IRS LT11 / Letter 1058: Final Notice of Intent to Levy

Updated September 7, 2026. This guide covers the IRS Final Notice of Intent to Levy (LT11 and Letter 1058). For the letter that usually comes before it, see our CP504 guide; for the full sequence of IRS letters, see IRS notices explained.

The short answer: an LT11 or Letter 1058 is the IRS’s “Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing.” It is the letter the law requires the IRS to send before it can levy your wages, bank accounts or other property for the balance listed, and it starts a 30-day window in which you have a statutory right to request a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing on Form 12153. Requesting the hearing on time generally stops the levy while the hearing is pending and preserves your right to go to Tax Court. If the 30 days pass, you can still ask for an “equivalent hearing” within one year, still set up a payment plan, and still resolve the balance, but the IRS is no longer required to hold off on a levy while it considers your request. The steps below are what to do in the first few days.

Where this letter sits in the sequence

By the time an LT11 arrives, the IRS has usually sent several balance-due notices: a CP14 when the balance was first assessed, then CP501 and CP503 reminders, then a CP504 “Notice of Intent to Levy.” Despite its name, the CP504 only permits the IRS to take a state tax refund; the IRS itself says it cannot levy other property with just that notice. The LT11 or Letter 1058 is the notice that satisfies the legal requirement for a levy on everything else. The two versions say the same thing and carry the same rights; the LT11 is issued by the IRS Automated Collection System and Letter 1058 by a revenue officer assigned to your case, which usually means the balance is larger or the IRS has been unable to reach you.

What the letter says and what to check first

The letter lists the tax periods and the balance for each, including penalties and interest to date, states that the IRS intends to levy, and explains your right to a hearing. Before doing anything else, check three things:

• The date on the letter. The 30-day period runs from the date printed on the notice, not the day you opened it. Write the deadline down; the Taxpayer Advocate Service notes that this deadline cannot be extended.
• The periods listed. Confirm that each year or quarter is one you owe. A balance from a return you never filed is likely a substitute-for-return assessment, which is handled by filing the real return (see unfiled tax returns). A balance you already paid or that is on an active payment plan should not be here.
• Whether a hearing was offered on these periods before. You get one CDP hearing per tax period for a levy notice. If you already had one for the same period, the letter may say so, and your options are narrower.

The Collection Due Process hearing: what it is

A CDP hearing is a review by the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, separate from the collection function that sent the letter. At the hearing you can raise anything relevant to the collection of the balance: a payment plan, an offer in compromise, currently-not-collectible status, a request that the IRS withdraw or subordinate a lien, an argument that the levy is more intrusive than necessary, a claim of innocent-spouse relief, and, if you did not have an earlier chance to dispute it, the underlying tax itself. Appeals is required to consider whether the IRS’s proposed action balances the government’s need to collect against your legitimate concern that it be no more intrusive than necessary.

Three things happen when you request the hearing on time:

• Levy is generally suspended on the periods in the request while the hearing and any court review are pending. There are exceptions: the IRS can still levy a state tax refund, can proceed if collection is in jeopardy, and can continue certain levies on federal contractor payments and on employment taxes where an earlier hearing was offered.
• The collection statute is suspended for the same period, so the IRS gets the time back later. Most balances have a 10-year collection window from assessment; a CDP request pauses that clock.
• You keep the right to Tax Court. If you disagree with Appeals’ determination, you can petition the U.S. Tax Court within the period stated in the determination letter (30 days under the statute). Court review is the main difference between a timely CDP request and everything that comes after the deadline.

How to request the hearing: Form 12153

File Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing, with the office shown on your letter, within 30 days of the letter date. On the form you:

1. List the tax periods from the notice you are requesting a hearing on.
2. Check the box for the notice type (proposed levy), and the lien box as well if a Notice of Federal Tax Lien filing (Letter 3172) arrived at the same time; a lien notice carries its own separate hearing right.
3. Check the collection alternative you want considered: installment agreement, offer in compromise, “I cannot pay balance,” or another reason, with a short explanation. You can raise more than one.
4. Sign it. A representative can sign for you only with a Form 2848 power of attorney on file.

Send it by a method that proves the mailing date, and keep a copy. Faxing to the number on the letter is accepted; a mailed request is treated as timely if postmarked within the 30 days. Appeals will send a letter acknowledging the request, then schedule a conference, typically by phone, and ask for a financial statement (Form 433-A or 433-F) if you are proposing a payment plan or claiming you cannot pay. Being current on required filings and estimated payments is expected before Appeals will accept a collection alternative.

If you missed the 30 days

You have not lost the ability to resolve the balance, but the protections change:

• Equivalent hearing. Within one year of the letter date you can request an equivalent hearing on the same Form 12153. Appeals considers the same issues and issues a decision letter, but the levy is not required to be suspended while it is pending, the collection statute does not pause, and there is no right to Tax Court review of the decision.
• Collection Appeals Program (CAP). A faster review by Appeals of a specific levy action, available before or after the levy. It is quicker than CDP, but it cannot be used to dispute the tax itself and its decision cannot be taken to court.
• Payment plan or other resolution directly with collections. An installment agreement, currently-not-collectible status or an offer in compromise can be requested at any stage, and an accepted request generally stops levy action. Our guide to IRS payment plan options compares them.

