IRS Collection Due Process hearings: build the request record
A Collection Due Process, or CDP, hearing allows IRS Independent Office of Appeals review of specified collection issues after a notice offers that right. The request needs to identify the notice, the taxpayer, the affected tax periods and the disagreement. Form 12153 is the IRS form for requesting CDP or an equivalent hearing.
Start with the actual notice and its response instructions. Keep a separate record for each notice and period, even when you submit one package. A form sent, a request received and a hearing classified as timely are different events.
Match the procedure to the notice and action
CDP is not a general appeal of every IRS letter. Look for a notice offering hearing rights concerning a filed Notice of Federal Tax Lien or an intended or actual levy. The LT11 and Letter 1058 guide addresses those particular levy notices. Other qualifying documents can concern a lien filing or a postlevy hearing.
Prior hearing opportunities also matter. A later reminder or another levy should not be assumed to create a fresh right for the same liability. Lien and levy rights are separate, and a later assessment can require its own examination of the notice history. The IRS collection appeal publication describes the procedures and their scope.
Keep these three routes distinct:
- CDP: a notice-based hearing with statutory effects and a possible separate judicial-review step.
- Equivalent hearing, or EH: an administrative hearing requested under different timing conditions, without the same statutory levy prohibition or collection-period suspension.
- Collection Appeals Program, or CAP: a different process covering specified collection actions. Form 9423 is not a substitute for Form 12153, and CAP does not generally decide the existence or amount of the underlying tax.
For an existing installment agreement threatened with termination, CP523 correction and appeal has its own process. Calling about that agreement does not also submit a written CDP request for a different notice.
Keep a separate row for each notice and tax period
Use the complete notice, earlier correspondence and your account records to build a private working ledger. Keep sensitive identifiers and documents securely rather than entering them into a public website checklist.
If the table is clipped, scroll sideways. Use arrow keys when focused.
| Working field | What to establish |
|---|---|
| Person or entity | Who received the notice, who owes the stated liability and whose hearing rights are involved |
| Notice and action | The document number, lien or levy issue, and whether it concerns a proposed or existing action |
| Liability and period | Tax type, form, assessment information and each quarter or year listed |
| Timing record | Notice date, printed request deadline, relevant delivery facts and any earlier hearing notice |
| Disagreement | The particular issue, requested outcome and evidence supporting it |
| Submission | Request copy, destination, method and proof of sending or delivery |
| IRS handling | Receipt information, how the request was classified and the periods included |
| Next event | Information still requested, response instructions and the eventual decision |
Two notices need two timing records even when they accompany the same request. The current Appeals manual, section 8.22.5.9.1, explains that a request can be timely for some periods and not others. Do not treat one acknowledgment as a decision covering every attached period.
A joint request also requires attention to both taxpayers and their signatures. Company correspondence, a personal assessment and a representative’s courtesy copy should not simply be combined as though they identify the same party and notice.
Connect the disagreement to evidence and a requested outcome
The request must provide a reason. Explain what you want Appeals to consider, then connect each issue to the affected period and supporting record.
If the table is clipped, scroll sideways. Use arrow keys when focused.
| Issue to raise | Evidence and question to prepare |
|---|---|
| A payment was not credited as expected | Compare the dated confirmation, amount, intended taxpayer and period with the later IRS account treatment |
| The collection action appears inappropriate | Identify the actual action, the facts supporting the objection and the outcome requested |
| The underlying tax is disputed | Retain the assessment information, any deficiency notice and earlier opportunities to dispute that liability |
| A payment arrangement or hardship alternative is proposed | Identify the relevant liabilities and prepare current financial information and the requirements for that alternative |
| A lien or spousal issue is involved | State the specific issue and retain the relevant notice, prior decision and applicable supporting documents |
CDP does not provide an unrestricted second opportunity to challenge the tax. Prior receipt of a deficiency notice or another opportunity to dispute the liability can limit the issues available. The section 6330 hearing rules distinguish underlying liability from collection alternatives and the appropriateness of the action.
If you request innocent spouse relief, Form 12153 says you must also complete Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief, for that request to be considered. The hearing request and the spouse-relief request are separate steps; submitting one does not replace the other.
For an alternative, use the requirements of the actual option: payment plans, an offer in compromise or hardship collection status. A lien issue may instead require distinguishing release, withdrawal, discharge and subordination. The hearing request does not itself approve any of those outcomes.
Raise the relevant issues and supply supporting evidence during the hearing process. Publication 1660 cautions that later court proceedings may limit issues or evidence not presented to Appeals. An unexplained bundle of documents is less useful than showing which record supports which disputed point.
Submit the request and preserve its sending record
Follow the current Form 12153 and instructions. The hosted form checked on November 13, 2026 is revised July 2022. Use its actual fields rather than older summaries’ item numbers.
Identify the notice and hearing basis, explain the disagreement, and follow the signature instructions for the taxpayer, joint request or authorized representative. An individual authorized to handle one business matter should not be assumed authorized for every taxpayer and period in this request.
Use the hearing-request address shown on the notice, rather than its payment address or a general Appeals office address. If you want to fax the request or the destination is uncertain, the form directs you to contact the number on the notice or 800-829-1040. Confirm the applicable route before relying on it.
Keep what was submitted, the notice copy and evidence of the postmark, fax transmission or delivery, as applicable. A tracking number alone does not establish that every private delivery service qualifies under the timely-mailing rules. If a request was misdirected, preserve its actual route, receipt evidence and any IRS instructions received; those facts need review rather than an assumption that the request must be late.
