Every tax assessment has a collection statute (CSED) expiration date. Section 6502 of the Internal Revenue Code states that the length of the collection period after the assessment of a tax liability is 10 years. As a general rule, there is a ten-year statute of limitations for IRS collections. This means that the IRS can attempt to collect outstanding taxes for up to ten years from the date they were assessed.
Subject to some important exceptions, after the ten years have elapsed, the IRS must stop its collection efforts. Every year, the statute of limitations expires for thousands of taxpayers who owe money to the IRS. In a nutshell, the statute of limitations for federal tax debt is 10 years from the date the taxes were assessed. This means that the IRS must forgive the tax debt after 10 years.
However, there are a few things to consider. It has been audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and it has been determined that it owes money to the government. So, you may be thinking that you are now in debt forever. However, that's not exactly the case.
Although not widely shared by the IRS, every IRS audit tax debt has a collection law expiration date (CSED). Generally speaking, the IRS has 10 years to collect an unpaid tax debt, after which the debt is canceled. Towards the end of the CSED, the IRS tends to be more aggressive in its collection efforts, hoping that the taxpayer will pay as much as possible before the deadline or agree to extend it. In general, the IRS has 10 years after the evaluation date to collect back taxes and tax-related fees, although there are some exceptions.
This 10-year limit is known as the Revenue Act Expiration Date (CSED) and frees tens of thousands of Americans from their tax obligations each year.
