Suspended Passports?

Take-Away: Yesterday the IRS issued News Release 2019-141 that announced that taxpayers who plan to travel abroad and who have outstanding assessed federal tax liabilities of more than $52,000 could have their current US passports suspended or revoked. If you have clients planning to travel abroad and who are currently in a dispute with the IRS with regard to their tax liabilities, they should be made aware of IR-2019-141. Apparently the IRS  sent a list of taxpayers without outstanding tax liabilities to the State Department with the intent that a taxpayer who seeks to renew their passport will have that renewal request rejected. I’m a bit surprised that the Release was made after the first week of August and not the first week in May when people are planning their foreign travels for the summer months.