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Can the IRS Take Your Passport for Unpaid Taxes

When can the IRS take your passport for unpaid taxes, and does that prevent you from international travel?  Yes, the IRS has the power to take many actions to collect unpaid US taxes including the ability to take away your passport.  At present, you must owe the IRS $50,000 or more in back taxes.  This is more common today, and by the time you take into account penalties and interest it doesn’t take a lot to reach $50,000 tax collection.

The IRS also has the power to levy your bank account, place a lien against your home, business or other asset or garnish your income or wages.  If you owe the IRS more than $20,000 in back taxes the IRS tax attorneys at Allen Barron can help.  We protect our clients and work with the IRS to prevent liens, levies and garnishments while developing strategies to help reduce or eliminate back tax debt.  The IRS collections team is very aggressive, and ignoring the problem will only make it worse.  IRS collection calls can become quite tiresome, and the fear of having your bank account tied up or your take home pay garnished is a real concern.

Will the IRS take your passport for unpaid taxes in excess of $50,000?  The short answer is “yes,” and they will take any action possible to gain the leverage necessary to collect that debt.  You have legal rights as a US taxpayer, and the IRS must abide by a complex series of laws and tax codes.  The legal, tax and accounting experts at Allen Barron work with the IRS to dispute unfair debts, and develop a work-around that will work for your budget.  We have greater power with the IRS than the taxpayer.  Taxpayers should never communicate directly with the IRS as you may disclose information that the IRS can use to increase your tax burden and actually make the situation worse.

If you have an IRS tax collection above $20,000 we invite you to call 866-631-3470 for a free consultation.