IRS Notice CP71: a balance reminder with a passport warning attached
A reminder of an unpaid balance that still exists, with a paragraph explaining that a seriously delinquent debt can cost you a passport. It adds no collection power, but it is a sign the account is still open and still growing.
THE CLOCK — NO RESPONSE DATE THAT ENDS A RIGHT, BUT INTEREST DOES NOT STOP
A CP71 asks you to pay the balance and explains your options. It does not start a hearing window or authorize a levy. Interest and applicable penalties keep accruing until the balance is paid in full, future refunds may be applied to it, and a debt that meets the seriously delinquent test can be certified to the State Department.
What the notice says
The IRS describes the CP71 as a notice that you still have an unpaid balance on one of your tax accounts and that it requires your immediate attention. It also explains the State Department's ability to deny or revoke a passport where there is a seriously delinquent tax debt.
Its list of consequences for not responding is short and specific: interest continues to accrue, additional penalties may apply, future tax refunds may be offset until the balance is paid, and the State Department may revoke, decline to issue or decline to renew a passport if you are certified as having a seriously delinquent tax debt.
It lists the usual options: pay in full, pay what you can and set up a plan for the rest, ask for collection to be delayed because of financial hardship, or, where the numbers support it, an offer in compromise.
Before you do anything
The IRS says payments can take up to 21 days to post, and that if you paid the balance in full within the last 21 days you can disregard the CP71. If you have an approved installment agreement, it says to keep making the payments under it.
Past that, the CP71 is a prompt to look at the account rather than the notice.
WHAT TO CHECK ON THE ACCOUNT
- The account transcript for the period on the notice: what was assessed, when, and what has been paid
- Every other period with a balance, since each has its own notices on its own schedule
- The assessment date for each balance, which starts the ten-year collection period
- Whether the account is in currently not collectible status, which pauses collection but leaves the balance and the interest in place
- Whether any refund was offset, and against which year
Your IRS Online Account shows balances by tax year and payment history, and gives access to account transcripts.
The passport paragraph
The CP71 explains the FAST Act rule because it applies to the kind of balance the notice is about. Under it, the IRS certifies a seriously delinquent tax debt to the State Department, which can then deny a passport application or renewal, or revoke a passport.
Seriously delinquent is a defined term. The debt has to be assessed, legally enforceable, above an inflation-adjusted amount the IRS publishes, and either have had a lien filed with the hearing rights exhausted or lapsed, or a levy made. The statute excludes a debt being paid on time under an installment agreement or an accepted offer, and one where collection is suspended because a Collection Due Process hearing has been requested or is pending, or because innocent spouse relief has been requested.
Whether a particular balance qualifies is a matter of those facts. The passport certification page covers them in detail.
Why a reminder can matter more than it looks
A reminder that nothing is happening can also mean nothing is being fixed. The balance is not shrinking, interest continues to run, and any refund you are owed in a later year is likely to be applied to it rather than paid to you.
The ten-year collection period does not restart because of a reminder. It runs from assessment and is extended only by specific events, such as a pending installment request or offer, a Collection Due Process hearing or a bankruptcy. Knowing the date for each balance is part of deciding what to do, and it is worked out from the transcript rather than guessed.
For some accounts the right answer is a plan. For others, where paying anything would leave basic living expenses unmet, it is a hardship status. The notice does not decide which applies; the numbers do.
Where this comes from
The statutes behind this page, so you can check any of it rather than take it on trust.
- IRC §6402(a)
- Lets the IRS credit an overpayment against any other federal tax liability of the same person. This is why refunds disappear into an old balance.
- IRC §7345
- Passport certification for a seriously delinquent tax debt. The test depends on an inflation-adjusted amount the IRS publishes, plus a lien or levy having happened.
- IRC §6502(a)
- The ten-year collection period from assessment. A reminder notice does not restart it.
This page explains what the IRS or the Massachusetts Department of Revenue does and cites the statute. It is not advice about your situation, which depends on facts none of this knows. Tell us what your letter says and what date is on it. Please do not send Social Security numbers or tax documents through the form.
Passport certification
Above an inflation-adjusted threshold, an unresolved balance is certified to the State Department, which may then refuse to issue or renew a passport. Several common situations are excluded, and certification is reversible.
Currently not collectible
Where paying anything would leave you unable to meet basic living expenses, the IRS suspends active collection. Nothing is forgiven and the balance keeps accruing — but the collection period keeps running too, and for some accounts that is the entire strategy.
Collection statute (CSED)
The IRS has ten years from assessment to collect, after which the balance becomes unenforceable. The period is regularly suspended, and almost every real account has a date later than ten years from the return.
IRS transcripts explained
The IRS offers five kinds of transcript, free. Each answers a different question, and most tax problems need two of them: the account transcript for what is owed and the wage and income transcript for what the IRS knows you earned.
Questions about notice cp71.
- Is a CP71 a new bill?
- No. It is a reminder of a balance that already exists. It does not add a new assessment, start a hearing window or authorize a levy. It does warn that refunds may be offset and explains the passport rule.
- Will I lose my passport because of a CP71?
- Not because of the notice itself. A passport can be affected only if the debt is certified as seriously delinquent, which requires an assessed balance above an amount the IRS publishes plus a lien or levy, and none of the listed exceptions. The notice explains the rule so you can act before it applies.
- Why was my refund kept?
- The law lets the IRS apply an overpayment to any other federal tax you owe. The CP71 warns that future refunds may be offset until the balance is paid. Your account transcript shows where an offset was applied.
- I paid recently. Should I ignore the CP71?
- The IRS says payments can take up to 21 days to post and that you can disregard the CP71 if you paid the balance in full within the last 21 days. If you have an approved installment agreement, keep paying under it.
- Does the CP71 extend how long the IRS can collect?
- No. The ten-year collection period runs from assessment and is extended only by specific events, such as a pending installment request, an offer, a hearing or a bankruptcy. A reminder notice is not one of them.
Tell us what the letter says and what date is on it.
Scope and price in writing before anything starts. Where what you need is something we do not do, you will be told that instead.
Please don't send Social Security numbers or tax documents through this form.