Delinquent Tax Debt Can lead to Passport Revocation. The fixing America’s Service Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 which was signed into law on December 2015 requires the Internal Revenue Service to notify the State Department of taxpayers who are certified as owing a seriously delinquent tax debt.

Seriously certified tax debt is $51,000 indexed yearly for inflation which includes interest and penalties. This tax debt remains unpaid and legally enforceable and all administrative remedies have been lapsed and exhausted

The IRS is required to notify you at your last known address of their intent to notify the State Department.

Before denying a passport, the State Department will hold your application for 90 days to allow you time to

• Resolve any erroneous certification issues
• Make full payment of the tax debt
• Enter a satisfactory payment arrangement with the IRS

The State Department will notify you in writing if your U.S. passport application is denied or your U.S. passport is revoked.

If you need your U.S. passport to keep your job, once your seriously delinquent tax debt is certified, you must fully pay the balance, or make an alternative payment arrangement to have your certification reversed.

Once you’ve resolved your tax problem with the IRS, the IRS will reverse the certification within 30 days of resolution of the issue and provide notification to the State Department as soon as practicable.