Can You Get a Passport if You Owe Back Taxes?

You can still get a passport if you owe back taxes, up to a point. Federal law only puts your passport at risk once the IRS certifies your unpaid balance as “seriously delinquent tax debt,” and for 2026 that means owing more than $66,000 in combined tax, penalties, and interest after the IRS has already taken formal collection action. Below that line, or if you’re actively working with the IRS on a resolution, your passport eligibility is intact.

The Threshold That Actually Triggers a Hold

Two things have to be true before the IRS can send your name to the State Department. First, your total federal tax debt, adding up assessed tax, accrued interest, and failure-to-pay penalties across every year you owe, must exceed $66,000 for calendar year 2026.¹ Second, the IRS must have already moved against you: either it filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien and your rights to challenge it have lapsed or been exhausted, or it issued a levy on your wages, bank accounts, or other assets.²

That second requirement matters. Filing a return with a large balance due does not, by itself, put your passport at risk. The IRS has to work the account through its collection process first, and that takes time.

Only federal tax debt counts. State income tax debt has no effect on your passport no matter how big it is. FBAR penalties for unreported foreign bank accounts sit under a different part of federal law (Title 31), so they also fall outside the definition of seriously delinquent tax debt.³

The Notice You’ll Get and the 90-Day Window

When the IRS certifies your debt, it mails you Notice CP508C at your last known address. That notice is your warning: your passport is now at risk, but nothing at the State Department has been finalized yet.⁴

If you then apply for a new passport or a renewal, the State Department holds the application open for 90 days and sends you its own letter. During those 90 days you can pay the debt, get into a qualifying agreement, or challenge the certification. If nothing happens in that window, the application is denied and closed.¹ The State Department can also revoke or limit a passport you already hold, though outright revocation of an existing passport happens less often than application denials.

What Protects You Even Above the Threshold

Certification is blocked, by statute, if any of these apply to you:

You’re paying under an IRS-approved installment agreement and staying current.
The IRS has accepted an offer in compromise and you’re meeting its terms.
You’ve timely requested a collection due process hearing on a levy and it’s still pending.
You’ve elected innocent spouse relief under Section 6015 or requested equitable relief from joint liability.²

As a matter of policy, the IRS also holds off on certifying taxpayers who are in bankruptcy, whose accounts have been marked “currently not collectible” due to hardship, or who are serving in a designated combat zone.¹ The pattern here is simple. If you’re engaged with the IRS on a resolution, you’re generally safe. It’s the untouched, unresponded-to debt that gets certified.

How to Clear the Hold

You don’t have to pay the full balance to fix this. Any resolution that moves your account out of the seriously delinquent category triggers decertification.

Full payment. The cleanest option, if you can manage it. The IRS reverses the certification and notifies the State Department, typically within 30 days.¹

Installment agreement. Monthly payments over time. You can request one online or file Form 9465.⁵ Setup fees run from $22 (online, direct debit) up to $178 (phone or mail, no direct debit), with reduced or waived fees for low-income taxpayers.⁶ Once the agreement is in place and you’re paying on time, the debt no longer qualifies as seriously delinquent.

Offer in compromise. Settles the debt for less than the full amount if paying in full would cause hardship or the amount owed is genuinely in doubt. Form 656 has a $205 application fee and asks for a detailed picture of your income, expenses, and assets.⁷

One thing to handle first: the IRS generally will not process any of these resolution forms if you have unfiled returns. File everything outstanding before you apply.

Once your resolution is accepted, you’ll get Notice CP508R confirming the reversal, and the IRS notifies the State Department, usually within 30 days.⁸ Hold onto that notice. It’s your proof that the hold was lifted.

Expedited Handling for a Trip Already Booked

Many people find out about the certification only after they’ve bought tickets. If you have international travel booked within 45 days, you can ask the IRS to expedite decertification. You need all three of the following: you already qualify for decertification (the debt is resolved or under a qualifying agreement), proof of travel such as a flight itinerary or hotel reservation, and either a pending passport application or a State Department denial letter issued within the past 90 days.⁹

When all three are met, the IRS generally processes the request in three business days and transmits it to the State Department. End to end, the IRS estimates 9 to 16 days for expedited decertification versus 30 days for standard.⁹ The State Department still runs its own timeline after that, so build in every day of lead time you can.

If you’re facing real hardship or the resolution process is stalling, the Taxpayer Advocate Service can step in.

If the IRS Certified You in Error

Certifications do sometimes go out on accounts they shouldn’t. Maybe you already had an installment agreement, maybe the balance was below the threshold, maybe the debt was no longer legally enforceable. You have the right to bring a civil action in either U.S. Tax Court or a U.S. district court to challenge the certification.² If the court finds the certification was wrong, it can order the IRS to tell the State Department to lift the restriction. The CP508C notice you received is required to describe this right in plain language.

Before filing anything in court, contact the IRS. Many erroneous certifications get fixed administratively, and once the error is identified the IRS is required to reverse the certification within 30 days.¹

Fees to Plan For

If your passport application was denied and you have to reapply after the hold is lifted, a new adult passport book costs $130 in application fees plus a $35 acceptance fee at the facility, for $165 total. Renewals by mail are $130 with no acceptance fee.¹⁰

On the IRS side, installment agreement setup runs $22 to $178 depending on how you apply and whether you use direct debit.⁶ An offer in compromise has a $205 application fee.⁷

1
Internal Revenue Service. Revocation or Denial of Passport in Cases of Certain Unpaid Taxes
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7345 – Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Tax Delinquencies
3
Internal Revenue Service. IRM 5.19.25 Passport Program
4
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP508C Notice
5
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request
6
Internal Revenue Service. Payment Plans; Installment Agreements
7
Internal Revenue Service. Form 656 Booklet – Offer in Compromise
8
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP508R Notice
9
Internal Revenue Service. IRM 5.19.25 Passport Program – Expedited Decertification
10
U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passports – Passport Fees