Written By: Michael Vale
Reviewed By: Bridgette Austin, Esq., EA, Co-Founder and Tax Attorney
Last Reviewed: August 9, 2026
An IRS LT11 notice, also sent as Letter 1058, is the last warning the IRS gives before it can legally take your wages, bank accounts, or other property. You have 30 days from the date printed on the notice, not the day you open it, to act. For most people the strongest move is to request a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing on IRS Form 12153 within those 30 days. A timely request stops the levy while your case is open and keeps your right to take the dispute to U.S. Tax Court. Miss the deadline and you lose both protections. This guide covers what the notice means, how the deadline works, the four ways to respond, and the mistakes that cost Michigan taxpayers their paychecks and savings.
What is an IRS LT11 notice (or Letter 1058)?
An IRS LT11 notice, also issued as Letter 1058, is a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing. It tells you the IRS plans to seize your property for unpaid taxes and that you have 30 days to request a hearing before that can happen.
By the time this notice lands, the IRS has usually sent several earlier letters, a first bill and reminders (CP14, CP501, CP503) and then a CP504. The LT11 is different because it does two things the earlier notices do not: it starts a hard 30-day levy clock, and it gives you the formal right to a hearing. That hearing right is your best protection. Do not waste it.
Is Letter 1058 the same as an LT11?
Yes. The LT11 and Letter 1058 carry the same rights and the same 30-day deadline. The difference is who sent it. The IRS Automated Collection System sends the LT11 by machine. A Revenue Officer assigned to your case sends the Letter 1058 by hand. A Letter 1058 usually means a real person is now working your file, which often means faster and more aggressive collection.
It also helps to know where this notice sits in the sequence, because a CP504 sounds just as scary but does not carry the same hearing right.
| Notice | What it means | What the IRS can do next |
|---|---|---|
| CP14 | First bill, balance due | Add penalties and interest |
| CP501 / CP503 | Reminder notices | Keep the clock running |
| CP504 | Intent to levy your state tax refund | Take your state refund; certify passport debt; file a lien |
| LT11 / Letter 1058 | Final Notice of Intent to Levy plus right to a hearing | Levy wages, bank accounts, and other property after 30 days |
The takeaway: only the LT11 or Letter 1058 lets the IRS reach your paycheck and bank account, and only after the 30 days run.
How long do you have to respond in 2026?
You have 30 days, and the clock starts on the date printed at the top of the notice, not the day it arrives in your mailbox. If the letter sat unopened for a week, you have already lost seven days.
The 30-day rule is not a courtesy. IRC 6331(d) requires the IRS to give written notice at least 30 days before it levies, and IRC 6330 gives you the right to a hearing during that window. The deadline is measured to the day, so count carefully and act early. If day 30 is close, send your hearing request by certified mail and keep the receipt, because a timely postmark counts as a timely filing.
How to stop the levy: your four options
You have four ways to respond, and any one of them, done before the deadline, keeps the IRS from seizing your property.
- Pay in full. If you can, this ends it fastest. You can pay through IRS Direct Pay using the information on the notice.
- Request a CDP hearing. File Form 12153 within 30 days. This freezes the levy while Appeals reviews your case and preserves your Tax Court rights.
- Set up a collection alternative. An installment agreement, an offer in compromise, or currently not collectible status can stop a levy. While an installment agreement or offer is pending or in effect, the IRS generally cannot levy (IRC 6331(k)).
- Dispute the amount. If you never had a chance to challenge the balance, you can raise it at the CDP hearing.
Doing nothing is the one choice that guarantees a levy. Even if you cannot pay a cent, you should still respond to protect your options.
How to request a CDP hearing with Form 12153
You request a Collection Due Process hearing by completing IRS Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing, and sending it to the address on your notice within 30 days. The form is short. It asks for your name, the tax periods, and the collection alternatives or issues you want to raise.
A few practical points decide whether the request works. List every tax period shown on the notice, not just one. State the reason for the hearing, for example that you want an installment agreement, an offer in compromise, or currently not collectible status, or that you dispute the balance. Sign it, mail it certified, and keep a copy with the receipt. Once the IRS receives a timely request, it generally cannot levy the periods in the notice while Appeals works your case, and you deal with the Independent Office of Appeals, a separate group from the collection division.
Timely CDP hearing vs. equivalent hearing: what you lose after 30 days
File within 30 days and you get a full Collection Due Process hearing. File on day 31 or later and the best you can get is an “equivalent hearing,” which keeps far fewer protections. The difference is large enough to decide your case.
| Timely CDP hearing (within 30 days) | Equivalent hearing (after 30 days) | |
|---|---|---|
| How to request | Form 12153 within 30 days | Form 12153 within 1 year |
| Levy automatically paused | Yes, while the case is open | No, the levy can proceed |
| Right to appeal to U.S. Tax Court | Yes | No |
| Collection statute paused | Yes | No |
An equivalent hearing still lets you argue for a payment plan or other relief, but the IRS may already be taking your money by the time it happens, and you cannot appeal the result to Tax Court. Filing on time is almost always worth it.
