Tax Lien Release

IRS Definition

Tax laws direct the IRS to release a Federal tax lien within 30 days of when the liability is fully paid or becomes legally unenforceable or the IRS accepts a bond for payment of the liability. When all the liabilities shown on the Notice of Federal Tax Lien are satisfied, the IRS will issue a Certificate of Release of Federal Tax Lien for filing in the same location where the notice of lien was filed. If the IRS has not released the lien within 30 days, you can ask for a certificate of release.

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When you pay off your full tax balance or when the IRS runs out of time to collect the balance, the IRS will automatically release your tax lien. This removes the lien from your property. If the lien isn’t automatically released, you can write to the IRS to request the release certificate.

Note: Lien release doesn’t remove the lien from public record. You’ll need to request a lien withdrawal to do that.

Learn what to do if you have an unpaid tax bill or related complications like liens.