CP90 notice: what it means and what to do
A CP90 is the Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing. You have 30 days from the date on the notice to request a Collection Due Process hearing using Form 12153. Requesting one generally stops the IRS from levying while it is pending. This is the most important deadline in the entire collection process.
If the 30 days is running, that paragraph is what matters. The rest of this page explains why.
Is a CP90 the same as an LT11 or Letter 1058?
Yes. CP90, LT11 and Letter 1058 are the same notice under different numbers, with the same legal effect and the same 30 day window.
Which one you receive depends on which part of the IRS is handling your account. CP90 and LT11 generally come from the Automated Collection System. Letter 1058 usually means a Revenue Officer has been assigned to your file, which means a person rather than a computer is now working on it.
For everything that actually matters, treat them as identical.
The full explanation is on one page rather than three. Because these notices are identical, everything about the hearing, what you can raise at it, what happens if you miss the window, and what to do if a levy has already landed is set out here:
Why this notice is different from the earlier ones
Every letter before this one was a reminder. This one authorises action.
Once 30 days pass with no hearing request, the IRS may levy your wages, your bank accounts, money owed to you by clients, and a portion of Social Security benefits. A wage levy is continuous, meaning it attaches to every paycheque until the matter is resolved rather than taking a single amount.
A CP504 warns that this is coming. A CP90 is the thing it was warning about.
What does requesting a hearing do?
Three things, and it is far less confrontational than it sounds. A Collection Due Process hearing is an administrative right and requesting one is routine.
It generally suspends levy action while the request is pending. It moves your file to the Independent Office of Appeals, which is a different and usually more reasonable part of the IRS. And it preserves your right to petition the Tax Court if Appeals reaches a determination you disagree with, which is the only route to judicial review in a collection matter.
The request goes on Form 12153, sent to the address shown on your notice rather than a general IRS address. Keep proof of posting.
What about Social Security benefits?
Social Security can be levied, generally at a set percentage of the monthly benefit, and there are related notices in this family that deal specifically with it, including CP91 and CP298.
If you are living on Social Security and a levy would leave you unable to meet basic living expenses, that is exactly the circumstance where collection can be suspended altogether. It is granted more often than people expect, and the hearing request is the right place to raise it.
What if the 30 days has already passed?
You can request an equivalent hearing, generally within a year. Appeals will consider the same issues, but you lose the automatic suspension of levy action and the right to go to Tax Court.
Request it anyway, and separately get a collection alternative in front of them quickly. An instalment agreement in place generally stops enforcement regardless.
Do I actually need help with this?
On most notices my honest answer is probably not. Here it changes.
You can still handle it yourself if you can pay the balance in full, or if all your returns are filed and you qualify to set up an instalment agreement online. Either generally stops the process, and I would rather you did that than paid me.
It is worth having someone when you cannot pay and need an alternative negotiated, when returns are unfiled, when a Revenue Officer is involved, when a levy has already landed, or when the window is closing and you are not certain what to file.
Whatever you decide, put the notice date in your calendar, count 30 days, and make sure a Form 12153 is posted before then. Everything else can be worked out afterwards. That window cannot.
If the 30 days is running, say so
Put the notice date at the top of your message and I will move it up the queue. This is the one deadline on the whole site where a few days genuinely matter.
Tell me the date, the tax year, and roughly the size of the balance. I will tell you what needs filing before the window closes and what your options look like afterwards.
Where it needs proper work, I file an authorisation, pull your full transcripts, and send you a written memo on what is assessed, what is unfiled, where you sit in the process, and what each option costs. That phase is $999 and it stands on its own.
Please do not attach the notice or include your Social Security number in a first message. A date and a sentence is enough, and we move to a secure portal once we are talking.
Other notices: LT11 and Letter 1058 · CP504 · CP14 · CP71C · CP2000 · all IRS notices and audits
Michael Jones, EA & CFP®. Enrolled Agent, licensed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all fifty states. This page is general information about how these notices work, not advice about your particular notice. Procedures and timeframes change, so check the notice itself for the dates that apply to you and confirm the current version of any form before filing it.