OVERVIEW
An IRS tax lien is an attempt by the Internal Revenue Service to collect on back taxes. Get rid of an IRS tax lien with help from TurboTax in this video on tax tips.
Video transcript:
Hello, I'm Sara from TurboTax with important news on how you can get rid of a tax lien.
If you are past due on paying your federal income tax, don't let it remain that way for too long. Otherwise, the IRS can place a tax lien on your assets.
A tax lien is usually a last resort for the IRS to collect taxes, but if it decides to obtain one for your personal assets, such as your home, it can restrict your ability to sell it.
- Essentially, a tax lien gives the IRS a legal claim to your assets in case you never pay your tax debt.
- The reason it is hard to sell this type of property is because, in most cases, the IRS can enforce it against your buyer.
Even when a tax lien exists on a property, there are still things you can do. Before considering any other option, you should investigate whether the lien was properly obtained.
- There are limited ways to show this, but it can be done if the IRS did not follow proper procedure.
- If that's the case, you should immediately file an appeal using Form 9423.
In most cases though, the tax lien will be proper. At this point, you can ask the IRS to allow the sale of the property to pay off your tax debt. Depending on the amount you owe and the value of the property, the IRS may allow this.
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