LT50 Notice: The IRS Will Keep Contacting Others About Your Taxes

What the LT50 notice says

The IRS page for this notice says: “We’re trying to collect unpaid taxes and unfiled returns from you. We previously notified you that we would contact third parties to get or verify your contact information. We’ll continue to contact others through the period shown on your notice.”

A third party is anyone other than you, such as an employer, a bank or a relative. The IRS page tells you to pay your balance in full by the date shown on the notice to avoid more penalties and interest, and to file any missing returns the notice names. IRM 5.19.4.2.3 says a notice of third party contacts must also list the tax periods at issue, so check those periods against your records. For questions, the IRS page offers online chat for individuals on weekdays; a business calls the number on its notice.

How the LT50 relates to the LT40

The Internal Revenue Manual (IRM), the IRS’s staff rulebook, says the IRS’s collection unit generally uses the LT40 to give advance notice of contacts with other people. The LT50 page says the IRS “previously notified you,” so read it as the next notice in that line.

The law allows later notices. IRC 7602(c)(1) lets the IRS contact others only during a period that a notice names, and each period runs no longer than 1 year. The statute adds that “nothing in the preceding sentence shall prevent the issuance of notices to the same taxpayer with respect to the same tax liability” whose periods add up to more than 1 year.

The IRS page says “your notice provides the date range,” so the dates on your letter, not a fixed rule, tell you how long the contacts last.

What the IRS may tell the people it contacts

The IRS page says it generally tells a contact only limited information, such as your name, and that “the law prevents us from disclosing any more information than is necessary.”

The IRM counts more than phone calls as contacts. Its definition includes “a levy or summons issued to anyone other than the taxpayer such as a bank, credit card processor or employer.” A contact with a person who holds your valid power of attorney does not count, the IRM says. IRC 7602(c)(3) also exempts a contact you authorize, a case where the IRS decides that notice would put collection at risk or invite reprisal, and a pending criminal investigation. IRC 7602(c)(2) requires the IRS to give you a record of the people it contacted. The IRS page says it mails that list once a year, and IRM 25.27.1.5 says you can ask for it at any time, by phone or in writing.

What to do by the date on your notice

Pay in full if you can. If you cannot, the IRS page points to an online payment plan, a temporary delay of collection when you face hardship, and an offer in compromise, which settles the debt for less when you qualify. Our collection alternatives router compares those options.

If the notice lists missing returns, file them. If you sent a return more than 10 weeks ago, the IRS page says to send a signed copy again; if you think you did not have to file, the IRS page tells you to call the number on your notice. Our filing requirement checker runs the income tests for a given year. To see which years the IRS shows as unfiled or unpaid, the IRS page lists Get Transcript; our transcript analyzer reads an account transcript line by line, if you can get one.

If a missing return would bring a refund, the IRS page sets a limit: you “must file a delinquent return within three years of the original return due date, or within two years of the date you full paid the tax, if applicable.”

What people mistake the LT50 for

Some readers take the LT50 for a new tax bill. It adds no new tax; it tells you the IRS will keep contacting others about the taxes and returns it already seeks.

Others read the LT50 as a final notice with a right to a hearing. Neither the LT50 page nor the IRM describes it that way. The levy hearing right comes with the LT11 or Letter 1058.

Common Questions