You don’t want to ignore any letter that you get from the IRS because the IRS doesn’t send out love letters or seasonal greetings. Every letter is important, and Letter 3172 is very important, so don’t ignore it. In case you have any doubts about what “letter” you’re getting, look in the upper right-hand corner of those computer-printed IRS letters, and if you see the code 3172, you have something serious to deal with right away.
IRS Letter 3172 is a notice of a federal tax lien on your property, and it is sent to taxpayers who owe a large amount of back taxes. You need to deal with this notice immediately. That means don’t wait.
What Is A Lien Notice?
A lien notice does not come without previous warnings. You’ll get a lien notice only after the IRS tried several other times to reach you about the tax money you owe. Letter 3172 means you haven’t replied to previous IRS letters. Letter 3172 — the lien notice — means that if you don’t respond now, a federal tax lien can be imposed, and it probably will happen within 30 days. Letter 3172 gives you that time to respond, cure your tax debt (pay what you owe), or start up a payment plan, appeal, or take some other action to resolve your tax debt, such as filing for a Fresh Start Program.
So don’t delay. Talk to your tax professional now. You do have options, but the window for those options is closing.