The passport certification statute is aggressive, but it is not indiscriminate. Congress wrote exceptions into IRC 7345 itself, and the IRS added more by policy. Those exceptions are the most practical tools you have. They tell you which account postures switch certification off, and they tell you which postures prevent it from ever switching on.

If you have read what counts as seriously delinquent tax debt, you know the basic test: more than $66,000 of assessed federal tax for 2026, plus a filed lien with hearing rights exhausted or a levy. This page is about the debts that meet that test and still cannot be certified.

The statutory exclusions in IRC 7345(b)(2)

The statute removes two categories from the definition of seriously delinquent tax debt.

First, a debt that is being paid in a timely manner under an installment agreement under IRC 6159 or an offer in compromise under IRC 7122. The words "in a timely manner" carry weight. An agreement you have defaulted on does not protect you.

Second, a debt for which collection is suspended because a Collection Due Process hearing under IRC 6330 has been requested or is pending, or because you made an innocent spouse election under IRC 6015(b) or (c) or requested equitable relief under IRC 6015(f).

IRM 5.19.25.4 restates these and adds detail that matters in real cases:

  • Debt being paid under a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice is excluded.
  • A short-term payment plan is not an installment agreement for this purpose, and neither is a continuous wage levy, even though both may show in the same IRS collection status. Do not assume a 180-day extension protects your passport.
  • The CDP exclusion applies to a timely CDP hearing on a levy. An equivalent hearing does not qualify.
  • Certification is postponed while you are serving in a designated combat zone, under IRC 7508(a)(3).

The discretionary exclusions in IRM 5.19.25.5

The IRS chose to exclude several more categories. The manual is careful to say that "discretionary" does not mean an employee gets to decide. It was a policy decision, and the exclusions apply to everyone who meets the criteria. Excluded categories are:

  • Debt the IRS has determined is currently not collectible due to hardship
  • Debt the IRS has determined resulted from identity theft
  • Debt of a taxpayer in bankruptcy
  • Debt of a deceased taxpayer (on a joint account, only the deceased spouse is excluded)
  • Debt included in a pending offer in compromise
  • Debt included in a pending installment agreement request
  • Debt with a pending adjustment that will fully pay the tax period
  • Taxpayers in a federally declared disaster area, as coded on the account

The IRS passport page lists the same categories in plainer language and adds that the IRS will not certify a taxpayer with an IRS-accepted adjustment that will satisfy the debt in full.

Two of these deserve emphasis. A pending installment agreement request and a pending offer both count. You do not need the agreement approved or the offer accepted to be outside the certification net. A properly submitted request is enough while it is pending. That is the fastest preventive move available to most people who are close to the threshold.

Child support, FBAR and the other non-tax debts

Separate from the exclusions, some debts never count because they are not federal tax liabilities for this purpose at all. IRM 5.19.25.3 lists shared responsibility payments, criminal restitution, child support collected through IRS systems, and FBAR penalties. The IRS passport page also lists child support and FBAR penalties among debts that are not certified.

Child support is worth a separate note. It is not part of the IRS certification at all, so if child support is what stands between you and a passport, none of the IRS exits on this page will address it. That problem has to be taken up with the agency that handles the support order.

What the exclusions mean if you are already certified

IRC 7345(c) requires the IRS to reverse a certification when the debt ceases to be seriously delinquent because of a statutory exclusion, and IRM 5.19.25.10 extends the same treatment to the discretionary exclusions. In other words, the exclusions are not only shields. They are also exits.

The statute sets deadlines for some of them. Under IRC 7345(c)(2), the IRS must notify the State Department no later than 30 days after an installment agreement is entered into or an offer is accepted, and no later than 30 days after an innocent spouse election or request. For full payment or a debt that becomes unenforceable, notice is due by the date a lien release would be required under IRC 6325(a). For an erroneous certification, notice is due as soon as practicable.

The IRM gives examples of discretionary reversals: a certified taxpayer who later files bankruptcy, a certified taxpayer who is later placed in hardship status, a certified taxpayer who enters a combat zone, and an adjustment that reduces the original certified amount below the threshold.

The trap: an exclusion on the wrong tax year

Exclusions work period by period. IRM 5.19.25.10 gives an example that catches people. A taxpayer is certified based on a 2020 balance. Later the IRS issues a final notice of intent to levy for 2021, and the taxpayer requests a timely CDP hearing for 2021. The certification stays in place, because the hearing covers 2021 and the certification rests on 2020.

The same logic applies to innocent spouse claims. A claim on a year that is not certified does nothing for the year that is. When you choose an exit, make sure it covers every certified period listed on your CP508C. An installment agreement or offer that includes all of your balances solves this automatically. A targeted appeal on one year usually does not.

Making sure the IRS has actually coded the exclusion

The certification process is automated. The IRS identifies certifiable accounts by computer and transmits them to the State Department weekly. Exclusions work the same way: they are recognized when the right transaction codes are on your account. IRM 5.19.25.10 lists erroneous certifications that happen because a code was missing, such as an approved installment agreement that was never input, an innocent spouse claim that was not coded, or a timely CDP appeal that was not recorded.

So when you rely on an exclusion, confirm it on your transcript. If you have an approved agreement and you are still certified, that is an erroneous certification, and the IRS is required to fix it as soon as practicable. If the IRS will not, you can take the certification to court.

A practical habit helps here. Every time the account changes, whether an agreement is approved, an offer is filed, or a hardship determination is made, pull a fresh transcript a few weeks later and look for the corresponding entry. The IRS will not call to tell you a code is missing. You find out when a passport application stalls, which is the worst possible moment to start investigating.

Choosing the right exclusion for your facts

Which exclusion fits depends on your numbers, not on which one sounds best. If you can pay the balance over time, an installment agreement is usually the cleanest, and the firm's main site has an overview of payment plan options. If you cannot pay the balance in full before the collection statute runs, an offer in compromise or a partial-pay agreement may fit. If you cannot pay anything beyond basic living expenses, hardship status is the honest answer. If the debt is really your former spouse's, an innocent spouse claim may be the right path on the merits, and it also suspends certification.

What you should not do is pick an exclusion only because it suspends certification. A frivolous CDP request or a doomed offer buys a few months and leaves you worse off. The certification is a symptom. Treat the debt, and the passport problem resolves as a side effect.