Public Records entries like Bankruptcy and Tax Liens are the Number One Credit Killer when it comes to your credit score.

It is imperative that these items are legally removed from your credit report as quickly as possible because these damaging Public Records items can stay on your credit report for up to ten years.

Tax liens are not only one of the most damaging entries on your credit report, they are also one of the most difficult to legally remove.

You are dealing with the IRS or a local government entity, and they have teams of professionals at their disposal to make a tax lien stick. The most effective way to get a tax lien removed from your credit report is to repay the balance due.

In early 2011 the IRS announced that once a lien was paid in full, the bad credit item could legally be removed from your credit report upon request.

In many cases, the IRS has also agreed to remove tax liens when the consumer enters into an approved Debt Installment agreement. This makes the IRS unique as being the one “creditor” that will withdraw a negative item from your credit report upon payment.

The IRS also established an accelerated process for withdrawing tax liens, but you must actually request withdrawal of the lien by filing an Application for Withdrawal of Filed Notice of Tax Lien with the IRS once you’ve paid the balance in full or entered into a direct debt installment agreement.

In order to legally remove the lien from your credit report you must also compose a dispute letter to the credit bureaus requesting the removal of the tax lien and attaching a copy of the IRS tax lien withdrawal notice.

However, if you dispute the tax lien for some reason, you may have other recourse to have the lien removed. But in this case it is best to obtain professional legal help to try to resolve the matter in order to be certain that all your rights are protected.