December 17, 2015

A new section of the tax code, called “Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Tax Delinquencies", was recently approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Under the new law, as of January 2016, the State Department can revoke, deny or limit passports for anyone the IRS certifies as having a seriously delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000. Administrative details about how all this will work are scant. But most likely, it will mean no new passport and no renewal. It could even mean the State Department will rescind existing passports of people who fall into that category. The IRS will use a threshold of $50,000 of unpaid federal taxes. Note that this $50,000 figure includes penalties and interest and will be adjusted each year for inflation and cost of living. The limit is not a per year limit but a cumulative total. There is however an administrative exception, allowing the State Department to issue a passport in an emergency or for humanitarian reasons.