Function

• If you receive an IRS lien, it means that the Internal Revenue Service can seize your home and sell it in order to recoup the amount of taxes that you owe. This is a way for the IRS to guarantee that the federal government will receive monies that it is owed.
  
  

Effects

• An IRS lien has the potential to negatively impact your credit score. In addition, you will not be able to sell your home yourself until your lien is paid unless you receive a Discharge of a Federal Tax Lien from the IRS by applying through your local IRS office.
  
  

Features

• Depending on your state's specific laws, the lien on your property is recorded by local, county or state governments. If a property report is ordered on your home or other building, the lien will show up, signaling that the IRS has an interest in the property.
  
  

Solution

• The IRS lien will be removed once you pay off the debt owed to the IRS in full. Because the IRS periodically adds penalties and interest to tax debts, it is necessary to contact your local IRS office or the national IRS hotline at (800) 913-6050 in order to find out how much you owe to pay off your lien.
  
  

Considerations

• Once your tax lien is paid off, the IRS will mail you a Release of the Notice of Federal Tax Lien within 30 days. You should retain this document as proof that you have paid off your lien.
  
  

Disputes

• In some cases, people obtain attorneys to dispute an IRS tax lien, which may succeed in reducing or eliminating the amount owed to the IRS.