The Internal Revenue Service has changed the procedure for disclosure of outstanding federal tax lien amounts. The procedure has been standardized nationally to better ensure taxpayer privacy.

Before releasing tax information, they must receive Form 8821, which is the Tax Information Authorization form, signed by the taxpayer, which form allows IRS to disclose the amount of all Federal taxes due. Hopefully, this will reduce the need for several contacts with the IRS office and also reduce the processing time of your request to them.

A copy of the new Form 8821 can be obtained by calling the IRS toll-free forms line at 1-800-829-3676, or you may download the form from the IRS Digital Daily @ www.irs.gov.

Instructions are on the back of the form.

Faxed copies of the form are acceptable.

The taxpayer(s) must sign the form, and it must be received by IRS within 60 days of the dated signature. Reg. 301.6103(b)(2)

Once IRS receives Form 8821, they can generally update payoff information without a new form 8821.

Request for lien payoff, along with Form 8821, can be faxed to North/South Carolina Lien Unit at (336) 378-2316.

Any questions regarding this new procedure can be directed to Charles Little, Technical Support Group Manager at (336) 378-2170 or Nancy Scott in the Tax Lien Unit at (336) 378-2085.

CLARIFICATION OF RECORDING FEES

Don’t forget to include the $2.00 probate charge in addition to the per-page recording fee when calculating your recording costs.