LT11 and Letter 1058: preserve the hearing request
LT11 and Letter 1058 notify you of intended levy action and a right to request a hearing. Read the actual notice immediately, identify its tax periods and find the hearing-request deadline and address. A discussion about payment does not replace the written request needed to preserve hearing rights.
These two notice labels share the same core task here: understand the rights offered, decide what issues to raise and preserve evidence of a timely request. This guide does not calculate your legal deadline from when an envelope arrived.
Start with the printed request date
The IRS LT11 and Letter 1058 page explains the unpaid balance, intended seizure and hearing opportunity. Keep the notice intact, including the pages explaining your rights.
Publication 1660 describes the formal levy-notice request period and timely-postmark requirement. Follow the deadline shown on the notice and the applicable written-request instructions. Do not calculate a fresh 30 days from receipt using a general website summary. Unusual delivery facts or a date that appears wrong need individual review promptly.
Calling Collection or the Taxpayer Advocate Service does not extend the written hearing-request time limit. If you are also discussing payment or an account correction, keep the request deadline visible until the procedural question is resolved.
Prepare the written request and proof
Form 12153 requests a Collection Due Process, or CDP, hearing or an equivalent hearing. Use the current form and its instructions. The hosted version checked for this guide is revised July 2022; older publication references to form item numbers should not substitute for the fields on that version.
If the table is clipped, scroll sideways. Use arrow keys when focused.
| Preparation item | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| Notice and scope | Copy of the hearing notice and the tax types and periods involved |
| Requested hearing and reasons | Completed request identifying the relevant basis and explaining the disagreement |
| Signatures | Signed and dated request following the form’s taxpayer, joint-request or authorized-representative instructions |
| Destination | Hearing-request address stated on the notice, rather than its payment address |
| Sending | Copy of what was sent and proof of the sending date |
| Later communication | Acknowledgments, information requests and any Appeals decision |
The form requires a reason for the dispute. Explain the actual issue, such as an uncredited payment, the proposed collection action or a requested alternative. Attaching an unexplained stack of records does not clearly identify what you want Appeals to consider.
For a joint request, follow the instructions for both taxpayers’ signatures. An authorized representative signing for a taxpayer must meet the form’s power-of-attorney requirements. Do not assume that someone who prepared the return is already authorized to sign this request.
Financial information should not displace the request deadline
Financial statements can help Appeals consider a collection alternative. Form 12153 explains the relevant statements and exceptions, and expressly says early submission with the hearing request is not required.
Do not postpone a timely request simply because a complete financial packet is still being assembled. Track the later information the IRS or Appeals actually requires, and respond to those requests as well.
Be specific about the issue and proposed alternative
The existence or amount of the underlying liability cannot always be challenged in CDP. Prior receipt of a deficiency notice or another opportunity to dispute the liability can limit that issue. The section 6330 hearing rules and Form 12153 explain the distinction.
A collection alternative concerns how the debt might be resolved. Use the payment-plan guide for federal installment routes, the offer-in-compromise guide for settlement requirements, or the hardship collection guide when necessary living expenses are the concern.
Preparing financial evidence for one of those alternatives does not establish acceptance. Identify the periods, amounts, records and terms that support the particular alternative rather than treating the hearing as automatic debt cancellation.
Understand what a timely CDP request changes
A timely CDP request generally prohibits levy for the subject tax and periods while the hearing process is pending. It also suspends the collection limitation period; that time is added to the remaining collection period. It is not a way to let the collection clock run down during an appeal.
The protection has exceptions. Section 6330 identifies postlevy hearing situations involving jeopardy, state tax refunds, certain disqualified employment-tax levies and federal-contractor levies. Court-authorized levy during an appeal can also apply. A request containing frivolous or delay issues does not create unrestricted protection.
Do not infer that every account, lien or refund offset stops, or that an existing levy is automatically released. The form specifically says a levy-hearing request does not prohibit filing a Notice of Federal Tax Lien.
At the end of CDP, Appeals ordinarily issues a determination with information about judicial review. If you disagree, read that decision and its applicable petition instructions promptly. The hearing request and any later court petition are separate procedural steps.
If the timely CDP window has passed
An apparently late request still needs its notice, delivery and submission evidence examined. The current IRS Appeals manual, section 8.22.5.3.2, recognizes fact-dependent equitable tolling for the administrative CDP and equivalent-hearing request periods. It requires specific evidence of diligence and extraordinary circumstances beyond the taxpayer’s control; it is not an automatic extension.
The broader CDP request and evidence guide explains organizing separate notice and period records and tracking the IRS’s timeliness classification. Preserve the actual timing facts rather than assuming that the date a request reached the IRS settles every question.
An equivalent hearing is a different route with different effects. For a levy notice, Form 12153 describes a one-year limit measured from the date of the CDP levy notice. Check the actual notice and instructions rather than assuming an unlimited late appeal.
An equivalent hearing does not provide the same statutory levy prohibition or suspension of the collection period, and its decision does not carry the same Tax Court review right as a CDP determination. Selecting the equivalent-hearing option should not be mistaken for restoring every missed CDP right.
If money or wages are already subject to levy, raise that current action separately and consult the IRS release guidance. Filing a hearing request is not proof that the bank or employer received a release, or that money already remitted will be returned.
For a different intent warning such as CP504, first check its notice stage and prior hearing history. The code on a reminder should not be used to restart an earlier hearing deadline.
Sources
- IRS LT11 and Letter 1058: the notice and hearing opportunity.
- Form 12153 and instructions: request contents, signatures, financial information and equivalent hearings.
- Publication 1660: formal request timing and distinct collection appeal procedures.
- Current Appeals manual, IRM 8.22.5: specific timeliness and equitable-tolling guidance for administrative hearing requests.
- 26 USC 6330: hearing issues, levy restrictions, suspension and exceptions.
Reviewed November 13, 2026. This guide does not determine an individual’s filing deadline, collection-expiration date or right to contest an underlying liability.