Bad news for those who don’t open mail – ignoring the IRS can trigger serious penalties such as fines and liens

May 27, 2025
Bad news for those who don't open mail - ignoring the IRS can trigger serious penalties such as fines and liens

If you have ever had the idea of ignoring a tax bill from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), it is best to take the idea off immediately. Nobody likes to deal with any type of payment, however, ignoring it can only generate a greater number of problems such as wage seizure, passport restrictions, among others.The Internal Revenue Service won´t take those drastic measures if you proceed correctly, by paying your bills on time or by liaising with their offices to solve any type of problem, in case you have been charged with a wrong bill.

IRS collection process

huge disservice would be made by taxpayers to themselves if the decided not to pay a tax bill from the Internal Revenue Service, as it won´t dissappear because of ignoring it. The process is very easy and quiet if its paid from the first moment its received. The collection process is not immediate per se, because if a citizen does not pay a tax bill, he will be notified several times before taking action. However, once the notification is received and still not answered, the process starts to become potent. One of the features that characterizes the IRS is that it conducts surveys of any type of irregularity related to unpaid funds on a constant basis.

This is the order in which administration proceeds:

  1. A tax invoice with payment options and due date is sent to the citizen.
  2. When the citizen does not reply, he or she receives further warnings about this invoice.
  3. Depending on the severity of the case, the IRS may decide to take action through a private debt collection company or by its own means.

Consequences of unpaid taxes

The Internal Revenue Service does not tremble when it has to carry out even more drastic measures, such as:

  • Assign any refund from the citizen to be derived directly to the payment of the bill.
  • Draw upon a public – register and federal tax lien. This way, a tax freezing will be carried out.
  • Passport restrictions. Through an agreement with the State Department, the citizen´s passport can also be revoked (only if the debt reaches $62,000 or more).
  • Wage seizure. Even the salary can be affected as well, being seized to cover debts.

How can you stop this methods?

As long as you are collaborative with the IRS, none of these problems should happen. Through the number you receive in your notification, you can contact the IRS offices to report any failure that may have occurred, or if you detect an incorrect bill.

The steps to follow in order to pay bills properly are:

  • Settle a deferral and be able to pay the bill in several payments.
  • Reach an agreement with the IRS administration, for which a lower amount of the deua is agreed, but that the citizen undertakes to pay.
  • Apply for “not collectible” status for your debt, which freezes payment until the taxpayer can take over.

It is undeniable that the best option when you receive a notification from the IRS is to attend to it. If you can handle the payment, there will be no problem, and if you cannot, they offer multiple ways to adapt those tax bills to your needs. However, if they decide to go the other way, they will have to face many consequences, including losing their passport and having their salary frozen until the debt is attended.

Keep posted and updated about every single news related to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), by reading their website and the following article!