The Collection Appeals Program: appealing liens, levies, seizures and installment agreement decisions on Form 9423

What CAP covers

CAP is an administrative program the IRS started in 1996; the IRM notes that it is not specifically mandated by statute, although IRC 7122(e) and 6159(e) provide the right to appeal installment agreement rejections and terminations, and CAP is the vehicle (IRM 8.24.1.1). A taxpayer, or a third party whose property is subject to a collection action, may appeal (IRM 8.24.1.3; Form 9423 instructions):

• a levy or seizure that has been or will be taken (see levies);
• a notice of federal tax lien that has been or will be filed, including a lien against an alter ego or nominee's property (see federal tax liens);
• denial of a lien certificate such as subordination, withdrawal, discharge or non-attachment;
• a rejected, modified or proposed modification, or terminated or proposed termination installment agreement (see installment agreements);
• denial of the taxpayer's request to return levied property under IRC 6343(d), or of a third party's wrongful levy claim under IRC 6343(b).

A CAP can be filed for each asset levied, each lien filing location, and each installment agreement action, but not again for the same issue on the same facts once Appeals has decided it (IRM 8.24.1.3 and 8.24.1.3.9).

What CAP does not cover

IRM 8.24.1.3.3 sends these matters to their own procedures: pre- or post-assessment trust fund recovery penalties; offers in compromise; penalty appeals; most jeopardy levies; audit reconsideration; refund claims and abatement requests; assets under a court's control (bankruptcy, probate, receivership); modules in suit; and moral, religious or constitutional arguments. Most important: CAP does not hear “Challenges to the existence or amount of a liability”; those go through CDP or the other liability routes. A refusal to release a lien is also excluded, although other lien certificate denials are appealable.

CAP or CDP?

Sources: IRM 8.24.1.2; Pub 1660. If a taxpayer requests both a CDP hearing and a CAP on the same proposed levy or lien filing, “the taxpayer must choose one or the other.” Choosing CAP means signing a withdrawal of the CDP request and giving up judicial review; if the taxpayer will not sign or cannot decide, Appeals gives the CDP hearing. CDP carries Tax Court review and a broader set of issues; CAP is the available tool when the CDP window has passed, the action is a lien or levy without CDP rights (such as a lien in a new county or a later levy on a new asset), a third party is affected, or an installment agreement has been rejected or terminated. See CDP hearings and equivalent hearings.

Deadlines

“Before a taxpayer requests a CAP appeal, he or she must discuss the problem with the Collection manager.” (IRM 8.24.1.3). A taxpayer who avoids the manager loses the right to a CAP unless the manager did not offer a reasonable chance to talk. The manager conference is not required for installment agreement appeals, though the Form 9423 instructions strongly recommend one.

The steps on the Collection side

The revenue officer's instructions are in IRM 5.1.9.4 (rev. 08-28-2025). “There is no deadline for requesting a CAP appeal in most situations.” The exceptions are seizures (10 business days from the date Form 2433, Notice of Seizure, is given to the taxpayer or left at the home or business) and the 30-day installment agreement periods. Once the IRS has received levy proceeds there is nothing left to appeal; the remedy becomes an administrative claim for return of the property, with CAP available on its denial.

The request may be oral or written, and Form 9423 may be handed to the revenue officer before the manager conference. The revenue officer records the request on ICS and notifies the group manager, and “The group manager, or acting manager, must reply to the request for a CAP appeal conference with a call-back in a timely manner not to exceed two business days.” If the conference does not resolve the issue and Form 9423 is in hand, the manager sends the case to Appeals within two business days; otherwise the two and three business day rules in the table above apply. The IRM separates the stay from the right: “While the stay of collection is no longer required if the taxpayer does not submit a Form 9423 postmarked within three business days after the conference, taxpayers are still entitled to a CAP appeal if their Form 9423 (or other written request) is received in a reasonable time after the manager conference, e.g., ten business days.” File at the conference, by fax or electronically. For a levy on a retirement account, the IRM notes that the revenue officer may ask the levy source to hold the funds until Appeals decides, because a distribution cannot be undone and may be taxable; ask for that hold in writing. For installment agreement appeals, the IRC 6331(k)(2) levy bar runs for the 30 days and during a timely appeal, and “Levy action is generally suspended for an additional 15 days to allow for mailing and receipt of the request.”

Collection then builds the file: Form 15044, Transmittal of Collection Appeals Program (CAP) Hearing Request (taxpayer, representative, reason for the appeal, documents, date of the manager conference, periods), with Form 9423, the lien, levy or seizure documents and Forms 433-A or 433-B, uploaded to the Appeals Electronic Case Receipts site. The ex parte rules shape the transmittal: “Any narrative statement included must be limited to a neutral list of documents and neutral statements regarding actions taken and documented in the case history without any further discussion regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the taxpayer's appeal.” A transmittal that contains prohibited comments must be shared with the taxpayer when the case goes to Appeals. Appeals reads the ICS history and the manager's conference notes directly, so Block 15 and its attachments are the only taxpayer-side account of the same events. Appeals returns the case as a premature referral if the taxpayer appealed before being entitled to a CAP, skipped the mandatory manager meeting (installment agreements excepted), raised an excluded issue, or filed late (IRM 5.1.9.4.3; IRM 8.24.1.3.9); it may send Letter 5180 to say so, but is not required to notify the taxpayer.

