IRS NOTICE REFERENCE
Letter 3886
You have a balance on your tax account which you have not paid and the IRS has filed a public document, the Notice of Federal Tax Lien (NFTL), with the local and/or state authorities to alert creditors that the governmen…
General information only. Not legal or tax advice.
Notice details
- Notice code
- Letter 3886
- Category
- Appeals and collection due process
- Severity tier
- Tier 4 — Escalation warranted. The notice involves collection enforcement, appeals rights, or significant penalty exposure.
- Governing law
- §6320; §6321; §6323 (Internal Revenue Code sections)
- Escalation flag
- This notice carries a forfeitable right, a hard statutory deadline, or criminal-preparer risk. It is flagged for escalation in the TaxRiskOS workflow.
- Source
- IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service
What this notice is
You have a balance on your tax account which you have not paid and the IRS has filed a public document, the Notice of Federal Tax Lien (NFTL), with the local and/or state authorities to alert creditors that the government has a right to your interests in property specified in the notice or if none is specified all of your property being held in the name of the third party named in the notice.. While NFTLs no longer appear on credit reports, they may still affect your ability to get credit if a potential creditor uses other resources, such as public records, to discover the NFTL. See Form 668 (Y) (C) for more information.
Source: IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service. Reproduced for reference. General information — not legal or tax advice.
What the IRS says to do
Pay the amount you owe or consider a collection alternative to stop additional collection actions. See payment options for more information. If you disagree with the filing of this NFTL you can request a conference with the Office of Appeals through the Collection Appeal Program (CAP). See CAP for more information. See Lien Relief for more information to address the NFTL. The IRS will issue a Certificate of Lien Release 30 days after either: T he full amount, including penalties and interest, is paid , IRS accepts a bond guaranteeing payment of the amount owed , IRS determines the liability is not owed, or the liability has been reduced to zero , or The IRS is no longer legally able to colle
This is the IRS’s own guidance reproduced from the IRS notice page. It describes the IRS’s process — it is not legal or tax advice from TaxRiskOS.
Governing IRS procedure (Internal Revenue Manual)
The IRS’s own internal procedures for handling this notice type are documented in the Internal Revenue Manual:
- IRM 5.1.9 — 5.1.9 Collection Appeal Rights
- IRM 5.19.8 — 5.19.8 Collection Appeal Rights
- IRM 5.12.6 — 5.12.6 Appeals Processes Involving Liens
Reference to published IRS procedure. General information — not legal or tax advice.
Official IRS reference
Read the official notice page on IRS.gov: https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/notices/letter-3886/
Related tools
TaxRiskOS is workflow software for practitioners — it captures the notice, computes the deadline, surfaces the escalation tier, and builds a document checklist. It documents process; it does not give advice or draft responses.
Check this notice’s deadline (free tool)