IRS Notice CP90 / CP297
Final Notice of Intent to Levy & Right to Hearing
CP90 (individuals) and CP297 (businesses) are the IRS's statutory Final Notice of Intent to Levy. After 30 days the IRS can legally seize wages, bank accounts, retirement funds, and Social Security payments.
Tax Attorney · Villanova University School of Law · Admitted in Delaware, New Jersey, United States Tax Court
Notice CP90 / CP297 in Plain English
CP90 (individuals) and CP297 (businesses) are the statutory Final Notice of Intent to Levy — the same legal weight as LT11 but issued by a different IRS unit. After 30 days the IRS can seize wages, bank accounts, retirement funds, and even Social Security payments.
Why the IRS sent you a CP90 / CP297
Your case was worked by IRS Automated Collection System (ACS) rather than the field.
Prior notices were ignored or the case defaulted at a later stage.
A business return (Form 941, 940, 1120) is delinquent and the trust fund recovery is escalating.
What Happens If You Ignore Notice CP90 / CP297
Wage garnishment, bank levy, Social Security levy, and seizure of other federal payments. If you miss the 30-day Collection Due Process window, you lose the right to Tax Court review of the levy.
Every day you wait, penalties compound, interest accrues, and your options shrink. The IRS does not negotiate well with silence — they escalate.
What To Do About Notice CP90 / CP297
File Form 12153 (Request for a Collection Due Process Hearing) within 30 days. This immediately stops the levy and forces the IRS to consider alternatives — installment agreement, OIC, currently not collectible, or innocent spouse relief.
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File Form 12153 for a CDP hearing within 30 days — the levy authority is identical to LT11 and so is the remedy.
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If Social Security is your primary income, request that any levy be limited under the Federal Payment Levy Program's minimum exemption rules.
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Businesses must separately identify whether the underlying liability includes trust fund payroll taxes — those carry personal liability under IRC §6672.
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Provide the CDP officer written collection alternatives in the request itself; do not wait for the hearing to raise them.
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If a spouse's income is being levied for a joint liability, screen for Innocent Spouse Relief (Form 8857) as part of the same CDP filing.
A Senior Tax Attorney's Take on CP90 / CP297
CP90 cases usually involve larger balances than ACS-only cases and often have a Revenue Officer contactable by phone. That direct human contact is an asset — a properly-framed CDP filing plus a phone call to the assigned officer can settle a CP90 in weeks rather than months.
Call (877) 829-5267Costly Mistakes People Make With Notice CP90 / CP297
Confusing CP90 with earlier CP-series notices and assuming there's still time — this is the final legal notice.
Failing to raise innocent spouse relief in the CDP hearing, then discovering later that the argument is barred.
For businesses, treating a payroll-tax CP297 as a corporate-only issue and ignoring the personal exposure under §6672.
IRS Notices Related to CP90 / CP297
These are the notices the IRS most often sends before, after, or alongside a CP90 / CP297. Read the related ones to understand where you are in the collection sequence.
Tax Resolution Services That Resolve a CP90 / CP297
Senior tax attorneys at McCauley Law Offices use these strategies to stop, settle, or unwind a CP90 / CP297 notice.
Stop the IRS from seizing funds from your bank accounts.
Stop IRS wage levies that are taking money from your paycheck.
Challenge unfavorable IRS decisions through the independent Appeals Office.
Prevent the IRS from seizing your home, car, or business assets.
Relief from joint tax liability caused by your spouse's errors or fraud.
Primary Sources & Authority
We cite the underlying IRS publications and statutes so you can verify everything on this page.