What does it mean when I receive a ‘Notice of Federal or State Tax Lien?
A Tax Lien is often a taxing authority’s first aggressive step at pursuing collection for the tax debt. A Lien is essentially a claim against the assets of a taxpayer who has a tax debt with the IRS or a State taxing agency and signals to all potential creditors that the taxpayer has this unpaid debt to the tax agency for the amount listed. The lien filing thus puts everyone on notice that all of the taxpayer’s assets have a debt against them and if the taxpayer tries to sell or give those assets to anyone else then the taxing authority must release their lien or the new owner will only take possession with debt attached. The lien thus effectively acts as a roadblock if the taxpayer tries to dispose of any assets because the new owner would not get the asset free of the tax debt. The liens can be very bad for the taxpayer because they often will result in lenders refusing to loan to them or buyers that are unwilling to buy. Arena and Associates is very familiar with the types of liens
