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Houston IRS Collections Attorneys

You probably found us by searching for “IRS tax attorney near me,” “tax debt attorney,” or some version of “how do I stop the IRS from collecting?” You are in the right place. Mitchell Tax Law is a Houston tax law firm that represents individuals and businesses against IRS collections — liens, levies, wage garnishments, installment agreements, offers in compromise, and the appeals that go with them.

An IRS balance does not stay quiet for long. Once tax is assessed, the IRS has powerful tools to collect — far more powerful than any private creditor. The good news is that taxpayers have real rights and real options at every stage, and the IRS will work with someone who shows up prepared. The goal of this page is to lay out how IRS collections actually works and what we do for Houston clients at each step.

How the IRS collects: notices, ACS, and Revenue Officers

The IRS uses the most powerful collection powers of any creditor in the country. After a tax is assessed, the IRS sends a sequence of notices — CP14, CP501, CP503, CP504, and eventually the LT11 / Letter 1058 final notice of intent to levy. Most cases live for a while in the Automated Collection System (ACS), the IRS’s phone-based collection unit. Larger or more complicated cases get assigned to a Revenue Officer in the field. The two tracks call for different approaches.

For most taxpayers, the first practical step is to get into compliance — file all required returns, get current with estimated payments, and then negotiate the back balance. The IRS will not seriously negotiate with a taxpayer who is not in compliance. The IRS can also use less familiar tools, including private tax debt collection agencies and, for international cases, the ability to reach foreign assets.

The 10-year collection statute (CSED)

The IRS generally has ten years from the date of assessment to collect a tax. The clock is called the Collection Statute Expiration Date, or CSED. Some events suspend or extend the CSED — bankruptcy, certain offers in compromise, CDP hearings, time outside the United States. Calculating the right CSED for each year is one of the first things we do on every collection case. The CSED drives strategy. A balance with two years left on the clock is a different case than a balance with eight years left.

Federal tax liens and lien-related relief

A federal tax lien arises automatically when the IRS assesses tax that is not paid after notice and demand. The Notice of Federal Tax Lien is the public filing that puts third parties on notice and clouds title to real estate, business assets, and accounts receivable. Lien-related relief comes in several flavors — discharge of specific property, subordination so the taxpayer can refinance, and withdrawal when the lien was filed in error or no longer aids collection. We use whichever fits the goal.

Estate cases have their own special lien. The IRS estate tax lien attaches automatically and lasts ten years, and it can complicate the sale of estate assets in ways that surprise executors.

Levies, wage garnishment, and bank account seizures

An IRS levy is the actual seizure — of a bank account, of wages, of accounts receivable, of brokerage accounts, of Social Security. Levies require pre-levy notice and CDP rights in most cases, but the IRS does levy quickly when those steps have been satisfied. Lifting a levy usually requires a combination of compliance, a financial showing, and a viable resolution path going forward. We work the levy issue and the underlying balance at the same time.

Sometimes the IRS gets it wrong. The IRS may blatantly violate the law in collections — serving a levy when it should not have, ignoring a pending installment agreement, or collecting through the wrong taxpayer entirely. There are real remedies, including wrongful levy claims and damages under §7433.

Installment agreements

An IRS installment agreement is the workhorse of collection resolutions. The IRS has several tracks — streamlined agreements for smaller balances, partial-pay agreements where the monthly payment will not pay the balance before the CSED, and full-pay agreements that retire the debt. The right one depends on the balance, the income picture, the assets, and the CSED.

The IRS will sometimes deny an installment agreement based on assets the taxpayer thought were off-limits. Whether the IRS can deny an installment agreement because of home equity is the kind of case-specific issue we look at on every engagement before filing the financial disclosure.

Offers in compromise

An IRS offer in compromise settles a tax liability for less than the full amount. Most offers are filed on doubt-as-to-collectibility grounds, which means the offer amount has to equal or exceed the taxpayer’s reasonable collection potential — net equity in assets plus a multiple of monthly disposable income. The math is unforgiving but knowable. We run the numbers before we file and decline cases where the offer will not be accepted.

