# Problems at US border for tax delinquent



## taxmess

I'm a US citizen who's been living abroad, but needs to come back to the US for family reasons. I have a federal lien for a large sum owed to the IRS that I have not paid since 2007, and have not filed my tax returns since then. 

Does anyone know if there will there be problems entering or leaving the US at US customs? 

I was reading the forum 'US taxes for dual citizens - consequences ?', and it seems like the IRS is now sharing information with customs (the not sharing information from the late 90's is inaccurate now). 

but can they arrest someone just for not paying taxes? what would they realistically do? not let you enter or leave without paying your taxes?

there isn't a clear answer from the forum.


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## Bevdeforges

To be perfectly honest, I have never heard of anyone being stopped at the border due to tax issues. Certainly not for simple failure to file - but that assumes that the person has not received any sort of notice from the IRS questioning their non-filing. 

You may want to ask your local US consulate for advice. AFAIK, they won't arrest you (on entry or elsewhere) for having a tax lien. If you don't have any bank accounts or other property in the US, there's really not much they can do about it at the moment. OTOH, they really do have to admit a bona fide US citizen to the country - the question, I suppose, is whether or not they'd notify the IRS that you're there if the tax lien pops up in their records.
Cheers,
Bev


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## rivka88

*ssn and us passport*

the new us passport applications requires that you provide your ssn
it is part of a new IRS requirement with a $500 fine if you do not.

as long as you are traveling with an old passport you will have no problems at 
the border.

Even if your tax lien is noted at the border, the customs agency does not enforce tax law.


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## Guest

Read this article:

U.S. Government Investigating Whether To Condition Passport Issuance On Payment of Taxes | The Nomad Lawyer

Looks like nothing to worry about (for now).


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## Bevdeforges

rivka88 said:


> the new us passport applications requires that you provide your ssn
> it is part of a new IRS requirement with a $500 fine if you do not.
> 
> as long as you are traveling with an old passport you will have no problems at
> the border.
> 
> Even if your tax lien is noted at the border, the customs agency does not enforce tax law.


Just a note - renewing your passport from abroad has required you to give your social security number for years now (at least 10 that I'm aware of). 

The US Consulate in Paris states that you must supply your SSN or an explanation why you don't have a SSN and that the State Department must supply this information along with your foreign residence address to the IRS. (I'm not sure what explanations for not having a SSN are acceptable - but apparently the consulate will process the passport application with just the explanation.)
Cheers,
Bev


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## taxmess

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful and informative responses.

unfortunately , my passport expired recently, and i had to submit for renewal. in the application form is the social security number, as you all know now in the new application. so i'll keep you all posted whether the US government has stopped renewing passports for tax delinquents.

i have no bank accounts/property in the US. unfortunately again, I did receive a notice few months back from the IRS that i failed to file for 2010. 

any other advice/thoughts for me on returning back to the US much appreciated.


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## Bevdeforges

taxmess said:


> i have no bank accounts/property in the US. unfortunately again, I did receive a notice few months back from the IRS that i failed to file for 2010.
> 
> any other advice/thoughts for me on returning back to the US much appreciated.


Is 2010 the first year in which you failed to file? Normally they won't send out a notice just because you didn't file a return - unless they have received a notification of income reported to your SSN from somewhere (i.e. a W-2 or 1099 or something). If this is what you received, it could be a mistake or someone using your SSN (a form of identity theft). 

If you have a legit reason for not filing for 2010 (i.e. "no income" or "income less than the filing threshold"), you should try sending them a letter explaining this - or filing a return that shows your insufficient income. 

OK, you're obviously living on something, and you should be filing with your worldwide income (yada, yada, yada - you know the drill) - but if your only income is excludable earned income, you may be able to clear this up just by filing a return and saying, "gee, I thought because I didn't owe anything, I didn't have to file." (If you've filed before, using the FEIE, this won't work.) The penalty for late filing is based on the amount owed and if you owed nothing, you'll most likely just get a "go, and sin no more" letter back from them.

If, OTOH, someone is reporting income under your SSN, you want to get out in front of that before the identity thief starts making it look like YOU'RE the identity thief.
Cheers,
Bev


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## taxmess

FYI everyone, got the passport with no issues. :clap2:


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## Flight

Sorry, the reply I posted was intended for another thread. I got confused.


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## KristenJune

What is the post above from GringoCarlos as a guest. I clicked on the link and may be a virus??


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