{"id":29278,"date":"2026-10-25T15:01:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/irs-lien-vs-levy-infographic\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T15:01:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:01:54","slug":"irs-lien-vs-levy-infographic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/irs-lien-vs-levy-infographic\/","title":{"rendered":"IRS Lien vs. Levy: What&#8217;s the Difference? (Infographic)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#039;m Darrin Mish. For 32 years I&#039;ve practiced federal tax litigation \u2014 routine audits, Tax Court cases, and everything in between. If you&#039;re facing an IRS issue, here&#039;s what you need to know first.<\/p>\n<p>Tax attorney Darrin Mish put this one-page guide together from official sources. Save it, print it or share it with someone who needs it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/lien-vs-levy.png\" alt=\"Lien or levy? Infographic from tax attorney Darrin Mish.\" width=\"1080\" height=\"2078\" class=\"wp-image-29277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/lien-vs-levy.png 1080w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/lien-vs-levy-156x300.png 156w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/lien-vs-levy-532x1024.png 532w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/lien-vs-levy-768x1478.png 768w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/lien-vs-levy-798x1536.png 798w, https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/lien-vs-levy-1064x2048.png 1064w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/figure>\n<h2>What the infographic says<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Lien or levy?<\/strong> They are not the same. A lien is a claim against your property. A levy actually takes it. Here is how the IRS explains each one.<\/p>\n<h3>Federal tax lien<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What it is:<\/strong> The government&#x27;s legal claim against your property when you neglect or fail to pay a tax debt.<\/li>\n<li><strong>When it arises:<\/strong> After the IRS assesses the tax, sends you a bill, and you neglect or refuse to pay in full in time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What it covers:<\/strong> All your assets, including real estate, vehicles and financial assets, and assets you get later.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Public notice:<\/strong> The IRS may file a public Notice of Federal Tax Lien to alert creditors. It may limit your ability to get credit.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Getting it released:<\/strong> The IRS releases the lien within 30 days after you pay the tax debt in full.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>IRS levy<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What it is:<\/strong> A legal seizure of your property to satisfy a tax debt.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What it can take:<\/strong> Wages, bank accounts, retirement accounts, commissions, your car, your house and other property.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Before a levy:<\/strong> Usually a tax bill, then a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to A Hearing at least 30 days before.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wages:<\/strong> A wage levy is continuous. A portion of your wages is exempt.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bank accounts:<\/strong> Funds are held, and after 21 days they are sent to the IRS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Final Notice of Intent to Levy also tells you about your right to a hearing. Act before the deadline on your letter.<\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/businesses\/small-businesses-self-employed\/understanding-a-federal-tax-lien\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/businesses\/small-businesses-self-employed\/understanding-a-federal-tax-lien<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/businesses\/small-businesses-self-employed\/what-is-a-levy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/businesses\/small-businesses-self-employed\/what-is-a-levy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/businesses\/small-businesses-self-employed\/levy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/businesses\/small-businesses-self-employed\/levy<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Checked October 2026.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a question about your own situation, call tax attorney Darrin Mish at (813) 229-7100.<\/p>\n<p><em>Attorney advertising. General information, not legal advice. Every case is different; follow the instructions and deadlines on your own notice.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lien or levy? Infographic from tax attorney Darrin Mish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_linkwrite_keywords":"","_linkwrite_no_autolink":false,"_linkwrite_no_inbound":false,"_linkwrite_exclude":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,464],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irs-help","category-irs-levy","category-irs-liens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29278"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29279,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29278\/revisions\/29279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getirshelp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}