Two important traps. First, filing an offer suspends the CSED while the offer is pending and for thirty days after — meaning a rejected offer can cost a taxpayer real CSED days. Second, accepted offers require five years of strict tax compliance going forward. A default puts the original balance back on the books with interest.

Currently Not Collectible status

When the taxpayer truly cannot pay anything — the financial picture shows allowable expenses meeting or exceeding income — the IRS will place the account in Currently Not Collectible (CNC) status, sometimes called Status 53 or hardship status. The lien stays in place and the CSED keeps running, but active collection stops. CNC is a real outcome for the right case — especially for older taxpayers, the seriously ill, or families with substantial allowable expenses against modest income.

Collection Due Process and the appeal to Tax Court

Collection Due Process (CDP) is the most important procedural right in collections. When the IRS issues a final notice of intent to levy or files a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, the taxpayer has thirty days to request a CDP hearing. CDP gets the case to the IRS Appeals collection hearing where collection alternatives can be argued. The CDP determination is appealable to U.S. Tax Court within thirty days.

CDP has real teeth, but it has to be handled correctly. Failing to show up to the CDP hearing can forfeit appeal rights. An offer of IRS Appeals review can preclude later judicial review of certain matters, so the decision to accept a CDP conference has to be made with the litigation path in mind. For more on the path from collection appeal to court, see our tax litigation page.

Equivalent hearings are also available when the 30-day CDP window has passed. They get the case to Appeals but do not preserve the Tax Court appeal. Appealing IRS collection actions is its own page on this site.

Bankruptcy and IRS tax debts

Some income tax debts are dischargeable in bankruptcy — generally taxes more than three years old where the return was timely filed at least two years before the petition, with the assessment more than 240 days old and no fraud or willful evasion. The dischargeability rules are unforgiving and the timing matters down to the day. Bankruptcy can also suspend the CSED and convert the case into a Chapter 13 plan that pays priority taxes over five years. We coordinate with bankruptcy counsel and run the numbers before filing.

Trust fund recovery and payroll-tax collections

Unpaid employment taxes are a special collection problem. The IRS can assert the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty under §6672 against officers, owners, and other responsible persons individually for the income-tax-withholding and employee FICA portions of unpaid 941 liabilities. That turns a corporate problem into a personal problem. For more on payroll tax disputes, the trust fund interview, and what to do before the IRS assesses the TFRP, see our payroll tax attorney page.

Refund offsets, passport certification, and other side effects

An open IRS balance has collateral consequences beyond the balance itself. The IRS can offset future refunds — learn how to push back at our IRS tax refund offset page. Seriously delinquent tax debt can lead to passport certification, which can be reversed — contesting the IRS’s passport certification for back taxes is sometimes the case that gets the rest of the resolution moving.

Specialized industries have their own collection patterns. Truck drivers face unique exposure on Schedule C deductions and per diem. IRS collections for U.S. military personnel are governed by special rules. We handle both.

How we work with Houston IRS collections clients

Collections work starts with a financial picture, a CSED calculation, and a compliance check. From there we map the case to the right resolution — installment agreement, offer in compromise, CNC, lien withdrawal, levy release, CDP, or some combination of those. We give a written scope and fee estimate up front and we sign every Form 2848 ourselves so the IRS contact comes through the firm, not through the client.

We also tell clients when the right answer is not what they came in expecting. Sometimes the right answer is to fight the underlying liability through audit reconsideration or refund litigation rather than pay it. Sometimes the right answer is bankruptcy. Sometimes the right answer is the offer the client did not want to hear about. We aim to be honest about which one fits. For real-world examples, see our IRS collections case studies.

Call us at (713) 909-4906 or schedule an appointment with our IRS collection attorneys.