IRS Resumes Sending Collection Notices After Pandemic Pause

Starting this January, the IRS gears up to send automated collection notices and letters to individuals with tax debts predating 2022 and to businesses, tax-exempt organizations, trusts, and estates with debts before 2023. There are exceptions for those dealing with debts spanning multiple years. These notices and letters, previously put on hold due to the pandemic and IRS backlog, will gradually resume over the coming months. For the current tax year 2022

individuals and third quarter 2023 business taxpayers, automated collection notices started arriving this fall as the IRS took steps to get back to its regular operations.

During the pause in collection mailings, only follow-up reminder mailings were affected. The IRS didn't stop sending out the initial balance due notices, like the CP14 and CP161 notices, to taxpayers.

This break meant that some individuals with long-standing tax debts haven't received any formal communication from the IRS in over a year, as some of the older collection work was put on hold. To assist these taxpayers as normal procedures resume, the IRS plans to issue a special reminder letter to them starting next month.

The purpose of this reminder letter is to alert taxpayers about their liability and guide them on contacting the IRS or making alternative arrangements to settle their bill. Tax professionals and taxpayers can expect these reminders in the form of letter LT38, Reminder, Notice Resumption.

It's a heads-up for taxpayers regarding their tax liability, giving them a chance to address the issue before subsequent rounds of letters are dispatched. Following this reminder, individuals with long-standing unresolved tax issues will receive the next notice, marking a more serious step in the tax collection process.

The IRS advises taxpayers to carefully review any letter or notice received before contacting them, and there are crucial resources available on IRS.gov to seek help with tax debt.

To ensure that taxpayers with questions or in need of assistance can connect with an IRS assistor, these balance due notices and letters will be rolled out gradually next year. This approach also allows tax professionals aiding taxpayers additional time to manage these matters. Morris and Associates are experts to help resolve these types of issues and can even possibly help reduce the amount of taxes owed depending on an individual's situation.