On the Appeals side, IRM 8.24.1.3.8 (rev. 04-24-2026) adds the closing mechanics. New information is handled under the ex parte rules, but “Due to the quick turnaround goal on CAP cases (five days), it is extremely rare that Appeals will ask Collection to review and comment on new information.”, so assume the hearing officer will decide on the file plus what the representative says at the conference. “The written closing letter should be faxed or mailed to the taxpayer's current address no later than three business days after the final approval of Appeals' decision.” The closing letter (Letter 5100 is the template) must state any agreement reached, any relief given, the rationale and whether Collection's action was fully supported; where a third party's wrongful levy claim is denied, it must state the right to sue under IRC 7426 and the IRC 6532(c) time limit. If Collection disagrees, its managers may raise it with Appeals management only after the closing letter has issued (IRM 8.24.1.3.10.1).

Completing Form 9423

1 to 10Taxpayer and representative

Name, representative (attach Form 2848), SSN or EIN, phones and address.

11 to 13Tax, periods and amount

Type of tax by form, each period being appealed, and the tax due.

14Collection action(s) appealed

Check each that applies: Federal Tax Lien; Levy or Proposed Levy; Seizure; Rejection, Termination or Modification of Installment Agreement.

15Explanation

Explain why you disagree and how you would resolve the tax problem. Attach documents. Note any unanswered manager conference request here.

16, 17Signature and date

Taxpayer or authorized representative, under penalties of perjury. An unsigned field CAP request is returned as a premature referral (IRM 8.24.1.3.9).

18 to 29IRS use only

Revenue officer and manager details and dates received.

Block 15 is the case. Appeals reviews the appropriateness of the action based on law, regulations, policy and the facts, and the form itself warns that Appeals will generally ask Collection to review any new information and will share Collection's comments. Attach the financial information Collection already has (Form 433-A, 433-B or 433-F) and anything new, and say exactly what result is requested: release this levy, withdraw this lien, accept this installment amount. The Form 9423 instructions add: “Never forward your request for an Appeals conference directly to Appeals.” File it with the office or revenue officer that took the action. Form 9423 is recommended but not required; the IRM says any written request will be honored for field cases. See Form 9423.

Collection while the appeal is pending

The Form 9423 instructions: “Normally, we will stop the collection action(s) you disagree with until your appeal is settled, unless we have reason to believe that collection or the amount owed is at risk.” The IRM gives dissipation of assets and pyramiding of unpaid deposits as examples where Collection may continue (IRM 8.24.1.3). For installment agreement rejections and terminations, the levy prohibition is statutory under IRC 6331(k)(2), unless waived or the request was solely to delay.

What Appeals decides and how

Appeals treats CAP cases as first priority. “The goal is to provide a response with a five business-day turnaround.” Complex lien withdrawal, discharge, seizure or claim cases normally take up to 15 business days (IRM 8.24.1.2 and 8.24.1.3). The ATE is to hold a conference within two business days of receiving the case if possible, usually by phone, and will decide on the available information if the taxpayer does not schedule a conference within the time given, normally no more than five business days (IRM 8.24.1.3.8).

Specified taxpayers (individuals with AGI of $400,000 or less, others with gross receipts of $5 million or less, under IRC 7803(e)(7)) may ask for the nonprivileged case file; the conference is then scheduled at least 10 days after access unless the taxpayer elects sooner, and the five-day goal runs from the end of that period (IRM 8.24.1.3.1).

The decision is limited: Appeals either sustains Collection or directs Collection to take corrective action, such as releasing a levy or withdrawing a lien. The IRM's examples show the limit. Where a business proposed $2,000 a month and Collection demanded $3,000, Appeals computed $2,500; if the taxpayer accepts $2,500, Appeals directs Collection to grant it, and if the taxpayer insists on $2,000, Appeals sustains Collection. Where a levy caused economic hardship under IRC 6343(a)(1)(D), Appeals directed release but did not then negotiate an installment agreement or CNC status (IRM 8.24.1.2). Communications between Appeals and Collection are limited to ministerial and procedural matters (ex parte rules).

Effect of the decision

“Once Appeals makes a decision regarding your case, that decision is binding on both you and the IRS.” and “You cannot obtain a judicial review of Appeals' decision following a CAP.” (Form 9423 instructions). Defaulting on an agreement reached in CAP releases Collection from it, and a material misrepresentation or failure to disclose makes the agreement voidable after Collection confers with Appeals (IRM 8.24.1.3.10). Other routes may remain: a third party can still bring a wrongful levy suit, and the IRM directs Appeals to tell a third-party claimant about that right and its time limit when sustaining a denial.

Questions practitioners ask