US Tax Update: US Passport Revocation Program Casting a Wide
Net1
Concerned about the amount of unpaid tax debt and challenges
that the IRS faces in collecting that debt, Congress passed
the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST)
Act, which added Section 7345 to the Internal Revenue Code
(the "Code") in late 2015. The FAST Act gives the IRS and
the Department of State an enforcement tool to collect payment from
US citizens who have "seriously delinquent tax
debts" by linking passport issuance and renewal with
payment compliance.2
Before such action is taken, taxpayers have several
opportunities and about 32 weeks (often a year) to work with the
IRS regarding arranging a good faith payment plan to satisfy a
seriously delinquent tax debt.3 Should this prove to be
unsuccessful, the IRS would then send a certification to the
Secretary of State that the taxpayer has a seriously delinquent tax
debt. The Secretary of State then allows an additional 90 days
