Balance due & the collection ladder

CP90 notice — act this week

A Final Notice of Intent to Levy for specific kinds of property — including federal payments — and it carries the same Collection Due Process hearing right as LT11.

Last stop

What this letter is

A Final Notice of Intent to Levy for specific kinds of property — including federal payments — and it carries the same Collection Due Process hearing right as LT11.

Why you got it: An unpaid balance reached the enforced-collection stage for the assets this notice covers.

What it is not

Not a routine reminder. CP90 is a final notice: the 30-day hearing clock is real, and it is the last guaranteed stop before a levy.

Your first move: Count 30 days from the notice date. Request the hearing (Form 12153), pay, or arrange a plan before the window closes.

Your deadline, counted

Every clock runs from this date — not from the day the letter reached you.

Your options, in the order most people should try them

1. Request the hearing

Preserves the pause and the Tax Court door.

2. Pay or plan in the window

Stops the levy track for this balance.

3. Hardship or offer

Propose CNC or an Offer in Compromise with real numbers.

Your rights on this letter

  • CDP hearing before Appeals.
  • Tax Court review of an adverse determination (30 days).
  • Payment plan / offer / hardship alternatives remain available.

How to respond

Form 12153 to the address on the notice, certified mail with return receipt.

Scam check

Verify the notice and balance in your IRS online account; a genuine CP90 never asks for payment by prepaid card.

If you ignore it

The levy can proceed against the property named — including ongoing federal payments — and the full hearing right narrows to an equivalent hearing (one year, no automatic pause, no Tax Court).

Where this sits on the ladder: This letter stands on its own track — see the collection ladder for the enforcement road.

Included in the $39 IRSLetterDecoded Kit

  • The full response letter pack for this notice family
  • What to send — and what to NEVER send
  • The penalty-relief scripts and the payment-plan reality pages
  • Certified-mail proof discipline, start to finish

Get the Kit — $39, one time

One payment. No subscription. Yours to keep — every notice, every letter, every script.

Sources, checked 2026-10-19:
  • 26 U.S.C. 6330
  • IRS Publication 1660, Collection Appeal Rights