
You owe for past years or haven’t filed
First steps when you owe back taxes for multiple years
List each year separately, file every return that’s due, pull IRS records by year, then handle the nearest deadline.
Unfiled tax returns: how to catch up, one year at a time
Check which years need a return, get missing W-2s and 1099s from the IRS, and file each late year the right way.
Your spouse’s IRS tax debt: when you’re responsible
Why a joint return makes you both liable, the three kinds of spouse relief on Form 8857, the deadlines, and a free prep sheet.
When someone dies owing the IRS: who pays
Why the estate pays first, when a spouse, executor or heir can owe, the final return, and the IRS forms a family may need.
You can’t pay the full balance
How to build a tax-debt budget the IRS can follow
A monthly budget in the IRS’s own expense groups, how its Collection Financial Standards treat each one, and a payment you can keep.
IRS payment plan or offer in compromise: how to choose
Payment plans and offers side by side: who each fits, IRS fees, how to apply, and when hardship status fits instead.
What happens after a missed IRS payment
What CP521 and CP523 mean, what to do in the first week, what it costs, and a free recovery log.
Currently not collectible: IRS hardship status
What currently not collectible status does and doesn’t do, what the IRS checks, and how to get ready to ask for it.
Penalties, liens and levies
IRS penalty abatement: which relief fits and how to ask
How first-time abate and reasonable cause work, which penalties can come off, and how to ask by phone or with Form 843.
IRS tax lien vs levy: what each means and how to respond
A lien is the IRS’s claim on your property; a levy takes it. Which notice comes first, your hearing right, and how each is released.
Self-employed, or you also owe your state
Self-employed and owe the IRS: sort your records first
Which tax debt you have, how to separate business and personal records, and what the IRS asks for before a payment plan.
How to separate state tax letters from IRS letters
Sort letters by agency, year, and deadline, see which federal tools apply on IRS.gov, and use a free letter log.
Getting ready to talk to the IRS or a professional
Tax debt documents: what to gather, and how to replace what’s missing
A checklist of what to gather, where to get missing returns, W-2s and payment records, and a printable year cover sheet.
What to have ready before an IRS phone call
What the IRS may ask to verify your identity, how to spot a scam call, and a free call-prep sheet.