Why Did IRS Send You a Certified Letter? Helpful US Tax Tips
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Why Did the IRS Send You a Certified Letter?
Sometimes, when the Internal Revenue Service sends a letter to a U.S. Taxpayer, they will send the letter by certified mail instead of regular mail. When the IRS does send the letter by certified mail, it is very important that the Taxpayer responds to the letter in a timely manner, because there may be crucial deadlines that must be met. For example, if the Taxpayer wants to protest a penalty or file an Appeal with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, the due date for submission is very important. Let’s look at the reasons why the IRS sends you a Certified Letter.
Final Notice of Potential Levy
The IRS will send several notices to the Taxpayer (usually 503/504 notices) when the IRS is considering issuing a levy. When it is time for the Final Notice of Potential Levy – which has a strict deadline response from the Taxpayer – the IRS will send the Final Notice of Potential Tax Levy via certified mail.
Notice of Federal Tax Lien
Technically, a lien attaches to an assessed penalty/tax, but sometimes the IRS wants to put the ‘world’ on notice by recoding the lien. The IRS will send a copy of the Notice of Federal Tax Lien to the taxpayer visa certified mail so they can confirm for their own records it was received by the Taxpayer.
Notice Audit and Examination
Since there are very strict timelines in an audit or examination, when the IRS wants to notify the Taxpayer of an audit or examination, they will send the notice via certified mail.
Subsequent IDR (Information Document Request)
An IDR is an Information Document Request. It is when the IRS requests the Taxpayer to respond to the IRS inquiries with documentation they have relative to each request in the IDR. When a Taxpayer is under audit, they may receive several different IDRs and each one will typically arrive via certified mail.
Notice of Deficiency and Tax Court Petition
Taxpayers have a very short deadline to file a tax court petition in response to a notice of deficiency issues by the IRS. If the Taxpayer misses the deadline by even a day, they may lose the right to pursue the matter in tax court. That is why the IRS sends Notice of Deficiency Letters via certified mail.
Helpful US. Tax Tips
When a person receives a certified letter from the IRS, it is important that the Taxpayer takes immediate and necessary action to ensure the response is timely. A few important facts to consider:
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Open the Letter Immediately
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Determine the Time to Respond
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Consider responding with a Certified Letter
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