The deadline to request an IRS Collection Due Process hearing can pass quickly. Final levy notices such as CP90, CP297, LT11, and Letter 1058 generally provide 30 days to submit a timely hearing request. Missing that deadline can reduce your appeal rights, but it may not eliminate every opportunity to have the collection action reviewed.
You may still be able to request an Equivalent Hearing with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. This Equivalent Hearing allows you to raise many of the same issues that could have been discussed during a timely CDP hearing. However, it does not provide the same protection from collection action or the same right to judicial review.
How Long Do You Have to Request an Equivalent Hearing?
For a proposed levy, an Equivalent Hearing generally must be requested within one year from the date of the CDP levy notice. You normally make the request by completing Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing. The form should be sent to the address shown on the collection notice.
Check the box on Form 12153 indicating that you are requesting an Equivalent Hearing because the original CDP deadline has passed. Identify the tax types and periods involved and explain why you disagree with the collection action. Keep a copy of the request and proof showing when it was mailed or submitted.
The one-year period is not an additional year after the original 30-day deadline. It is generally measured from the date of the CDP levy notice itself. Waiting until the end of that period creates a risk that the request will be late or sent to the wrong location.
What Can You Discuss at an Equivalent Hearing?
An Equivalent Hearing allows Appeals to consider many of the same issues available during a CDP hearing. You may propose an installment agreement, offer in compromise, or temporary delay in collection because of financial hardship. You may also raise payment-credit errors, innocent spouse relief, discharged taxes, penalties, and certain disagreements about the tax liability.
Appeals may require Form 433-A or Form 433-B and supporting financial records before considering a collection alternative. You may also need to file any missing tax returns and address current tax obligations. Requesting a hearing does not automatically qualify you for the collection option listed on Form 12153.
The hearing may still provide a useful opportunity to present information to an Appeals officer who is separate from the IRS Collection function. Appeals can review the proposed action and determine if another collection approach is appropriate. The practical review may be similar, but the legal protections are different.
Can the IRS Continue Collection During an Equivalent Hearing?
A timely CDP request generally prohibits the levy action involved in the hearing while the case is pending. An Equivalent Hearing does not create that same legal prohibition. This means the IRS may be permitted to continue with levy action before Appeals has finished reviewing the case.
IRS Publication 594 states that the IRS is permitted to seize property during an Equivalent Hearing, although it normally will not do so while the hearing is pending. That general practice should not be treated as a guarantee that collection will stop. Taxpayers facing an immediate bank levy, wage levy, or seizure risk may need to address the collection division separately while the Equivalent Hearing is pending.
Submitting Form 12153 after the deadline also does not prevent the IRS from filing a Notice of Federal Tax Lien. A lien and a levy are different collection tools, and a request involving one action may not stop the other. Review the exact collection action and tax periods covered by your notice.
Does an Equivalent Hearing Suspend the IRS Collection Period?
The IRS generally has 10 years from the date a tax is assessed to collect the debt, although certain events can suspend or extend that period. A timely CDP hearing request suspends the collection period while the hearing and related judicial review are pending. The time during which the period is suspended is added to the amount of time the IRS has left to collect.
An Equivalent Hearing does not suspend this collection period. The Collection Statute Expiration Date continues to run while Appeals considers the request. This is another important difference between filing Form 12153 before and after the original deadline.
The collection expiration date should not be estimated by simply counting 10 years from an old tax return. Installment agreement requests, offers in compromise, bankruptcy cases, prior CDP proceedings, and other events may affect the calculation. The IRS account transcripts and collection history should be reviewed before relying on a particular date.
Can You Appeal an Equivalent Hearing Decision to Tax Court?
After a timely CDP hearing, a taxpayer generally has the right to ask the United States Tax Court to review the Appeals determination. That right does not generally apply to the decision issued after an Equivalent Hearing. If you disagree with Appeals on the collection alternative or other issues, you usually cannot petition the Tax Court to review the merits of that decision.
This loss of judicial review can have a major effect on the taxpayer’s options. Appeals may issue a decision letter rather than the notice of determination used after a timely CDP hearing. Once the Equivalent Hearing is completed, the IRS may continue or resume collection based on the outcome.
Missing the CDP deadline does not prevent you from contacting the IRS about an installment agreement, offer in compromise, or hardship status. These options may still be available outside the hearing process if you meet their requirements. However, pursuing a collection alternative does not restore the Tax Court rights lost when the CDP request was filed late.
Final Thoughts
Missing the IRS CDP hearing deadline can result in the loss of important protections, including the automatic restriction on most levy action and the right to challenge the Appeals decision in Tax Court. An Equivalent Hearing may still provide a chance to present collection alternatives and other account issues. The request must generally be filed within one year of the date of the CDP levy notice.
At the Law Office of Steven N. Klitzner, we can review your notice, determine which hearing period may still be open, and help prepare Form 12153. We can also communicate with the IRS about active collection action and available resolution options. Contact us today to discuss your case before the Equivalent Hearing period expires.
Steven N. Klitzner, P.A. is a tax attorney based in Miami, Florida. He has been practicing tax law for over 40 years, and currently holds a 10.0 rating by Avvo. Mr. Klitzner was appointed to the IRS Service Advisory Council in 2021 and is... 
