En esta noticia
U.S. taxpayers who owe federal taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may face consequences that go beyond fines, interest, or collection procedures.
Federal law allows the IRS to report these cases to the State Department, which can deny the issuance or renewal of a U.S. passport and even revoke one that is still valid.
The mechanism can be triggered when the debt exceeds $66,000, including certain interest and penalties.
The Government may seize all these passports: Who does the measure affect?
Not every tax debt automatically triggers this measure. The IRS must determine that there is a “seriously delinquent tax debt”, according to the requirements established by federal law.
Among the conditions is at least one of the following:
- The IRS filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien and the corresponding administrative remedies were exhausted or expired.
- The agency issued a tax levy to try to collect the debt.
- The amount includes certain unpaid federal taxes, penalties, and interest. The limit is updated annually according to inflation.
What happens when a debt is reported to the Government?
When the IRS certifies a seriously delinquent debt, it sends the taxpayer notice CP508C, stating that the case was reported to the State Department.
The State Department notes that it cannot issue a U.S. passport when it receives this certification from the IRS. It can also delay or reject an application and, in certain cases, revoke a passport that has already been issued.
If the person is outside the United States, there is the possibility of receiving a limited-validity passport exclusively to return to the country, but not one with full validity until the tax situation is resolved.
The Government seizes the passports of all these people: What debts are reported for this measure?
There are situations in which a debt will not be certified to the State Department even though the taxpayer still has outstanding obligations.
Among the main exceptions are:
- Debts that are properly paid under an IRS-approved payment plan.
- Obligations included in an accepted compromise offer by the agency.
- Cases in which there is a collection due process hearing requested within the corresponding deadline.
- Debts suspended by a request for innocent spouse relief.
- Taxpayers declared bankrupt.
- People whose debt was temporarily deemed uncollectible due to financial hardship.
- Identified victims of tax identity theft.
- Certain taxpayers affected by federally declared disasters.