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The U.S. State Department can deny or revoke U.S. passports of people with federal tax debts of $59,000 or more on whom a tax lien or levy has been filed, This doesn’t include individuals who are paying their taxes under an installment agreement, people in bankruptcy, individuals who live in a federally declared disaster area, or people with a tax debt that the IRS has determined isn’t collectible because of hardship.
The IRS gives names of affected taxpayers to the State Department. The agency also lets people with certified debts know that their names were submitted to the State Department. If you get a notice CP508C, contact the IRS to resolve the debt.
Cases involving passports and tax debts
Legal cases involving passport revocations are increasingly before the U.S. Tax Court. And the IRS has won them all so far.
Take these two recent decisions: In the first case, a man who owed about $62,000 in tax debts over three years claimed that the IRS erroneously certified his debt to the State Department. The Tax Court decided that the IRS acted appropriately and tossed the case (Gayou, TC Memo. 2023-61).
In the second case, a man who owed more than $100,000 in taxes over eight years claimed he never received the CP508C notice. According to the Tax Court, a flawed or missing notice doesn’t render the certification to the State Department erroneous (Meduty, 160 TC No. 13).
This first appeared in The Kiplinger Tax Letter. It helps you navigate the complex world of tax by keeping you up-to-date on new and pending changes in tax laws, providing tips to lower your business and personal taxes, and forecasting what the White House and Congress might do with taxes. Get a free issue of The Kiplinger Tax Letter or subscribe.
