Can the IRS take my house ?
- Collection Options:
- extension up to 120 days to pay taxes in full
- currently not collectible (hardship) status – delay collection until financial condition improves
- installment payments
- bankruptcy
- expiration of Statute of limitations
- offer in compromise – settle for less than full payment
- See also: collection standards
- financial Information forms
- collection due process hearing right
- IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS)
- IRS Form 911 – Request for Taxpayer Advocate Service Assistance/ hardship relief
- Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC)
- determining the correct tax
- audits / recordkeeping
- IRS correspondence audits
- notice of deficiency
- Tax Court
- what if you haven't filed returns
- trust fund recovery penalty
- what if you can't pay your taxes
- what if my spouse owes taxes but I don't
- can I really settle for pennies on the dollar ?
- innocent spouse relief
- injured spouse relief
- tax liens & levies
- subordination of lien
- can the IRS take my house
- abatement of penalties
- discharge of property from lien
- subordination of IRS lien, e.g., to refinancing
- bankruptcy doesn't remove a tax lien even after the tax is discharged
- trust fund recovery (responsible person) penalty
- private party (non-IRS) debt collectors
- tenancy by the entirety protections US v. Craft
The IRS can seize your residence, sell it, and apply the proceeds to outstanding tax liabilities. While the IRS may be reluctant to “put taxpayers out on the street” due to bad publicity, additional administrative requirements, including judicial approval, and the burdens of conducting a sale, the IRS can and will seize a residence in appropriate circumstances.
Additional considerations arise where the house is jointly owned and only one spouse owes taxes. The IRS can still seize the residence, but will typically pay half of the equity realized after paying off secured creditors to the non-liable spouse.
See also non-liable spouse.