The IRS CP90C notice serves two purposes. First, it informs you that a levy was issued against your property. Second, it preserves your right to request a Collection Due Process hearing.
Many taxpayers confuse the CP90C with the CP90, but the two notices represent very different stages in the collection process. The CP90 is the Final Notice of Intent to Levy, issued before the IRS takes action. The CP90C is a post-levy notice issued after the levy was executed.
In the standard collection sequence, the CP90C arrives after multiple prior notices went unresolved: the CP14 balance due notice, the CP501 and CP503 reminders, the CP504 final warning before state refund levy, and the CP90 or Letter 1058 final notice of intent to levy
However, under IRC § 6330(f), the IRS may also levy against certain taxpayers without providing a pre-levy CDP notice. State income tax refund levies, disqualified employment tax levies, and federal contractor levies all fall under this exception. Jeopardy levies involve overlapping post-levy notice rules under § 6330(f) but also carry separate appeal rights under IRC § 7429. In all of these situations, the CP90C serves as the post-levy notice of rights without any preceding CP90 warning.
The IRS does not need a court order to levy your property. Under IRC § 6331, the agency carries statutory authority to seize wages, bank accounts, and other assets once proper notice procedures are satisfied. This is why the seizure can happen before you fully process what is occurring.
The deadline printed on your CP90C is not a procedural detail. It is the boundary between two very different sets of rights. Once it passes, certain protections disappear permanently.
A CP90C can follow several types of levy actions. The most common are bank account levies and wage levies, though the IRS can also levy accounts receivable, retirement funds, and other property. The type of levy determines how quickly assets are seized.
When the IRS issues a bank levy notice, it contacts your financial institution directly. The bank is required to freeze the funds in your account up to the amount of the tax debt. A 21-day holding period follows. During this window, the funds are frozen but not yet transferred to the IRS. This hold exists by law to give you time to resolve disputes or negotiate a release. If no action is taken within those 21 days, the bank sends the frozen funds to the IRS. That window is often the most immediate opportunity to intervene.
A wage levy notice works differently. Unlike a one-time bank levy, a wage garnishment is continuous. The IRS sends Form 668-W to your employer, who must withhold a portion of each paycheck and send it directly to the IRS. This continues until the tax debt is paid in full, the levy is released, or the collection statute expires. For cases involving ongoing garnishment, stopping an IRS wage levy requires a formal release order and a resolution plan for the underlying debt.
The CP90C notifies you of your right to request a Collection Due Process hearing under IRC § 6330.
A CDP hearing allows you to present your case to an IRS Appeals officer, not the collections division that issued the levy. The Appeals officer is required to evaluate whether the levy was appropriate and whether collection alternatives should have been considered before enforcement.
With a CP90C, a timely request within 30 days preserves your right to a full CDP hearing, including the right to petition the U.S. Tax Court if you disagree with the outcome. The IRS calculates this deadline from the date on the notice, not the date you received it in the mail. If your notice is dated January 15, your deadline is February 14, regardless of when the envelope arrived.
If the 30-day deadline passes, the full CDP hearing rights and Tax Court review are gone permanently. An equivalent hearing can still be requested within one year of the notice date, but it carries fewer protections and does not suspend collection activity. The 30-day window erodes quickly. Acting within that first 30 days preserves the strongest available set of procedural rights.
At the equivalent hearing, you can challenge whether the levy was appropriate, whether the IRS considered less intrusive collection alternatives, and in some cases, whether the underlying tax liability is valid. You can also propose an installment agreement, an offer in compromise, or currently not collectible status. The IRS Independent Office of Appeals handles these hearings and issues a determination on whether the levy was appropriate and what, if any, collection alternatives apply.
The Appeals officer operates separately from collections and must balance the government’s need to collect against your legitimate concern that collection be no more intrusive than necessary. A skilled tax attorney can use this hearing to negotiate a levy release, propose a payment plan, or lay the foundation for a settlement. That balance is where legal representation matters most.
Your options narrow quickly after a CP90C is issued. Before your CDP hearing window closes, a tax attorney can move to release the levy and preserve your remaining rights.
The first step is to verify the date on the notice and calculate your 30-day deadline immediately. Mailing delays can consume several days of that window before the notice reaches you.
Next, gather your documentation. Pull together the CP90C notice itself, any prior IRS notices you received, your most recent tax returns for the years in question, and any correspondence with the IRS. If a revenue officer was assigned to your case, include notes from any conversations.
Speaking with the IRS without preparation can lead to inadvertently waiving rights, making statements that complicate your case, or agreeing to terms that are not in your interest. IRS collections personnel are trained to close cases, not to advocate for yours.
To request the CDP hearing, complete Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing, and submit it to the IRS address listed on your CP90C within the 30-day deadline. The form requires you to specify which collection alternatives you want to discuss: installment agreement, offer in compromise, currently not collectible status, or others. An incomplete or vague request can limit what the Appeals officer addresses at the hearing.
