Stamford, CT: IRS Notice Sent to a Prior Address and Your Response Deadline

If an IRS notice was sent to a prior Stamford, CT address, the first priority is protecting your response deadline, not guessing whether the address was outdated. The IRS generally uses the last known address for collection notices, and the filing date still matters even when you did not see the notice right away. Gather the notice details, request a duplicate copy, and document exactly when you learned of it.

Start with the notice type and the date on it

The practical difference is whether you received a lien notice or a levy notice. IRM 5.1.9 says Letter 3172, the Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing and Your Right to a Hearing, is sent to the taxpayer’s last known address. For levy matters, the Notice of Intent to Levy and Your Right to a Hearing is also sent to the last known address under the same collection rules.

If you are in Stamford and the mailing went to an old address, do not assume the deadline disappeared. The notice date, the mailing method, and the envelope evidence all matter. Keep the original notice, the envelope if you have it, any USPS tracking, and a note of the date you actually first learned about it. Those records help show whether a request was timely under the IRS procedures in IRM 5.1.9 and the related levy guidance.

Get a duplicate copy and read the address used

If you never got the notice, ask the IRS for a duplicate copy so you can see exactly what was issued and where it was sent. IRM 5.1.9 says a duplicate Letter 3172 can be provided from the Automated Lien System, and a duplicate levy notice can be provided from the case file or ICS. Print or type “duplicate” across the top when the copy is issued.

That step matters because a notice sent to a prior address may still trigger deadlines if it was sent to the IRS last known address. If the address is wrong because you moved, compare the notice address with your most recent filings and any address-change record. The question is not only whether the mail was forwarded, but whether the IRS records reflected your current last known address at the time of mailing.

Choose the filing path that preserves timeliness

For a lien notice, a Collection Due Process request is made after Letter 3172. For a levy notice, the CDP hearing request is based on the Notice of Intent to Levy or LT-11/L-1058. The IRS FAQ states that Letter 3172 and LT-11 or L-1058 each give a 30-day period to request a CDP hearing, and IRM 5.1.9 explains that timely mailing rules under IRC 7502 can protect a request when it is postmarked on time.

Where to send it matters. The IRS says the taxpayer should send or hand-deliver the hearing request to an IRS office and address shown on the CDP notice, but if the request was mailed timely to an address listed on the notice, the postmark controls. If you mailed it to the wrong IRS office, timeliness may still be measured by the postmark or fax date rather than the date the correct office actually received it. Example: if a taxpayer mailed Form 12153 to the office shown on the notice but the envelope was forwarded internally, the postmark can still preserve timeliness if it was sent within the proper period.

Use a clean record packet before you call the IRS

Bring a simple packet: the notice, the envelope, proof of your current address history, any mail-forwarding confirmation, a copy of the tax return or filing that shows the address you last used with the IRS, and a timeline of when you moved and when you discovered the notice. If a previous mailing was returned or if you already told the IRS of a new address, that history may matter more than the ZIP code itself.

A practical next step is to request the duplicate notice, prepare the CDP request if the deadline is still open, and call the IRS number on the notice or 1-800-829-1040 if you need the proper fax number. In Stamford, you can also use the IRS local office locator or a Taxpayer Assistance Center if the notice instructions allow hand delivery. Filing the request does not stop collection by itself, but it can preserve your right to be heard before certain enforced collection actions move forward.

Questions about An IRS notice sent to a prior address

Sources and related resources

• Internal Revenue Manual 5.1.9
• Collection due process (CDP) FAQs

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Top photograph: Marthlu ParkerV · CC BY-SA 3.0.

General educational guidance. Relief and collection protections depend on the actual notices, account history, financial evidence, and applicable law. A consultation does not itself stop enforcement or preserve an appeal deadline.