In January, I wrote my third blog about the IRS’s new program to certify the seriously delinquent tax debts of taxpayers for the purposes of passport denial, limitation, or revocation. At that point, the IRS had just begun implementing the program, and I expressed serious concerns about how the IRS’s refusal to exclude taxpayers with already open TAS cases would infringe upon their rights. As of the writing of this blog, the IRS has still refused to exclude these taxpayers from certification. Today, I want to walk through what my office has been doing over the last few months to elevate this issue to the highest levels of IRS leadership and how the IRS has responded.
As background, Section 7345 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) authorizes (but does not require) the IRS to certify a taxpayer’s seriously delinquent tax debt to the Department of State for the purposes of passport denial, limitation, or revocation. A seriously delinquent tax debt is an assessed, individual tax liability exceeding $51,000 (adjusted for inflation) for which either a notice of federal tax lien has been filed or a levy has been made. IRC § 7345(b)(2) provides exceptions for current installment agreements (IAs), offers in compromise (OICs), and Collection Due Process hearings. Because the statute provides the IRS with discretion to not certify taxpayers who meet the definition of a seriously delinquent tax debt, the IRS has created some certification exclusions, such as for taxpayers in currently not collectible (CNC) hardship status and those with pending IAs and OICs. See IRM 5.19.1.5.19.4 for a full list.
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