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Your payment may be less because you owed an overdue debt to a public agency. If that is the case, you should have received a “Notice of Setoff” letter. Visit GovConnectIowa and select Respond to a Letter.

The law says that the Iowa Department of Revenue may withhold money to satisfy an overdue (delinquent) debt. The official term for withholding money from a payment is "setoff".

Please note that a payment agreement does not prevent the Department of Revenue from applying payments to your outstanding balance due.

If there is a block on your motor vehicle plates, please call the phone number on the last collection notice that you received. If you do not have a copy of your notice, you will need to contact the Department at 866-339-7912. The hold can be released when the amount you owe is paid or a payment plan is set up.

Yes, please contact (515) 281-3114 to obtain the payoff and remittance requirements. 

I am refinancing my mortgage. I will not receive enough money to pay off my tax lien or I will not receive any money at the loan closing. Can I request a subordination of my tax lien?

Yes, please contact (515) 281-3114 to obtain the subordination application.  We need to receive the subordination application approximately 60 days prior to your loan closing date.

Yes, please contact (515) 281-3114 to obtain the payoff and remittance requirements. 

I am selling real estate and I will not receive enough money at the loan closing to pay my tax debt in full. Can I request a partial lien release?

No, there is no provision in Iowa Law to allow the Iowa Department of Revenue to have your state tax lien withdrawn or expunged. Credit agencies have their own guidelines on how long released state tax liens stay on a credit report.

The Iowa Department of Revenue is not a credit reporting agency. Credit agencies review liens that are filed at the county courthouse and include state tax liens in your credit history. We file a release of state tax lien at the county recorder’s office after the debt has been paid. If the state tax lien has been released, and the lien is still showing on your credit report, you may need to obtain a copy of the state tax lien release. You may need to send this state tax lien release to the credit reporting agency.

You should pay your tax debt in full. If a Notice of Tax lien was filed, we release the lien at the county recorder’s office approximately 60 days after your tax debt was paid in full. You can pay your tax debt in full on GovConnectIowa. Tax debts continue to accrue interest after the lien is filed, so your pay-off amount will likely be more than the recorded amount of the lien.

I am paying the tax lien in full. Can lien release be sent sooner than 60 days?

Yes, please contact (515) 281-3114 to obtain the payoff and remittance requirements. 

Interest accrues on unpaid taxes from the due date of the tax return through the current date. The interest rate and how it is applied is set by law.

NOTE: If the unreported income was from wages (W-2), gambling income (W-2G) or miscellaneous income (1099misc) that had Iowa tax withheld, please send a copy of your W-2, W-2G, or 1099misc to us. We will give you credit for the Iowa withholding and revise the amount you owe.

If you made an additional tax payment last year on the failure to report this income, you were paying a billing from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) releases the information to us two to three times per year. It takes additional time for us to process the information and review the results before a bill is issued to you.