IRS Balance-Due Notices in Order: CP14, CP501, CP503, CP504, LT11

By Forrest Baumhover, CFP®, EA · Last verified November 10, 2026

Five IRS notices chase the same unpaid balance, and only two of them carry a 30-day levy clock: CP504 (per the IRS sample notice) and LT11 or Letter 1058 (IRC §6330(a)). This table shows what each one triggers, what it lets the IRS do, and which one can open your Collection Due Process hearing rights.

CP14, CP501, CP503, CP504, and LT11 / Letter 1058, at a glance
	CP14	CP501	CP503	CP504	LT11 / Letter 1058
What triggers it	An assessment posted and the balance is unpaid (IRC §6303(a) notice and demand)	An unanswered earlier demand, ordinarily CP14	An unanswered CP501 (the IRS calls it the "second reminder")	An unanswered CP14, CP501, and CP503, with no payment plan, hardship status, or dispute in place	An unanswered balance-due stream. A Revenue Officer can issue Letter 1058 without the earlier notices
What it lets the IRS do	Nothing new. It demands payment of an assessed balance	Nothing new. The tax lien already exists by law (IRC §6321). It warns of a public lien filing	Nothing new. It repeats the lien-filing warning	Levy a state tax refund, file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, and refer a large balance for passport certification	Levy wages, bank accounts, and other property, and file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien
Deadline	21 calendar days from the notice date (10 business days at $100,000 or more), per IRC §6601(e)(3)	The date printed on the notice	The date printed on the notice (the IRS sample shows 21 days)	The date printed on the notice	30 days from the notice date to file Form 12153, if this is the first levy notice with hearing rights for the tax and tax period or it covers added tax or certain penalties (IRC §6330(a)(3)(B); Treas. Reg. §301.6330-1, A-B4, A-D1)
Collection Due Process hearing rights?	No	No. A Collection Appeals Program request is available	No. A Collection Appeals Program request is available	No. A Collection Appeals Program request is available	Yes, for the first levy notice with hearing rights for the tax and tax period. Filing Form 12153 on time generally stops levy for the periods on the letter and preserves Tax Court review
Failure-to-pay penalty rate	0.5% per month, capped at 25%	0.5% per month, capped at 25%	0.5% per month, capped at 25%	Rises to 1% per month beginning 10 days after the notice date (IRC §6651(d))	Already 1% if a CP504 issued at least 10 days earlier (IRC §6651(d)). Otherwise rises 10 days after this notice (IRC §6651(d))
If you ignore it	Interest keeps running and the account moves to CP501. No rights lost, but an assessed amount not shown on the return starts the §6651(a)(3) failure-to-pay penalty	Interest and the failure-to-pay penalty keep running. A public lien filing stays possible	Interest and the failure-to-pay penalty keep running. CP504 comes next	The IRS can take an expected state refund, file a lien, and start passport certification. Wages and bank accounts are not yet exposed, unless an LT11 or Letter 1058 already went out for that year or the taxpayer is a federal contractor (a person or business with a current contract to sell or lease property, goods or services to the federal government)	The IRS can levy wages and bank accounts with no further hearing notice. A late request filed within one year starting the day after the notice date (Treas. Reg. §301.6330-1(i)(2)) can get Appeals review as an Equivalent Hearing if you say so, but it does not automatically pause levy and does not preserve Tax Court review

If you got this letter

Which Letter Are You Holding?

Look at the code in the top corner of your letter. IRS balance-due letters usually arrive in this order: CP14, then CP501, then CP503, then CP504, then a final letter called LT11 or Letter 1058. Each one is about the same unpaid bill. Not every taxpayer receives every letter, and the IRS can skip ahead.

The first three are bills and reminders. They ask you to pay by the date printed on each notice, and none of them lets the IRS take money from your paycheck or bank account. A CP504 is more serious: it tells you to pay immediately, and it lets the IRS take a state tax refund coming to you. By itself, it still does not let the IRS take your paycheck or bank account, unless you already got an LT11 or Letter 1058 for that year or you are a federal contractor (a person or business with a current contract to sell or lease property, goods or services to the federal government).

The LT11 or Letter 1058 is the one that matters most. For the first LT11 or Letter 1058 for a tax period, Treas. Reg. §301.6330-1(b)(1) gives you 30 days, starting the day after the letter’s date, to file Form 12153 and ask for a hearing. Filing on time generally stops the IRS from levying (taking wages or bank funds) for the tax and tax periods on this letter while the hearing is pending. It adds hearing and court time to the IRS’s 10-year collection period, giving it more time (Form 12153; IRC §6330(e)(1)). The IRS can still file a lien notice or take refunds (Treas. Reg. §301.6330-1, A-G3). Missing it lets the IRS levy wages and bank funds, though a written request submitted within one year, starting the day after the letter’s date, can still get an equivalent hearing (Treas. Reg. §301.6330-1(i), A-I7).

If you can't pay the full amount, acting at the earliest letter you have is cheaper than acting at the last one. The Federal Tax Desk's IRS Penalty Relief Kit has letter templates and a walkthrough for asking the IRS to remove penalties. For a payment plan, use the IA Payment Calculator.

