Wrongful Levy
A claim by someone who is not the taxpayer that the IRS levied their property. It has a court route that a CAP appeal does not.
Full Definition
A wrongful levy claim is made by a person other than the taxpayer whose property the IRS has levied.
It appears in the instructions to Form 9423 twice, in two different registers, and the second is the interesting one.
First, administratively: the instructions list "disallowance of property owner's claim for return of property under IRC 6343(b)" among the actions appealable under the Collection Appeals Program.
Second, judicially. The instructions state that a decision made under CAP is binding on both you and the IRS and that you cannot obtain judicial review of it — and then give an exception by example: "a third party may contest a wrongful levy by filing an action in district court. See Publication 4528, Making an Administrative Wrongful Levy Claim Under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 6343(b)."
So a third party whose property was taken has a route into court that the taxpayer, appealing the same levy under CAP, does not.
What to do next
Publication 4528 is the IRS instruction for making an administrative wrongful levy claim under IRC 6343(b). Read it before choosing between the administrative claim and a district court action, because the two are not alternatives in the way they look.
What this page does not say
- Publication 4528 has not been retrieved. The deadline for making an administrative wrongful levy claim, and the relationship between the administrative claim and the district court action, are not stated here because they have not been read against the source.
Sources
- Form 9423, Collection Appeal Request (Rev. 2-2020) — instructions — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-08-20
Last reviewed 2026-08-21 by Tax Resolution Clarity editorial.
Sourced to primary IRS materials and editorially reviewed. Not reviewed by a tax professional. Not tax advice.
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Where to go next
The IRS publishes the rules this page describes. Your own notice governs your dates.