Filing the request does not automatically stop a levy already in progress. It does open a formal channel to negotiate, and in some cases, a tax attorney can use the pending hearing as leverage to secure a voluntary hold on further collection activity while alternatives are evaluated.
The IRS is required to release a levy under specific circumstances set out in IRC § 6343. These are legal requirements, not discretionary decisions. Release is required when the tax debt is paid in full or becomes unenforceable; when releasing the levy would facilitate collection of the liability; when a payment agreement is entered into and accepted; when the levy is creating an economic hardship; or when the value of the property exceeds the debt and releasing a portion would not hinder collection.
An economic hardship argument is often the most immediately actionable. When that condition is established, the IRS is required to release the levy under IRC § 6343(a)(1)(D). For a wage levy, this means the garnishment must be reduced or stopped. For a bank account levy, timing controls what is still possible. Once the 21-day holding period passes and funds transfer to the IRS, a hardship release cannot recover what was already sent.
To make this case, you will typically need to complete a Collection Information Statement, either Form 433-A for cases assigned to a revenue officer or Form 433-F for cases handled through the IRS Automated Collection System.
A levy release buys time. It does not resolve the underlying debt. The IRS can levy again if no long-term solution is in place. Resolving the debt requires a strategy: an offer in compromise to settle for less than the full amount owed, currently not collectible status, an installment agreement, or, in some cases, bankruptcy.
Submitting an OIC requires detailed financial disclosure to the IRS. If the offer is rejected, the IRS retains that financial information and can use it to pursue more aggressive collection. Professional evaluation is critical before filing. Additional context on back taxes resolution options and when each strategy is appropriate can help frame the right approach for your situation.
If the IRS filed a federal tax lien, which is common by the time a levy is executed, resolving the levy does not automatically release the lien. A lien is a claim against your property. A levy is a seizure of it. The two are separate legal instruments and must be addressed separately. The process for removing or withdrawing a federal tax lien carries its own requirements, separate from the levy resolution.
By the time a CP90C arrives, the IRS has demonstrated willingness to take enforcement action. Attempting to negotiate alone, without knowing the procedural rules, the hearing process, or the IRS’s internal policies, puts you at a significant disadvantage. A tax attorney can identify procedural errors in the levy, submit the CDP hearing request with proper supporting documentation, present hardship arguments backed by financial evidence, and pursue the right long-term resolution simultaneously. Broader tax relief options may also apply depending on the specifics of your situation.
Not necessarily, but timing matters.
For a bank levy, your funds are frozen during the 21-day holding period and remain with the bank, not yet transferred to the IRS. If you act within that window, there may be time to negotiate a release. For a wage levy, the first deduction from your paycheck may already have occurred. The garnishment continues each pay period until the levy is released or the debt is resolved.
It depends on the type of levy and how quickly you act.
A bank levy may be stoppable within the 21-day hold period if you can document financial hardship or enter into a payment arrangement. After those 21 days pass and funds transfer to the IRS, recovery becomes substantially more difficult.
A wage levy is ongoing and requires a formal release order. A tax attorney can assess whether grounds exist for immediate release and negotiate directly with the assigned revenue officer while a long-term resolution is being finalized.
The CP90 is the Final Notice of Intent to Levy. It gives you 30 days to request a pre-levy CDP hearing, which suspends collection activity and preserves your right to petition the Tax Court if you disagree with the outcome. The CP90C confirms the levy was already executed. A timely request within 30 days preserves full CDP hearing rights, including Tax Court review. If that window passes, only an equivalent hearing remains available, and it does not suspend collection or preserve Tax Court review.
It depends on timing. A timely CDP hearing request filed within 30 days suspends further levy action on the same tax period. An equivalent hearing requested after the 30-day window passes does not suspend collection activity. The IRS may agree to voluntarily pause further enforcement while your case is pending, particularly if a tax attorney is involved, but for an equivalent hearing, there is no statutory requirement to do so.
The IRS generally has 10 years from the date of assessment to collect a tax debt, a period known as the Collection Statute Expiration Date, or CSED.
A CP90C does not reset that clock, though certain actions, such as submitting an offer in compromise or filing for bankruptcy, can toll it. The IRS collection timeline and how the CSED interacts with your resolution strategy are worth understanding early in the process.
In limited circumstances, yes. If you did not receive a prior notice and opportunity to dispute the liability, the underlying tax debt can be challenged at the equivalent hearing. If you previously received that opportunity and did not act on it, the hearing focuses on collection alternatives rather than the tax owed.
Rights remain after a CP90C, but the 30-day window is fixed. Every day without a response is a day closer to losing options.
Contact Ayar Law at (248) 262-3400 to speak with our team of tax professionals before that deadline passes.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice specific to your situation, contact a licensed tax attorney.
