Services / Tax problems
Start with the number on the letter.
Every IRS notice has a code in the upper right corner, and that code tells you what stage you are at, what the IRS is asserting, and how long you have. Most of these letters are far less alarming than they read, and nearly all of them are worse if ignored, because the deadlines printed on them close options that cannot be reopened later. Find yours below.
Notices
Find the code in the corner of your letter
- CP14: you have a balance dueThe first bill. It says what the IRS thinks you owe and gives you a short window before penalties and interest build.
- CP2000: proposed changes to your returnNot an audit and not a bill. A computer matched a third-party form against your return and found a difference. You usually have 30 days.
- CP504: intent to levy your state refundThe collection process has escalated. Your state refund can be taken, a lien can be filed, and your passport can be affected.
- LT11 or Letter 1058: final notice before levyThe last letter before wages and bank accounts. It carries a 30-day right to a hearing that disappears when the window closes.
Underlying problems
The situations behind most notices
Resolving a balance
Once the amount is settled, the question is how it gets paid
- Installment agreementsPaying over time, which plan you qualify for, and what it does to the penalty rate.
- Offers in compromiseSettling for less than the full balance, when the arithmetic actually supports it.
- Penalty abatementFirst-time relief and reasonable cause, and why the penalties are often the largest part of the balance.
What representation looks like
Representation runs through Form 2848, the power of attorney that lets us speak to the IRS directly on your behalf, obtain your account transcripts, and correspond in your place. From that point, correspondence comes to us, the account history is visible rather than guessed at, and the response is built from what the IRS actually has on file rather than from the letter alone.
- We pull the transcripts before drafting a response
- Deadlines are calendared from the notice date, not the date you opened it
- Every response is documented in case the next letter contradicts it
- If a payment arrangement is the answer, we set it up and confirm it took effect
Before you call
Bring these to the first conversation
Questions
Common questions
Is an IRS notice the same as an audit?
Usually not. The great majority of IRS letters are automated: a balance due, a matching discrepancy, a missing form, a math adjustment. A real examination arrives as a specific letter proposing an audit of identified items, and it is far less common than the automated correspondence that people assume is an audit.
The notice says I owe money I do not think I owe. What do I do?
Do not pay it and do not ignore it. Respond within the window stated on the notice, disputing the item with documentation. Paying a proposed amount you disagree with can be read as agreement, and ignoring it converts a proposal into an assessment that is far harder to unwind.
How much time do I really have?
It depends on the notice and it runs from the date printed on the letter, not from when you received it. Thirty days is the most common window and it is a real deadline: missing the 30 days on an LT11, for example, costs you the right to a Collection Due Process hearing and Tax Court review.
Can the IRS really take my passport?
The State Department can deny or revoke a passport when the IRS certifies a taxpayer as having a seriously delinquent tax debt above an inflation-adjusted threshold. Entering an installment agreement, an accepted offer, or a timely collection hearing request generally prevents or reverses the certification, which is one of several reasons acting early matters.
Do you handle New York State notices too?
Yes. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance notices, including residency audits, follow their own procedures and deadlines, and they are handled the same way. See New York residency audits.
Do not answer the IRS alone.
Send us the notice. We will tell you what it actually means, what the deadline really is, and what the response should be.