What Letter 544 is
Issued by Collection Advisory after a lien caused solely by an identity-theft return is released as erroneous under IRC 6326(b), with the lien fee reversed (IRM 25.23.11.7.5.2). A lien on a module with a legitimate balance as well stays until that balance is paid.
The deadline
None.
What to do
Keep it with the lien release; credit bureaus and lenders may ask for it. Publication 1450 covers requesting a certificate of release if the release itself was not recorded.
How a lien gets filed against a business that owes nothing
Business identity theft usually surfaces as a return nobody at the company filed: a Form 941, 1120 or 1065 under the company's EIN showing a balance due, or a batch of Forms W-2 or 1099 reporting payments the company never made. If the fake return posts a balance and the notices it generates go unanswered, the account moves into collection like any other, and a notice of federal tax lien can be filed in the county records before anyone at the business knows there was a problem. Letter 544 is the end of that sequence: once the identity theft is confirmed and the fraudulent module is reversed, Collection Advisory releases the lien as filed in error under IRC 6326(b), reverses the lien filing fee, and sends this apology letter.
The release is specific to the fraudulent assessment. If the same lien also secured a legitimate balance, it stays in place until that balance is resolved, and Letter 544 will say so.
What to do with the letter afterwards
Keep Letter 544 with the certificate of release. The three consumer credit bureaus stopped reporting tax liens in 2018, but business credit files, lenders' due-diligence searches and public-records aggregators still pick up county lien filings and are slow to pick up releases; the letter is what you hand a lender or a landlord when the old filing surfaces. If the certificate of release itself was never recorded in the county where the lien was filed, Publication 1450 explains how to request one. The business identity theft guide covers the Form 14039-B affidavit and the rest of the clean-up, including the information returns that may still be sitting under your EIN.
Questions about Letter 544
Who receives Letter 544?
Business. Issued by Collection Advisory after a lien caused solely by an identity-theft return is released as erroneous under IRC 6326(b), with the lien fee reversed (IRM 25.23.11.7.5.2).
What is the deadline on Letter 544?
None.
What should I do when Letter 544 arrives?
Keep it with the lien release; credit bureaus and lenders may ask for it. Publication 1450 covers requesting a certificate of release if the release itself was not recorded.
Is Letter 544 about my own income tax?
No. This decoder covers information reporting and withholding: the notices a payer, filer or payee sees because of Forms 1099, W-2, 945 and the TINs on them. Individual income-tax notices follow a different track.
Have a different notice? The IRS notice decoder lists all 77 in the order they tend to arrive.