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CP298

CP298: Final warning before a Social Security benefits levy

Prepared by TaxRZR editorial team · IRS sources checked 2026-10-29 (ET) · professional review pending · This page’s Source Notes

CP298 warns that the IRS intends to levy up to 15% of eligible Social Security benefits through the Federal Payment Levy Program (FPLP) for unpaid federal taxes. This is an additional Social Security warning, not necessarily your first final levy notice.

What the IRS can do next

If unresolved, the IRS can begin a continuous levy of up to 15% of eligible monthly old-age or survivors benefits. IRS guidance excludes SSI, lump-sum death benefits, benefits paid to children and payments partially withheld to repay Social Security debt from FPLP. Since October 5, 2015, the IRS no longer systemically levies Social Security disability insurance benefits through FPLP. These program exclusions do not establish blanket protection from every other collection method.

Act within 30 days from the notice date to arrange payment before Social Security deductions begin; check your printed instructions.

The IRS describes this as a 30-day opportunity to make arrangements, not an automatic new CDP hearing period. A final notice with appeal rights should have been issued if one had not already been sent. Check earlier CP90, LT11 or Letter 1058 notices for the actual hearing deadline. A call or request for hardship status alone does not establish that a levy is stopped; confirm the account status with the IRS.

Next step

Call the IRS number on the notice promptly, not the Social Security Administration. If a reduction would prevent you from meeting basic living expenses, ask for hardship consideration and, if already levied, release.

Steps to work through

  1. 01Match the tax years and balance to your account records and identify your exact benefit type.
  2. 02Find any earlier final levy notice and preserve any still-open hearing rights using its instructions.
  3. 03Prepare a monthly income and necessary-expense budget and supporting documents if seeking Currently Not Collectible hardship status or levy release.
  4. 04Ask the IRS whether a payment arrangement, hardship determination or applicable FPLP exclusion prevents deductions on your account. Certain low-income recipients are screened out, but do not assume you qualify.
  5. 05If deductions have begun and essential expenses are at risk, contact the IRS immediately and consider help from the Taxpayer Advocate Service or a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic.

Common misreadings

  • The first $750 protection for certain non-tax debts is not a tax-levy floor: a 15% FPLP tax levy can leave less than $750.
  • SSI and Social Security disability insurance are different benefits. Describe the actual payment, not just “Social Security.”
  • The SSA cannot stop an IRS levy. Neither the book’s notice table nor this additional warning guarantees a fresh CDP hearing window.

Read in the book

Official sources

Source status. Based on our draft book dated October 29, 2026, with IRS sources checked October 29, 2026. Professional review pending. General federal tax education, not individual tax or legal advice. Your actual notice and current IRS instructions control.
Scope. These pages cover federal IRS notices, not state tax agency notices. A federal levy of a state refund is not state-specific tax guidance. The collection ladder is an illustration, not a required sequence or a promise that another warning will arrive.