What a levy actually does

A levy is the IRS taking property to pay the balance. The usual forms:

• Wage levy. Sent to your employer, and continuous: it attaches to each paycheck until released or the balance is paid. A portion of wages is exempt from levy based on your filing status and dependents (the employer uses IRS Publication 1494 to compute it); the rest goes to the IRS.
• Bank levy. A one-time levy on the funds in the account on the day the bank receives it. The bank must hold the funds for 21 days before sending them, which is the window for getting the levy released if it will cause hardship or was issued in error.
• Federal payments. Through the Federal Payment Levy Program the IRS can take up to 15% of certain federal payments, including Social Security benefits, and federal contractor payments.
• Other property. Accounts receivable, commissions, retirement accounts and real property can be levied. Retirement accounts require a finding of flagrant conduct and higher-level approval, and a principal residence can be levied only with court approval.

The IRS must release a levy when the balance is paid, when the collection period has ended, when release will help you pay, when you enter an installment agreement whose terms do not allow the levy, when the levy creates an economic hardship, or when the property’s value exceeds the balance and release will not hinder collection. A released levy does not remove the balance.

Resolution options to raise at the hearing or before it

Which one fits depends on the balance, your income and what you can pay. Appeals will expect a proposal, not just a request to stop.

• Full payment, if possible, ends the levy risk immediately.
• Installment agreement. For most individual balances under $50,000 this can be set up online without a financial statement; larger balances need Form 433-F or 433-A. An agreement proposed at the CDP hearing is evaluated by Appeals.
• Currently not collectible. If paying anything would leave you unable to meet basic living expenses, collection is suspended, though penalties and interest continue and the IRS reviews the status periodically.
• Offer in compromise. A settlement for less than the full amount, based on what the IRS can reasonably collect from your income and assets. It is the right tool for a minority of cases and takes months to process.
• Penalty relief. First-time abatement or reasonable cause can reduce the balance; see our guide to first-time penalty abatement.
• Disputing the tax. If the balance comes from a return you did not file, a CP2000 you did not answer, or an audit you never had a chance to contest, the hearing can address the liability itself.

One more consequence: passports

If the total of assessed tax, penalties and interest is above the IRS’s “seriously delinquent” threshold ($66,000 for 2026, adjusted annually) and a levy has been issued or CDP rights have lapsed, the IRS can certify the debt to the State Department, which can deny or revoke a passport. Balances on an installment agreement, in a pending offer in compromise, or with a pending CDP request are not certified.

Representation

Many taxpayers handle a single-year LT11 themselves: they file Form 12153, propose a payment plan and resolve it at the hearing. Representation earns its cost when several periods are involved, when the balance is large enough that a financial statement will be scrutinized, when the tax itself is wrong, when the balance is payroll tax, or when a levy has already hit and needs releasing. With a signed Form 2848, an enrolled agent, CPA or attorney can speak to the IRS and Appeals on your behalf, file the hearing request, negotiate the collection alternative and handle the state agency if it is collecting too. Our IRS resolution service is priced per matter and agreed before work starts.

Common questions

How long do I have to respond to an LT11?

30 days from the date on the letter to request a Collection Due Process hearing. That deadline is fixed. An equivalent hearing can be requested for up to one year, and a payment plan can be requested at any time.

Does requesting a CDP hearing stop the levy?

Generally yes, for the periods in a timely request, while the hearing and any Tax Court review are pending, with limited exceptions such as jeopardy and state refund levies. It does not stop penalties and interest.

What is the difference between LT11 and Letter 1058?

Nothing in substance. LT11 is issued by the IRS’s automated collection system; Letter 1058 is issued by a revenue officer assigned to your case. Both are the final notice before levy and both carry the same hearing rights.

Can the IRS levy my bank account without warning after this letter?

After the 30 days pass with no hearing request and no resolution, the IRS can levy without sending another notice first. The bank then holds the funds for 21 days before remitting them.

I already have a payment plan. Why did I get this?

Usually because a new balance was assessed for a period not covered by the plan, or the plan defaulted (you would have received a CP523). Call the number on the letter, or have your representative do it, before the 30 days run out.

Received a final notice of intent to levy? Tell us the letter date and the periods listed and we will tell you what to file and by when; if the deadline is close, use the contact page and mark it urgent.

Sources

• IRS, Understanding your LT11 notice or Letter 1058 — irs.gov
• IRS, Understanding your CP504 notice — irs.gov
• IRS, Collection Due Process (CDP) FAQs — irs.gov
• IRS, Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing — irs.gov
• IRS, Publication 1660, Collection Appeal Rights — irs.gov
• IRS, Levy — irs.gov
• IRS, Information about bank levies — irs.gov
• IRS, Information about wage levies — irs.gov
• IRS, How do I get a levy released? — irs.gov
• IRS, Revocation or denial of passport in cases of certain unpaid taxes — irs.gov
• Taxpayer Advocate Service, Letter 11 (LT11) — taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov