People find out about tax liens in the worst possible ways. A title company flags it the week before closing. A lender's underwriter calls with "a question about a public record." A business partner runs a background search. None of those is the right time to start investigating.
If you owe the IRS, find out where you stand now. The answer has two parts, and it helps to keep them separate. Do you have a statutory lien? And has the IRS filed a public notice of it?
Part one: do you have a statutory lien?
If you have an assessed federal tax balance, the IRS has sent you a bill demanding payment, and you have not paid in full, the answer is yes. Under IRC 6321 the lien arises automatically, and under section 6322 it dates from the assessment. No filing is required. I explain the mechanics in how a federal tax lien arises.
So the useful question is almost always the second one: has a Notice of Federal Tax Lien been filed, where, and for which tax periods?
Source 1: Letter 3172 in your mail
IRC 6320(a) requires the IRS to notify you in writing of the filing of a notice of lien, not more than five business days after the filing. The notice can be handed to you, left at your home or usual place of business, or sent by certified or registered mail to your last known address.
The IRS uses Letter 3172, Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing and Your Rights to a Hearing Under IRC 6320. According to IRM 5.12.6.3.5, the letter lists the tax periods, types of tax, assessment dates and unpaid balances shown on the notice, and it comes with a copy of Form 668(Y)(c), Publication 594, Publication 1450, Publication 1660, and Form 12153.
If you have that letter, you have the most useful document in this whole process. It has the filing details and your hearing deadline. Read Letter 3172 and your lien hearing deadline immediately.
A few cautions:
- The IRS sends the letter to your last known address. If you moved and did not update it, the letter may be sitting in someone else's mailbox.
- Under IRM 5.12.6.3.5, a new Letter 3172 is not issued when the IRS refiles a notice, or when it files in another county for periods already covered by an earlier letter. One letter may cover filings you never hear about separately.
- If your representative has a power of attorney on file, check with them. The IRS has procedures for notifying authorized representatives too.
Source 2: your IRS account transcripts
Your account transcript for each tax period shows transaction codes the IRS posts as things happen. According to IRM 5.12.6.3.5, when a notice is requested through the Automated Lien System, a TC 582 posts to indicate the notice was generated for filing, and a TC 971 with action code 252 indicates Letter 3172 was generated. IRM 5.12.7 also refers to a TC 360 for the lien filing fee.
Pull account transcripts for every period with a balance. A TC 582 on a period tells you a notice exists for that period. The transcript will not tell you the county, the recording number or the last day for refiling. It will tell you which periods to ask about.
Source 3: the IRS lien unit
The IRS's own lien page lists the Centralized Lien Operation for "basic and routine lien issues," including verifying a lien, requesting a lien payoff amount, or releasing a lien. The phone number the IRS publishes is 800-913-6050. Expect to verify your identity before anyone discusses your account.
When you call, ask specific questions. Which tax periods are on a filed notice? In which recording offices was each notice filed, and on what dates? Has any notice been released, and if so, when? Is there anything scheduled to be refiled?
Source 4: the public records themselves
A filed notice is a public record. That is the whole point of it. IRC 6323(f) puts real property notices in the office the state designates for the place where the land sits, and personal property notices in the office the state designates for your residence. IRM 5.17.2 says states generally use the county recorder or clerk for real property, and most states use the county clerk where an individual lives for personal property. For corporations and partnerships in states that adopted the Revised Uniform Federal Tax Lien Registration Act, notices against personal property go to the Secretary of State.
So search:
- The county where you live now, and where you lived when the IRS was likely to have filed.
- Every county where you own real estate.
- For a business, the state filing office for the state where the principal executive office is located, along with the county records.
Many recording offices have online indexes. Search every name variation you have used. IRM 5.17.2 points out that searchers must act reasonably and diligently, and that a notice can be valid even with a variation in the name. The detailed filing rules are in where the IRS files tax lien notices.
Source 5: what other people see
Title commitments, lien search reports and loan underwriting reports pull from the same public records. If a title company or lender has already found a notice, ask for a copy of the recorded document. It will show the recording office, the recording date and the instrument number, which you need for any release, withdrawal or nonattachment request.
Consumer credit reports are a separate question. The IRS's own lien page says that once it files a notice, the filing "may limit your ability to get credit," and the IRS's campus manual tells employees to advise taxpayers that credit bureaus routinely research public records. How each bureau treats public record data is outside the IRS's control. I cover that in federal tax liens and credit reports. Do not rely on a clean consumer credit report as proof that no notice was filed.
What to collect once you find a notice
| Item | Why you need it |
|---|---|
| Copy of each recorded notice | Release, withdrawal and nonattachment certificates must be filed in the same office. |
| Recording office, date and instrument number | Identifies the exact notice. Treas. Reg. 301.6323(j)-1(d) asks for a copy of the notice, if available, with a withdrawal request. |
| Tax periods and kinds of tax | Each period is a separate lien with its own deadlines. |
| Assessment dates | The lien runs from assessment; the refiling period is measured from it. |
| Last day for refiling | The notice self-releases the next day if not refiled. |
| Letter 3172 and its hearing deadline | Your Collection Due Process rights depend on it. |
Check for more than one notice
One balance can produce several recorded notices. The IRS may file in the county where you live and in each county where you own land, and it may file new notices as new assessments are made. IRM 5.12.7 says one notice can list up to 15 statutory liens, so a long history of unpaid periods may also be split across several documents. When you think you have found "the" lien, keep looking until your transcripts and the recorded notices account for every period with a TC 582.
A note on lien "scams"
Recorded liens are public, and that attracts marketers. If you receive a mailer that looks official and offers to "remove your lien," read the return address carefully. The IRS releases and withdraws its own notices. Anyone else can only help you ask.
You cannot fix a lien you have not read. Get the documents first.
Once you have the notice and the transcripts in front of you, the picture usually gets clearer. Some periods may already be paid. Some may be close to self-releasing. Some may support a withdrawal request. You cannot see any of that from a phone call that starts with "there's a lien on your property."