​IRS Implementing Passport Procedures for Taxpayers with Delinquencies

IRS to Start Implementing Passport Procedures

Taxpayers with delinquent tax debt at risk

Taxpayers who are seriously behind on their taxes should consider paying what they owe or enter into a payment agreement with the IRS to avoid putting their passports in jeopardy. This month, the IRS will begin implementation of new procedures affecting individuals with “seriously delinquent tax debts.

”These new procedures implement provisions of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST), signed into law in December 2015. The FAST Act requires the IRS to notify the State Department of taxpayers the IRS has certified as owing a seriously delinquent tax debt. The FAST Act also requires the State Department to deny their passport application or deny renewal of their passport.

In some cases, the State Department may revoke their passport.A taxpayer who is considered to have a seriously delinquent tax debt is generally someone who owes the IRS more than $51,000 (indexed for inflation) in back taxes, penalties and interest for which the IRS has filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien and the period to challenge it has expired or the IRS has issued a levy.

Additional information regarding what taxpayers can do is found in IR-2018-7.