Post by myTax Solutions on Mar 17, 2016 22:21:33 GMT
The first thing you should do is find out when the bank received the levy. Depending on where you live, the bank is generally required to freeze the money in the account for a certain period of time to allow you to respond before the money is transferred to the IRS. The easiest way to do this is usually to contact the bank directly and just ask them.
Once you know how much time you have before the money is actually paid to the IRS, then you need to find out why the IRS issued the levy in the first place. Do you have missing returns? Have you defaulted on an installment agreement (payment plan)? Did you miss a deadline to provide additional documents that were requested? One way to do this is to look at the “Notice of Federal Tax Levy” from the IRS. You should have received this prior to, or shortly after, the levy took place. If you never received this notice or can’t find it, you can contact the bank and request a copy of the notice that the bank received. Once you have this notice, read it carefully and it should explain what actions need to be taken to get the account unfrozen and/or prevent additional levies in the future.
Once you know how much time you have before the money is actually paid to the IRS, then you need to find out why the IRS issued the levy in the first place. Do you have missing returns? Have you defaulted on an installment agreement (payment plan)? Did you miss a deadline to provide additional documents that were requested? One way to do this is to look at the “Notice of Federal Tax Levy” from the IRS. You should have received this prior to, or shortly after, the levy took place. If you never received this notice or can’t find it, you can contact the bank and request a copy of the notice that the bank received. Once you have this notice, read it carefully and it should explain what actions need to be taken to get the account unfrozen and/or prevent additional levies in the future.