Due process is, according to Black’s Law Dictionary, “a course of legal proceedings … which have been established … for the enforcement and protection of private rights.” Anyone facing an IRS federal tax lien or levy has already experienced the preliminary due process following the IRS determination that more taxes are owed.

Said due process involves a series of written or telephone notifications, and it’s all laid out in the tax code and the IRS letters the taxpayer receives in the mail that should definitely not be ignored.

Before the IRS wrecking ball goes into motion, the taxpayer has 30 days after receiving the IRS collection notice to preserve the right to go to Court. The taxpayer must compete IRS Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing, and mail it to the same address shown on the lien or levy notice.

The IRS cannot levy (confiscate, actually) your property or assets simply because they sent you a notice. There is another step in the process where you get a formal Notice of Intent to Levy. When due process runs its course, IRS considers your case closed and there is nothing left to do except call them up and learn about your payment options.

On the other hand, the taxpayer has three options to have the case reopened so that — in the rather oddly worded caveat of the IRS’s own instructions — “the IRS can consider whether you owe any additional amounts.” Those options are:

1. The taxpayer can pay the amount due in full and file a claim for a refund. If the IRS disallows the claim, the taxpayer will have the right to appeal at that time.
2. Request an audit reconsideration by submitting new information to the IRS. The taxpayer must follow the instructions in IRS Publication 3598 and must submit new information that the IRS did not previously consider.
3. File an Offer in Compromise, Doubt as to Liability. An Offer in Compromise is, as its title implies, an offer by the taxpayer to pay an amount less than the actual tax owed.

Once the IRS does everything it is supposed to do and the taxpayer refuses or is unable to pay and all avenues of appeal are exhausted, the taxpayer can expect either a formal notice of a property lien or a notification by someone else who controls the taxpayer’s assets — the bank, employer, partner, insurance company, etc. — that the IRS has placed a levy on said assets.

If there is real property involved, the IRS posts a public notice in a newspaper or by means of a flyer and delivers an original notice of sale to the delinquent taxpayer.

For property sales, the taxpayer still has certain rights if there is disagreement as to the fair market value of the property. If the proceeds of the sale are less than the amount of the tax bill, the taxpayer still has unpaid taxes. If the sale is more, then the taxpayer can request a refund.

Then there is the absolute worst-case scenario where the taxpayer is facing criminal prosecution. In that case, often the best defense is a good offense. That’s what we specialize at DeBlis & DeBlis, and we definitely know more than a thing or two about due process and your rights.