CP171 Notice: The IRS’s Reminder of an Unpaid Business Tax Balance
By Forrest Baumhover, CFP®, EA · Last verified October 28, 2026
A CP171 reminds a business that a tax balance is still unpaid and needs immediate attention. If the business does not pay or set up a payment plan, the IRS may file a federal tax lien.
If you got this letter
Got a CP171 in the Mail?
The IRS sends a CP171 to a business that still owes tax. The IRS page says the balance “requires your immediate attention.” Penalties and interest keep adding up until the business pays in full.
Pay the balance if you can. If you cannot, pay what you can now and set up a payment plan online or by calling the number on the notice.
If the business does nothing, the IRS page says the IRS may file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien. A lien tells the business’s creditors that the IRS has a claim against its property.
What the CP171 notice says
The IRS page opens: “You received this notice because you still have an unpaid balance on your tax account and it requires your immediate attention.” It tells the business to pay the balance, or to pay what it can and set up a payment plan.
It also names the next step if the business does neither. The IRS may file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien (NFTL), a public filing that tells creditors the IRS has a claim against the business’s property. The page adds that this step “is subject to applicable rights for a Collection Due Process.”
Who gets a CP171
The Internal Revenue Manual (IRM), the IRS’s staff rulebook, calls the CP171 the “Business (BMF) Annual Reminder of Overdue Taxes.” It goes to business accounts that have waited in the IRS collection queue for at least one year. The IRM calls that queue status 24.
The IRM says the notice carries the return address of the IRS’s Compliance Services Collection Operations and a phone number for its Automated Collection System (ACS). The IRS mails these reminders from February through November, on a schedule set by the business’s taxpayer identification number.
The IRM pairs the CP171 with the CP71C, which an individual in the same queue receives. Our CP71C page covers that notice.
What to do now
Pay the balance in full if the business can. The IRS page says interest and penalties stop adding up as soon as you pay in full, and it offers online payment with instant confirmation.
If the business cannot pay in full, pay as much as you can now and set up a payment plan for the rest. The IRS page points to its Online Payment Agreement Tool, or to the phone number on the notice if you cannot apply online. Our collection alternatives router compares a payment plan with the other options for a business.
To keep a new balance from building, the IRS page suggests keeping accurate records of income and expenses and making timely payments throughout the year.
If you have the business’s account transcript, compare it with the notice. Our transcript analyzer explains each line of a business transcript in plain words.
The lien and the hearing right
A lien does not take property. In the IRS page’s words, it “notifies your creditors we have a claim against your property.”
The law attaches a hearing right to a lien filing. IRC 6320(a) requires the IRS to notify the business in writing after it files the lien, and that notice must explain the right to request a hearing within a set period. If a lien notice arrives, read its dates and act before the period ends. Keep that notice with the CP171 and the business’s tax records.
What people mistake the CP171 for
Some owners read a long gap since the last IRS letter as a sign the IRS stopped collecting. The CP171 says otherwise: the account sits in the collection queue, and the IRS still expects payment.
Others read it as a promise that no levy can follow. The IRS page for the CP171 names a lien, not a levy, as the step that may follow, and it makes no promise about levies.
Common Questions
Why did my business get a CP171?
The business still owes tax. The IRM says the IRS sends this annual reminder to business accounts that have waited in its collection queue for at least one year.
Will the business get a penalty if it cannot pay in full?
Yes. The IRS page says the business will receive a late payment penalty, and interest keeps adding up on the unpaid balance.
What happens if the business does not respond?
The IRS page says the IRS may file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, subject to the business’s Collection Due Process rights, and that interest and penalties keep adding up.
Can the business set up a payment plan?
Yes. The IRS page points to its Online Payment Agreement Tool, and to the phone number on the notice if you cannot apply online.