IRS collection statute of limitations: the CSED and what stops the clock
Enter the tax still owed for each year. The calculator shows what each year has become with penalties and interest; the text below explains when each of those balances stops being collectible.
- Collection period
- 10 years from assessment
- Offer rejected
- +30 days
- Bankruptcy closed
- +6 months
- Hearing ends with under 90 days left
- extended to 90 days
All years, as of October 20, 2026
$29,866
$10,766 of penalties and interest on $19,100 of tax.
| 2023: tax $3,800 | $5,196 |
| 2022: tax $6,200 | $9,519 |
| 2021: tax $9,100 | $15,151 |
Each year runs from its own due date. An unfiled year can also be filed by the IRS itself (substitute for return), usually with a higher tax. Not tax advice.
| Year | Late filing | Late payment | Interest | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $0 | $589 | $807 | $5,196 |
| 2022 | $0 | $1,333 | $1,986 | $9,519 |
| 2021 | $0 | $2,275 | $3,776 | $15,151 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How we calculate · rules and rates read on irs.gov · not tax advice, the IRS decides
The IRS generally has 10 years from the date a tax is assessed to collect it, with its penalties and interest, under section 6502 of the tax code. The end of that window is the collection statute expiration date, or CSED, and each assessment has its own: the original return, an amended return, an audit adjustment, a substitute for return and some penalties each start a separate clock. The clock pauses whenever the law bars the IRS from collecting. A pending installment agreement request, a pending offer in compromise and 30 days after its rejection, a bankruptcy plus 6 months after it ends, a collection due process hearing, an innocent spouse claim plus 60 days, combat zone service plus 180 days, and time abroad of 6 months or more all push the date back. The CSED appears in your account transcript. For a 2021 tax assessed on May 31, 2022, the base date is May 31, 2032; an offer pending 340 days and a plan request pending 56 days move it to July 31, 2033.
Ten years from what, exactly
The IRS page on the time it can collect starts the clock on the assessment date, not on the due date of the return or the year the income was earned. For a year the IRS audited, the additional tax gets its own assessment date and its own 10 years. When a person does not file and the IRS prepares a substitute for return, the clock starts when that tax is assessed; if the person later files a return showing more tax, the extra amount gets a new CSED while the original keeps its date. The legal basis is section 6502, with the suspensions in section 6503 and other provisions listed on the IRS page.
The events that pause or extend the clock
| Event | Effect on the CSED |
|---|---|
| Installment agreement request | suspended while pending; +30 days if withdrawn, rejected or terminated; suspended during an appeal |
| Offer in compromise | suspended while pending; +30 days after a rejection; suspended through an appeal |
| Bankruptcy | suspended from the petition until discharge, dismissal or closing, then +6 months |
| Collection due process hearing | suspended from the request to the final determination; at least 90 days left afterward |
| Innocent spouse request | suspended until a waiver or the 90-day Tax Court window passes, or the court decides; then +60 days |
| Combat zone | suspended for the time in the zone plus 180 days |
| Certain military service | suspended for the service plus 270 days after the military notifies the IRS |
| Living outside the United States | suspended for continuous absences of 6 months or more; at least 6 months after return |
The list covers the time a plan request is under review, not the months of payments that follow approval, and it does not include a plan in good standing among the events that pause the clock. The innocent spouse suspension does not run against the other spouse. Some of these events, such as a payment plan request, are also what keeps a levy away, so the clock and the protection pause together.
A worked timeline
Take a 2021 return filed on time with a balance, assessed on May 31, 2022. Without any pause, the IRS could collect until May 31, 2032. The taxpayer files an offer in compromise on February 12, 2024; the IRS rejects it on January 17, 2025. A month later the taxpayer asks for an installment agreement on March 3, 2025, and it is approved on April 28, 2025.
| Step | Days added | CSED after the step |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment plus ten years | May 31, 2032 | |
| Offer pending, February 12, 2024 to January 17, 2025 | 340 | May 6, 2033 |
| 30 days after the rejection | 30 | June 5, 2033 |
| Plan request pending, March 3, 2025 to April 28, 2025 | 56 | July 31, 2033 |
The offer and the plan request together add 426 days. Had the offer been appealed, the whole appeal would have been added too, and a rejected plan request would have added another 30 days. Each pause is counted day for day, so the precise dates on the IRS letters, not the month, decide the result; a pause of a few weeks can matter when the original date is close. The IRS page says the transcript shows the CSED with any time added by law, and that the IRS will confirm the last day it can collect for a period on request.
Several years, several clocks
A person who owes for three years has three expiration dates, and the oldest is not necessarily the largest balance. The calculator above starts with $29,866 owed today on three filed years, $10,766 of penalties and interest on $19,100 of tax. Each year's balance keeps growing with interest until its own CSED, and payments the IRS applies to one year do not move the date of another.
What each unpaid year has become
All years, as of October 20, 2026
$29,866
| 2023: tax $3,800 | $5,196 |
| 2022: tax $6,200 | $9,519 |
| 2021: tax $9,100 | $15,151 |
Finding and checking your date
The CSED is on the account transcript, in the Transactions section: the IRS page describes a three-digit transaction code with a date under it, which is generally the CSED plus any time added by law. Transcripts come from the online account, Form 4506-T or the automated line at 800-908-9946. If the date looks wrong, the IRS asks you to call 800-829-1040 so it can explain the computation, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service can be asked for help on Form 911.
When the date passes
After the CSED, the IRS can no longer collect that assessment, whatever is still shown as owed. A levy on future income issued before the date can keep producing payments after it. Someone who paid after the CSED can ask for a refund of the overpayment before the refund statute expires, and the IRS may write to point out such payments. Currently not collectible status is not on the IRS list of events that pause the clock, which is why a long hardship can end with an expired debt; a partial payment agreement relies on the same date. The dates above illustrate the rules on the IRS page; the IRS computes the date for each assessment, and this page does not determine yours.