Relief from Federal Tax Liens

Relief from Federal Tax Liens

The IRS provides several options for relief from federal tax liens for taxpayers.  A taxpayer may request for release of the tax lien, withdrawal of the tax lien, or discharge of property from the tax lien.

If the taxpayer has paid his/her tax deficiency in full, he/she may request that the IRS release the tax lien.  The IRS should grant a release of the tax lien within 30 days of satisfying the tax deficiency, however, if the taxpayer has not been granted this release, he/she should call the Centralized Lien Unit at 1-800-913-6050 to obtain certification of release of the tax lien.  The taxpayer can also make a request for a certificate of release in writing by following the instructions set forth in Publication 1450.

There may several instances that the IRS may withdraw the notice of federal tax lien.  As compared to the release of the federal tax lien, the withdrawal solely eliminates public notices of tax lien and not the underlying tax deficiency.  Withdrawal may be granted if 1) the taxpayer entered into a direct debit installment agreement  (please see requirements under  the “direct debit installment agreement”  link, 2) it enhances the IRS’s ability to collect the debt, or 3) it is in the best interest of both the taxpayer and the government.  The National Taxpayer Advocate’s office will determine if withdrawal is in the best interest of the taxpayer.

Taxpayers who want to sell property may request for a Certificate of Discharge of Property from Federal Tax Lien by completing Form 14135 and following the instructions in Publication 783.  This is particularly helpful for taxpayers with little or no equity in their property and are having trouble disposing of the property due to the notice of federal tax lien.