Final Notice of Intent to Levy (LT11)

The IRS lists the targets on the notice itself: "wages and other income, bank accounts, business assets, personal assets (including your car and home), Alaska Permanent Fund Dividends and state tax refunds, and Social Security benefits." In practice, wage and bank levies come first because they are the easiest to execute. A wage garnishment is continuous: it stays attached to every paycheck until released. A bank levy is a snapshot: it freezes what is in the account the day it is served. Both are covered in depth in our wage garnishment and bank levy guides.

For the self-employed, levies reach accounts receivable too: a levy served on a client or platform that owes you money captures that payment the same way a wage levy captures a paycheck. A business that depends on a handful of large customers has particular reason to resolve an LT11 inside the window, before those customers ever hear from the IRS.

Filing Form 12153 within 30 days is the strongest single move available to a taxpayer at this stage: levy action generally stops for the periods at issue, and the case moves to the Independent Office of Appeals where collection alternatives get considered by someone whose job is resolution rather than seizure. Miss the deadline and an equivalent hearing remains available for up to one year, but it does not carry mandatory levy protection or Tax Court review. Every remedy after a missed window is a partial one.

Within the 30 days, pick one of these lanes and execute:

• Full payment or a payment plan. An approved installment agreement resolves the levy threat and, for qualifying individuals, drops the monthly failure-to-pay rate. Start with the payment plan guide.
• Form 12153 CDP request, ideally paired with the resolution you intend to propose: plan, offer in compromise, or hardship status backed by a financial statement.
• Hardship documentation if any payment would prevent you from meeting basic living expenses; currently not collectible status exists for exactly that case.

Whatever you choose, choose inside the window. The difference between day 30 and day 31 is the difference between negotiating with protection and negotiating while levies land.

Two practical notes on dealing with the Automated Collection System. First, get your filing compliance straight before you call: ACS representatives will check for unfiled returns, and missing years stall most agreements on the spot. Second, document everything. ACS cases are worked by whoever answers the phone, so the identification number of the representative, the date, and what was agreed belong in your notes for every call. If the account is complex, spans multiple years, or includes business balances, this is the point where having a representative handle the file usually saves more than it costs.