The escalation in one paragraph

The IRS mails a run of notices about one unpaid balance. CP14 is the notice and demand that follows an assessment. CP501 and CP503 restate the same balance as reminders. CP504 is the notice of intent to levy that satisfies IRC §6331(d), but unless the taxpayer is a federal contractor, it reaches only a state tax refund. LT11 or Letter 1058 is the final notice that authorizes wage and bank levy and can open the 30-day IRC §6330 window. The stream ends there unless the taxpayer pays, sets up a payment plan, gets hardship status, or disputes the balance first.

Where the clocks actually change

CP14 carries the 21-day notice-and-demand window (10 business days at $100,000 or more), and CP501 and CP503 each print their own due date; none of those dates does much. Under IRC §6601(e)(3), paying inside the window suspends interest on the amount paid. Missing it forfeits no right, but on an assessed amount not shown on the return it starts the IRC §6651(a)(3) failure-to-pay penalty. CP501 and CP503 do not create the lien they mention. The lien arises under IRC §6321 once a taxpayer neglects or refuses to pay after demand, and the notices only warn that the IRS may file a public notice of it.

The clock changes at CP504: IRC §6331(d)(2) bars a levy until 30 days after this notice, and the notice clears the way for a state-refund levy, a lien filing, and passport certification for a seriously delinquent balance. It changes again at LT11 and Letter 1058, which run 30 days (IRC §6330(a)) and carry the hearing right. Filing Form 12153 inside that window is what generally stops levy and preserves Tax Court review. No earlier notice in the stream carries either protection, although a post-levy CP 92 or CP 242 can carry that hearing right.

Why practitioners misread the sequence

The costliest error is treating CP504 as the final notice before levy. IRS.gov describes CP504 as a final reminder of intent to levy wages, bank accounts, or a state tax refund, and that headline invites the misreading. Its own "what happens if I don't pay" section is narrower: a lien filing and a state-refund levy now, then a notice of the right to a hearing, if one has not already gone out, before the IRS levies other property. A client who answers CP504 carefully and ignores what follows has not protected their appeal rights. See CP504 vs. LT11 for that pair in detail.

The opposite error costs as much. A practitioner who assumes CP504 already used up the client's hearing rights will not file Form 12153 when the LT11 or Letter 1058 arrives. The right attaches at the first notice that carries one: the LT11 or Letter 1058, unless a CP 92 or CP 242 came first.

Treat the order as typical, not guaranteed. IRS.gov's own CP504 page says the hearing notice may already have gone out ("if you haven't already received such a notice"), a Revenue Officer can issue Letter 1058 without the earlier notices, and IRC §6330(f)(2) lets the IRS levy a state refund without a prior hearing notice. Read the code on the letter in hand and calculate from its own date. Do not infer the deadline from where the letter should fall in the sequence.

What to do at each stage

At CP14, CP501, or CP503, verify the balance against the account transcript. A late-applied payment, a misapplied payment, or an amended return still processing can inflate the figure. If the balance is right and the client cannot clear it, size an installment agreement with The Federal Tax Desk's IA Payment Calculator now. The alternatives are the same at every stage, but the earliest stage leaves the most runway and no lien filing.

At CP504, respond by the date on the notice and consider a Collection Appeals Program request if the client disputes the collection action itself. At LT11 or Letter 1058, check the collection statute expiration date first: a timely Form 12153 generally stops levy but also suspends the collection statute while the hearing and any appeal are pending (IRC §6330(e)(1)). Unless that date is close enough that the added time outweighs the levy stay, file Form 12153 inside the 30 days (IRC §6330(a)(3)(B)), then bring a specific collection alternative to the hearing.

Common Questions

What order do IRS balance-due notices come in?

Usually CP14, then CP501, then CP503, then CP504, then LT11 or Letter 1058. The order is typical, not guaranteed. The IRS can skip notices, and a Revenue Officer can issue Letter 1058 directly.

Which of these notices is the final notice before the IRS can take my paycheck or bank account?

LT11 or Letter 1058. CP504 is often mistaken for it, but unless you are a federal contractor, CP504 only clears the way for a state tax refund levy. The wage and bank levy authority comes with the LT11 or Letter 1058, which the IRS generally has to send only once for a tax year — if you already got one for that year, another is usually not required, unless the IRS later assesses more tax for that year.

Which of these notices gives me Collection Due Process hearing rights?

Usually the first LT11, Letter 1058, CP90, or CP297 for the tax and period. Treas. Reg. §301.6330-1(b)(1) gives you 30 days, starting the day after the date on the letter, to file Form 12153. A CP 92 or CP 242 after a state-refund levy can come first; Letter 3172 (lien notice) opens its own. CP14, CP501, CP503, and CP504 carry no hearing right, though CP501, CP503, and CP504 offer a Collection Appeals Program request.

Do I lose anything if I miss the deadline on a CP14, CP501, or CP503?

You lose a little money, not a legal right. Interest keeps running, and the account moves to the next notice. On a balance your return showed, the failure-to-pay penalty keeps accruing; on an amount the IRS assessed later, missing the window starts the IRC §6651(a)(3) failure-to-pay penalty. Paying inside the window suspends interest on the amount you pay.

Does the IRS have to send every one of these notices before it levies?

No. The IRS must give the notice of intent to levy and the notice of your hearing rights at least 30 days before a levy on wages or bank accounts, and one letter can do both (IRC §6330(a)(2), §6331(d)(2)). It does not have to send CP501 and CP503 first.