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The IRS will levy a bank account when taxes have not been paid and there is no negotiated settlement or payment plan. The IRS will give warnings before they levy your bank account. Typically, the warning will be a certified letter. Therefore, if your debt has not been negotiated with the IRS, then you must act immediately to avoid the levy.
How to Avoid an IRS Bank Levy: IRS form 12153
The very first thing that you should do once you're notified of the levy, is to submit an IRS form 12153 to request a collection due process hearing. This will give you an additional 30 days to negotiate a settlement with the IRS and avoid the levy of your bank account.
During this time, you might want to consider payment plans, such as an installment agreement, an Offer in Compromise or a Penalty Abatement for your IRS tax debt. During the time you're negotiating with the IRS, the Internal Revenue Service will temporarily suspend the levy.
However, once the IRS levies your bank account you still have 21 days to work something out before they actually seize the funds. But you should be aware that during this 21 day period you will not have access to your funds and the chances of your being able to retrieve the funds from your account will grow smaller by the day. Therefore, you should act as soon as possible to avoid a levy on your account. The IRS is not totally heartless and will generally work with you to avoid drastic steps such as seizure of funds and a levy of bank accounts.
