A Certified Wakeup Call

Receiving a CP504 via Certified Mail from the IRS is never a welcome experience. The CP504 is essentially the “Urgent Notice” designed to get delinquent taxpayers to pick up the phone and handle their tax issue. It emphasizes the IRS intent “to seize property or rights to property,”—further escalating the intense demands for immediate payment. This means that not only is the IRS going to potentially seize any refunds you have, but they may now begin the process of identifying other sources of payment, including your wages, bank accounts, and other assets for seizure.

By this point, you’ve likely received several demands for payment. Maybe you’ve ignored them; maybe you’ve been diligently working to resolve the issue. Either way, this notice is an indication that the wheels of the IRS collection machine are turning faster now.

The next step in the process will likely be a levy notice from a Revenue Officer, who is personally tasked with collecting from you, or it may be a similar notice from the Automated Collection System (ACS), a computerized collections program—which may sound better, but means long hold times, never talking to the same person twice, and most of the same powers being exercised against you in the interest of collecting on the liability.

Receiving a CP504 should be a wake-up call. It may be time to pursue a different strategy, including seeking representation.

To discuss what representation would mean to you and what options you may still have available, contact WatchGuard today.