IRS notice decoder
IRS Notice CP91: intent to levy your Social Security
A CP91 is the IRS's final notice that it intends to levy up to 15 percent of your monthly Social Security benefits to pay an unpaid federal tax balance, and to keep doing so until the tax is paid in full. The authority is the Federal Payment Levy Program under Internal Revenue Code section 6331(h). Pay or arrange payment by the date printed on the notice. CP298 is the business version of the same notice.
General information, not tax or legal advice. Deadlines and dollar figures below reflect what the IRS publishes and can change; the controlling dates are the ones printed on your own notice. ClearChoiceRadar is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency.
How the IRS enforces an unpaid balance
- Final noticeLevy rights given
- Letter 3172Federal tax lien filed
- LevyWages or bank account
- CP91Social Security levy you are here
- CP508CPassport flagged
- CP40Private collection agency
What the notice can take
A CP91 warns that the IRS can levy up to 15 percent of your monthly Social Security benefit and continue that levy until the balance is paid in full. It arrives only after several earlier notices went unanswered. The authority is the Federal Payment Levy Program, a continuous levy under section 6331(h).
Contact the IRS at the number on the notice, not the Social Security Administration. The IRS controls the levy, and it is the IRS that can release or pause it.
What the notice sets out
- How much
- up to 15% of your monthly Social Security benefit
- How long
- continuous, until the tax is paid in full or the levy is released
- Deadline
- the pay-by date printed on the notice, after which the levy can begin
If Social Security is your main income, a levy of any size can matter. The hardship options below are the reason to call before the date on the notice.
What to do before the date on the notice
Pay or arrange payment
Pay the balance, or pay what you can and set up an installment agreement. An approved plan generally stops the levy from starting.
How IRS payment plans work →Report hardship
If paying, or the levy itself, would leave you unable to cover basic living expenses, ask the IRS about a temporary delay of collection, which can pause the Social Security levy.
How Currently Not Collectible works →Get help or appeal
You can authorize a representative with Form 2848, get free help from a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic, and review your appeal rights in IRS Publication 1660.
The honest read
This is late in the sequence
A CP91 does not appear first. By the time it arrives, the IRS has already sent earlier notices and is at the point of taking benefits. The most protective move is to call before the date on the notice, because a payment arrangement or a hardship determination made in time can stop the levy from starting, while waiting until benefits are already reduced makes it harder to reverse.
CP91 questions
How much of my Social Security can the IRS take?
A CP91 warns the IRS can levy up to 15 percent of your monthly Social Security benefit under the Federal Payment Levy Program, and it can continue until the tax is paid in full. The authority is Internal Revenue Code section 6331(h).
Can I stop a CP91 Social Security levy?
Yes, by acting before the date on the notice. Paying the balance or setting up an approved payment plan generally stops the levy from starting, and if paying would create a hardship, the IRS can grant a temporary delay of collection that pauses it. Call the number on the notice.
What if Social Security is my only income?
If a levy would leave you unable to pay basic living expenses, that is the definition of hardship the IRS uses for a temporary delay of collection. Contact the IRS at the number on the notice, and consider free help from a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic.
What is the difference between CP91 and CP298?
They are the same notice for different accounts. CP91 is sent to an individual, and CP298 is the business version. Both notify you of the IRS's intent to levy up to 15 percent of Social Security benefits under the Federal Payment Levy Program.
Sources: IRS: Understanding your CP91 notice, IRS: CP91 sample notice (PDF), IRS: Publication 1660, Collection Appeal Rights. The deadline that governs your case is the one printed on your notice.
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