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IRS notice, decoded

CP90: Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing

This letter carries a 30-day Collection Due Process hearing deadline — the single most important date in IRS collections. If you're holding one, check the printed date first, then decode it now.

What it is

A final levy warning carrying the same critical right as the LT11: 30 days to request a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing before the IRS may seize wages, bank accounts, federal payments, and other property.

Why you got it

Sent when an unpaid balance has exhausted the reminder series; the CP90 commonly precedes levies on federal payments (and is the final-notice form many taxpayers with federal benefit income receive).

The deadline structure

You have 30 days to request a Collection Due Process hearing using Form 12153 — a statutory window under IRC §6330, which requires the IRS to give this notice at least 30 days before the first levy (the irs.gov CP90 page itself prints no day count). A timely request suspends the levy action being appealed (§6330(e)) and preserves the right to petition the U.S. Tax Court to review the hearing determination (§6330(d)).

THE CDP DEADLINE PRINTED ON YOUR NOTICE IS THE ONE DATE THAT MATTERS MOST.

How to respond

  • File Form 12153 within 30 days — submit it through the IRS Document Upload Tool using the access code on your notice, or mail it to the address on the notice
  • Pay online at irs.gov/payments or set up a payment plan at irs.gov/opa
  • Call the number printed on the notice — but only the written Form 12153 preserves CDP rights

What ignoring it leads to

The IRS may levy wages, bank accounts, and other income and assets, including a portion of certain federal payments, and may file a federal tax lien. Seriously delinquent tax debt can also lead to denial or revocation of a U.S. passport. This is the last rung — no further warning letter follows.

Next letter if nothing changes: Levy action (no further warning letter)

Where you are on the IRS collection ladder

Balance-due letters escalate in a fixed order. Responding at any rung — paying, setting up a plan, or disputing — stops the climb.

  1. 1
    CP14

    First bill

  2. 2
    CP501

    First reminder

  3. 3
    CP503

    Second reminder

  4. 4
    CP504

    Intent to levy (state refund)

  5. 5
    LT11 / LETTER 1058 / CP90You are here

    FINAL notice — hearing rights

First: make sure this notice is really from the IRS

  • A real final levy notice arrives by U.S. mail — the IRS does not open contact with a phone call, text, email, or social media message threatening to seize your assets
  • Levy-threat calls demanding payment 'today' are the classic IRS impersonation scam — the IRS will not threaten arrest, deportation, or license revocation, and a genuine CP90 gives you a hearing right (Form 12153), not an ultimatum
  • The IRS will NEVER ask for payment by gift card, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or payment app — checks are payable only to 'United States Treasury', never to a person or a 'processing' company
  • To confirm a notice is genuine, check your account or the notice lookup at irs.gov, or call the IRS main line at 800-829-1040 — never a number from a call, text, or email

Mistakes people make with a CP90

  • Assuming benefit or retirement income is automatically safe — some federal payments can be levied after this notice
  • Letting the 30 days lapse while deciding — filing Form 12153 keeps options open and stops the clock's consequences

Official sources

Our summary paraphrases these sources. Last verified: BUILD-DATE 2026-06-09 + cross-ref 2026-07-11 (Claude Fable 5; live fetch: irs.gov CP90 page, FPLP page, f12153.pdf, law.cornell.edu §6330 + §6331) — CP90 page prints no day count; 30-day CDP window kept as statutory §6330 with statute source added; added Document Upload Tool channel, passport consequence (on page), FPLP source, scamCheck; human re-verify before launch. Your printed notice always controls.

NoticeKey is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the IRS or any state tax agency.

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