WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN WRITING TO THE IRS

Do you plan to write to the IRS, or will your tax professional be writing to the IRS, to respond to a “CP” notice?  Here is what you can expect.

About 45 days after mailing out the letter you will receive a form-letter response from the IRS that says it has received your correspondence but needs an additional 45 days to review and respond.

Then 45 days later you will receive a second form-letter from the Service saying that it needs another 45 days to review and respond.

About 45 days later you should receive a letter that actually addresses the issue, either resolving it, reaffirming its original determination or assessment, or asking for additional information. 

This has been IRS procedure for a couple of years now – even before the recent budget cuts and resulting decline in the quality of IRS “customer service”.  Perhaps now each letter will say 90 days instead of 45 days.

The bottom line – don’t expect a prompt response to your correspondence with the IRS.  It will take at least about 5 months before your issue is finally resolved.

And one more thing – more than 50% (in my experience more than 75%) of all correspondence from the IRS, or a state tax agency, that assesses additional tax is incorrect. 

Never assume that the IRS, or the state, is right and automatically pay a notice or bill. 

And never assume that because you have received a notice your tax preparer made an error. 

And, perhaps most important, also never ignore a letter, notice, or bill from a tax agency.  As soon as you receive any such correspondence give it to your tax professional immediately. 

TTFN