Did You Receive An IRS Notice? Don't Throw It Away!

Remember those 1099s, W-2s, K-1s and other informational forms you receive each year reporting your interest, dividends, sales, wages, retirement income, IRA withdrawals, health insurance forms and other items having to do with your tax return? Well, the IRS also gets this information and feeds it into its computers. Thanks to modern computer technology, the IRS is able to match that information to what you reported on your tax return, and if something significant is omitted or there’s a discrepancy with the numbers, the IRS is going to send you a letter asking for an explanation or a tax payment. You will also receive correspondence if you don’t file a return and the data the IRS has indicates that you should have filed. It has form letters for just about every possible situation.

Most frequently, these notices will include a proposed tax due, plus interest and/or penalties, along with an explanation of the examination process and how you can respond. However, the letters must, by law, advise you of your rights and other information. Thus, these letters can become overly lengthy and are sometimes difficult to understand. That is why it is important to have a trained eye review them before you take any action.

Do not procrastinate or throw the letter in a drawer hoping the issue will go away. After a certain period of time, another letter will automatically be produced. And, as you might expect, each succeeding letter will become more aggressive and more difficult to deal with, and it may reach the point where you might have to go to tax court to argue your case or pay whatever amount of money the IRS is demanding.

Most importantly, don’t automatically pay an amount the IRS is requesting unless you are positive it is correct. Quite often, you really do not owe the amount being billed, and it will be difficult and time consuming to get your payment back.

It is always good practice to have a tax professional review the correspondence and respond to the IRS in a timely manner. Also, note that these “love letters” from the IRS will come by regular mail, not email. If you receive an email from someone claiming to be from the IRS and demanding a tax payment, this communication will be a fraud, since the IRS does not use email for this purpose.

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