Ezel / IRS Rulings / 201545024
Chief Counsel Advice 201545024 Released November 6, 2015 Advice

Vested pension rights can be levied before payout

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This page covers one taxpayer's ruling from 2015, which can't be cited as precedent. Ezel answers your situation under the current Code and IRS guidance, with citations.

Currency note: this determination was released in 2015
Statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later IRS guidance may have changed the analysis since then. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, threshold, or position mentioned here.
Not precedent. Under 26 U.S.C. § 6110(k)(3), this written determination may not be used or cited as precedent. It resolved one taxpayer's situation on its specific facts, and identifying details were redacted by the IRS before release. The official IRS release (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source.
About this page: The plain-English summary and ruling snapshot below were written by Ezel based on the official IRS release. The full text is the IRS's own document.
View official IRS release (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Chief Counsel addressed a field question about levying a taxpayer’s pension-plan interest before the taxpayer had requested a distribution and before any proceeds existed. The advice states that the IRS can levy if the taxpayer already has vested property rights in the pension plan. It distinguishes the existence of property subject to levy from the later question of when the plan, as levy source, must turn over funds in response.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Can the IRS levy a vested pension-plan interest before the taxpayer requests or receives a distribution?
  • Outcome: Advice given
  • Key authorities: IRC § 6331

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA-08280238-15 [Third Party Communication:

UILC: 6331.00-00 Date of Communication: Month DD, YYYY]

Number: 201545024
Release Date: 11/6/2015
From: --------------------
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 2:38:07 PM
To: ---------------
Cc:
Bcc:
Subject: FW: Levy question from the field

One thing in addition to the voice message I left earlier this week. Reading over the email from
------ again, I noticed the question suggests that the tp had not yet made the request and there
were no proceeds yet. I should clarify that that if the tp has any vested property rights in a
pension plan, the Service can levy. The issue becomes when the levy source is obligated to turn
over funds in response to the levy.

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