Letter 3174, New Warning of Enforcement, is a follow-up warning a revenue officer sends when the IRS finds a new address for you after it has already mailed a Final Notice of Intent to Levy (usually Letter 1058) to your old one. Letter 3174-A is the version for joint filers.

Why You Got This Letter

The law requires the IRS to send the levy notice to your last known address. If it did that, the notice is legally valid even if it came back unclaimed and you never saw it. When the IRS later learns where you actually are, it does not send a new Letter 1058 for the same balance. IRM 5.11.1 directs the revenue officer to use Letter 3174 instead, as a written warning that enforcement is coming and a request that you pay or make contact.

It Does Not Restart the CDP Clock

This is the part people get wrong. Letter 3174 is not a new Collection Due Process notice. The 30-day CDP window ran from the original Letter 1058. If that window has closed, Letter 3174 does not reopen it, and the IRS can levy.

What you may still have is an Equivalent Hearing. You can request one with Form 12153 within one year of the original final notice date. It does not stop levy action and it does not carry Tax Court review in most cases, but it gets an independent Appeals officer to look at your account and any collection alternative you propose.

When the Old Address Was Not Your Last Known Address

If the IRS had a newer address on file when it mailed Letter 1058, such as one from a more recent tax return or a Form 8822 you filed, the original notice may not have been sent to your last known address at all. That changes the analysis and can preserve CDP rights. Pull your transcripts and your filing history before you assume the window is gone.

What to Do

Call the revenue officer named on the letter, or have a representative call. Propose a resolution: an installment agreement, currently not collectible status, or an offer in compromise. Update your address with the IRS using Form 8822 so the next letter reaches you.

If you received Letter 3174, call us at (813) 229-7100. Levy can follow quickly, and the question of whether the original notice was valid is worth checking before anything else.