What is a Collection Due Process hearing?

A CDP hearing is a formal appeal right that allows you to challenge IRS collection actions — including levies and liens — before an independent IRS Office of Appeals officer. It temporarily pauses collection while the appeal is pending.

How do I request a CDP hearing?

File Form 12153 (Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing) within 30 days of the date on a final levy notice (CP90, LT11) or within 30 days of the lien CDP notice issued with the NFTL filing. Mail it to the address on the notice.

Collection Due Process (CDP) Hearings: Your Right to Appeal IRS Collection

Q: What can I request at a CDP hearing?

You can request any collection alternative available to you: an installment agreement, Offer in Compromise, Currently Not Collectible status, or innocent spouse relief. You can also challenge whether the tax was correctly assessed if you never had a prior opportunity to dispute it.

When the IRS issues a final levy notice — the legal warning before seizing your bank accounts, wages, or property — federal law gives you one last formal opportunity to stop collection and present your case to an independent reviewer. This right is called a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing, and it is one of the most powerful protections available to taxpayers facing aggressive IRS collection.

What Triggers CDP Rights

Two IRS actions give you CDP rights:

1. Federal Tax Lien Filing When the IRS files a Notice of Federal Tax Lien (NFTL) to protect its interest in your assets, it must send you a CDP Lien Notice — a separate notice issued at the time of the NFTL filing, distinct from the routine balance reminder notices (CP501/CP503). You have 30 days from the date of that notice to request a CDP hearing.

2. Final Levy Notice Before the IRS can levy (seize) your wages, bank accounts, or other property, it must send you a final warning notice. The most common are CP90 and LT11 (Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing). You have 30 days from the date on that notice to request a CDP hearing.

Missing either deadline is consequential. After 30 days, you lose your full CDP rights and are limited to an “Equivalent Hearing” — which has fewer protections, no right to appeal to Tax Court, and does not pause the CSED.

How to Request a CDP Hearing

File Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing. You can download it at IRS.gov.

On the form, you must:

Identify the notice(s) you are responding to (include the notice date and type)
State the collection alternatives you want to discuss (installment agreement, OIC, CNC, etc.)
List any challenges to the underlying liability (only if you never had a prior opportunity to dispute it)

Mail Form 12153 to the IRS address shown on the notice — not to the general IRS mailing address. Send it by certified mail with return receipt so you have proof of the filing date.

What Happens After You File

Filing Form 12153 within the 30-day window triggers several immediate effects:

Collection is paused. The IRS cannot levy while your CDP hearing is pending (unless the collection is jeopardy-level urgent, which is rare).
The CSED is tolled. The 10-year collection statute is paused during the CDP process, extending the IRS’s window to collect.
Your case goes to Appeals. An independent IRS Office of Appeals officer — who is separate from the collection division — reviews your case. You have the right to meet with this officer in person, by phone, or in writing.

What You Can Raise at the Hearing

Collection alternatives: The primary purpose of a CDP hearing is to discuss alternatives to the proposed levy or lien. You can propose any program you qualify for: installment agreement, Offer in Compromise, Currently Not Collectible status, or innocent spouse relief.

Liability challenges: If you never had a prior opportunity to dispute the underlying tax (for example, you received a substitute-for-return assessment but never received the notice), you can challenge whether the amount is correct. This is not available if you previously received a statutory notice of deficiency or if you agreed to the assessment.

Procedural challenges: You can argue that the IRS failed to follow proper collection procedures — for example, that it did not give you proper notice before filing a lien.

If the Appeals Officer Rules Against You

If Appeals does not rule in your favor, you have 90 days to petition the US Tax Court for review — but only if you had a full CDP hearing (not an Equivalent Hearing). The Tax Court reviews whether the IRS abused its discretion in the collection decision.

Equivalent Hearings

If you miss the 30-day CDP deadline, you can still request an Equivalent Hearing by filing Form 12153 within one year of the notice date. An Equivalent Hearing:

Is conducted by the same Appeals officers
Can result in collection alternatives
Does not pause IRS collection or the CSED during review
Does not give you the right to petition Tax Court

Sources

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