Keep the request separate from a complete financial packet
Form 12153 says submitting financial statements with the hearing request is not required, although early submission can help resolve the case. It describes Forms 433-A and 433-B and exceptions for particular alternatives.
Preserve the request period while assembling the financial evidence. Then track the information actually requested and respond by the applicable instructions. The form’s statement about concurrent submission does not mean Appeals must approve an alternative without the financial records it needs.
If the request appears late, preserve the timing facts
The ordinary CDP request period depends on the notice. Levy notices generally provide a 30-day period measured from the notice date. Lien hearing timing follows a different filing-and-notification process, with a must-file-by date on the notice. Do not start a fresh period from the day an envelope was opened.
Check the notice and service history alongside the sending evidence. A late IRS receipt is not necessarily a late mailing. An address problem, applicable postponement or disagreement about the controlling notice also needs its actual facts. A telephone discussion about payment does not, by itself, extend the written-request period.
An equivalent hearing must be requested
Form 12153 describes ordinary EH limits of one year from the CDP levy notice, or one year plus five business days from the filing of the Notice of Federal Tax Lien. Use the notice and current instructions rather than treating EH as an unlimited late appeal.
The form includes an option to request EH if the request does not qualify as timely CDP. The Appeals manual explains that an untimely CDP request is not automatically an EH request. Keep a record of what was requested and how the IRS classified it.
Current guidance recognizes limited equitable tolling
Section 8.22.5.3.2 of the current Appeals manual says the administrative CDP 30-day and EH one-year periods can be subject to equitable tolling. This is a fact-dependent exception requiring diligence and extraordinary circumstances beyond the taxpayer’s control, not automatic extra time.
Preserve the actions you took to pursue the request, the obstacle that prevented compliance, the dates involved and evidence connecting that obstacle to the delay. The manual says a bare assertion of diligence is insufficient. Missing a deadline by only a short time or misunderstanding the law does not, by itself, establish tolling.
Raise an actual timing dispute promptly. Keep the IRS’s determination about timeliness separately from the dispute over collection. Submitting an explanation does not establish that the IRS accepted it or that every period now has CDP status.
Separate levy restrictions from the collection clock
A valid timely CDP request generally restricts levy action for the subject tax and periods while the process is pending. Section 6330 provides exceptions involving jeopardy, state-tax-refund levies, certain disqualified employment-tax levies and federal-contractor levies. Court-authorized levy during an appeal and rules concerning frivolous or delay requests also need attention where applicable.
These restrictions are not an account-wide stop on every action. A hearing request does not itself release an existing bank levy or stop wages already being taken. It also should not be treated as proof that an NFTL filing or refund offset cannot occur.
Collection time is a separate question. The Appeals manual describes the suspension associated with a valid timely CDP request, ordinarily beginning when the IRS receives the written request and continuing until the applicable finality or withdrawal event. That suspension can add collection time; it is not a way to let the collection period run down while the hearing is pending.
Use the assessment and collection-period record to connect the hearing event to the affected person and liability. A suspension, a displayed expiration date and an adjustment of a particular amount are separate facts to verify.
EH does not itself create the CDP statutory levy prohibition or collection-period suspension. Other requests or account events can have separate effects, so do not infer an individual debt-expiration date from the hearing label alone.
Track the response and the decision by period
Record IRS receipt, the request’s classification, Appeals contact, information requests and your responses as separate events. If the IRS identifies an omitted signature or other missing information, follow that actual request promptly and retain the reply and sending evidence. Do not infer a universal correction period from someone else’s case.
Appeals may ask Collection to verify new information, share those comments and allow a response. Keep your issues and supporting records organized through that exchange. A conference or acknowledgment is not confirmation that the requested alternative was approved.
At closing, check the decision type, the liabilities addressed and the instructions for any further action. A payment discussion, written withdrawal and final determination have different consequences. Do not treat a telephone assurance as the same record as an approved agreement or signed withdrawal of the hearing request.
Read the separate court-review instructions promptly
A CDP determination and any later court petition are separate steps. Section 6330(d)(1) specifies a 30-day period from the determination for a Tax Court petition. In Boechler v. Commissioner, the Supreme Court held that this petition deadline is nonjurisdictional and subject to equitable tolling. It did not grant automatic relief to every late petitioner.
That court-petition rule should not be confused with the administrative hearing-request guidance discussed above. Read the actual decision and applicable filing instructions promptly; this guide does not calculate a personal court deadline or establish an entitlement to tolling.
An ordinary EH decision does not carry the same Tax Court merits-review route as a CDP determination. A dispute about whether the IRS incorrectly classified the hearing request as late is a different question. Preserve that decision and the evidence rather than assuming either unrestricted review or that no court can examine the issue.
Court jurisdiction also has substantive limits. In Commissioner v. Zuch, the Supreme Court held that section 6330 did not give the Tax Court jurisdiction over the dispute once the IRS was no longer pursuing the levy. CDP review is not a freestanding refund proceeding. Later payments, credits and the actual collection status need their own examination; the case is not a reason to avoid payment or assume every lien matter has the same result.
Sources and scope
- Form 12153 and instructions: request contents, signatures, destinations, financial information and EH.
- Publication 1660, Collection Appeal Rights: CDP, EH, CAP, evidence and review distinctions.
- Current Appeals manual, IRM 8.22.5: selected timeliness, equitable-tolling, mixed-period and suspension provisions.
- 26 USC 6320 and 26 USC 6330: lien and levy hearing rules and limits.
- Boechler and Zuch: the specific judicial-review distinctions described above.
Sources checked November 13, 2026. This guide organizes a request and its evidence; it does not determine an individual’s legal deadline, hearing eligibility, collection-expiration date or court jurisdiction.