Intro to Tax Lien Mailings

If you’re a tax practitioner, sending mail to potential clients with a recently filed Notice of Federal Tax Lien is the proverbial “lowest hanging fruit” of your marketing campaign. These individuals have an immediate need for extensive tax services, and they usually have no idea where to turn and what their options are.

The opportunity for your business is clear. If you’re subscribing to our lists and sending out mail to your regional market, you can often be the first letter in their mailbox offering tax problem resolution services. Our own tax business mailer sometimes even beats the IRS Federal Tax Lien Notice to reach the taxpayer! So what does it take to be a Federal Tax Lien direct mailer? Surprisingly little.

First, you need to obtain the name, address, and tax debt details on the individuals who have just received a tax lien. Since tax liens are filed at the county level, it can be a real hassle getting the information you need. Every county does things differently, and getting the complete information for your target market can be a hassle when doing it yourself. By using our list service, you tap into our network of researchers to get the data promptly and accurately.

Once you have the name and address information in a spreadsheet, you need to print it on the envelope you’re going to send. You can use Microsoft Word’s Mail Merge feature to print out your list automatically. Watch this Youtube video and play around with the software to learn how to use this feature. If you want to simplify the process, we offer labels pre-printed and mailed to you with the lien recipient’s information already printed onto it.

Writing the letter and/or brochure you’ll send is fairly straightforward. Your message should describe yourself, your business, what options you offer the taxpayer, and a clear method to contact you with a call to action. Be sure to not promise specific results, because every case is unique. But suggest that it is possible to save significant amounts of money in many cases, and that inaction will only make the matter worse. Let the taxpayer know that IRS Collections has the ability to levy bank accounts and garnish paychecks.

Now that you have a letter and a message with an addressed envelope, all you need to do is affix postage. If you anticipate sending 200 or more identical mail pieces per mailing, you will want to investigate your bulk mail options. Bulk mail can cost under 30 cents per letter (compared to 44 cents for 1st Class Mail) and under 25 cents if you’re sending it to certain nearby areas. If you are doing 200 or more pieces each mailing and don’t want to pay the fees associated with having a permit, contact us and we can recommend a good printing and bulk mail provider. You can even print the bulk mail permit number on the mail piece so there’s no postage to affix.

Often, a regional campaign will hand affix 1st Class stamps so they don’t have to worry about 200 piece minimums to reach bulk mail rates. They know that their letters will get out faster without waiting to bundle their campaign with the following week’s.

That’s the basics of mailing. Now it’s time to take action! Contact us today and we’ll help get you started.

Tags: basics, bulk rate, mail merge, mailings, postage