When can the IRS levy without giving you 30 days?
Usually the IRS must send the LT11 or Letter 1058 and wait 30 days. In a few situations it can move faster, so do not assume the 30 days always apply. The IRS can levy without the standard pre-levy hearing when collection is in jeopardy, when it takes a state tax refund, in a disqualified employment tax levy, or in a federal contractor levy (IRC 6330(f)). In those cases you still get a hearing, but it comes after the levy, not before. Passport certification and a federal tax lien are also not tied to the LT11 deadline and can happen on their own track.
What a CDP hearing does, and the collection-clock tradeoff
A CDP hearing is your chance to stop the levy and negotiate a fix, but it comes with a tradeoff most articles skip. When you file a timely request, IRC 6330(e) suspends both the levy and the 10-year collection statute during the hearing and any appeal. That pause protects you now. It also extends the deadline the IRS has to collect from you, because the clock stops while your case is open. For most people the protection is worth it. But it is a real cost, and you should go in knowing it rather than learning it later.
There is also a deadline after the hearing. If Appeals rules against you, you have 30 days to petition the U.S. Tax Court. In 2022 the Supreme Court held, unanimously, that this 30-day deadline is not jurisdictional and can be equitably tolled in rare cases (Boechler v. Commissioner). That is a narrow safety valve, not a plan. Treat every deadline in this process as firm and file early.
What happens if you ignore the LT11?
If you do nothing, the IRS can levy your wages and bank accounts, seize other property, file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, and put your passport at risk. A bank levy freezes your funds; a wage levy takes part of every paycheck until the debt is paid or the levy is released.
The passport consequence has a threshold. Under the FAST Act, the IRS can certify “seriously delinquent” tax debt to the State Department, which can deny or revoke your passport. For 2026 that threshold is more than $66,000, including penalties and interest, and it is adjusted for inflation each year. Paying, entering an installment agreement, or getting an offer in compromise accepted stops the certification.
Michigan taxpayers: don’t forget the State of Michigan
A federal LT11 only concerns your IRS debt. If you also owe the State of Michigan, that is a separate problem on a separate track. The Michigan Department of Treasury runs its own collection process, with its own notices, levies, and wage garnishments, and a CDP request to the IRS does nothing to stop it. Michigan taxpayers who get an LT11 should check whether a state balance is building at the same time, because solving one and ignoring the other leaves you half exposed. Handling both the IRS and the State of Michigan together is where local help matters.
Talk to Austin & Larson Tax Resolution
An LT11 or Letter 1058 means the clock is running. Austin & Larson Tax Resolution helps Michigan individuals and business owners stop levies and resolve tax debt with the IRS and the State of Michigan, with Enrolled Agents, CPAs, and tax attorneys under one roof. Schedule a consultation to protect your wages, bank account, and property before the 30 days run out.
FAQs
How long do I have to respond to an IRS LT11 notice?
You have 30 days from the date printed on the notice, not the day you receive it. Within that window you can pay, request a CDP hearing on Form 12153, or set up a collection alternative to stop the levy.
Is Letter 1058 the same as an LT11?
Yes. Both are the Final Notice of Intent to Levy and carry the same 30-day deadline and the same hearing right. The LT11 comes from the Automated Collection System; the Letter 1058 comes from an assigned Revenue Officer, which usually signals more active collection.
Does requesting a CDP hearing stop an IRS levy?
Generally yes. A timely CDP request, filed within 30 days on Form 12153, suspends levy action on the tax periods in the notice while the Independent Office of Appeals reviews your case under IRC 6330. It also preserves your right to appeal to U.S. Tax Court.
What happens if I miss the 30-day deadline?
You can still request an equivalent hearing within one year, but you lose the automatic levy pause and the right to Tax Court review. By then the IRS may already be taking your wages or bank funds, so filing on time matters.
Can the IRS take my passport because of an LT11?
It can, above a threshold. Under the FAST Act, the IRS can certify seriously delinquent tax debt, which includes penalties and interest, to the State Department, which can then deny or revoke a passport. Resolving the debt or setting up a payment plan reverses it.
Can the IRS levy without warning?
Usually no, the IRS must send a final notice and wait 30 days. It can move faster in limited cases, such as a jeopardy levy, a state tax refund levy, a disqualified employment tax levy, or a federal contractor levy under IRC 6330(f). In those cases the hearing comes after the levy.
Should I call the IRS number on the notice or get help first?
The notice pushes you to call the Automated Collection System right away. Calling unprepared can lock you into a payment plan you cannot afford or give up your bargaining power. It is usually better to preserve your hearing right in writing first, then negotiate from a protected position.
Bridgette Austin, Esq., EA, spent three years at Michigan State University’s Tax Clinic representing low-income taxpayers before the IRS – two as a student clinician, one as a post-graduate fellow. That work shaped her practice. A Bellaire, Michigan native with a Northern Michigan University bachelor’s and an MSU law degree, she now resolves IRS and State of Michigan tax debt cases at Austin & Larson.
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