An official website of the U.S. Gov An official website of the U.S. GovThe IRS corrected one or more mistakes on your tax return.
It’s a gut punch. You finish your tax return before April 15 expecting a refund, only to discover you owe the IRS — and there’s no realistic way to pay the full amount by the deadline.
That moment can feel overwhelming. But don’t panic. You’re not alone, and you have options. The tax system provides pathways to resolve balances, but the key is taking action quickly and choosing the path that fits your financial situation while understanding your rights.
Letters 525, General 30-Day Letter, and 915, Examination Report Transmittal, are 30-day letters you receive when the audit of your tax return results in proposed adjustments.
I’ve discussed the good and bad IRS responses to the administrative recommendations in my 2023 Annual Report to Congress. Now, it’s time to address the concerning responses that need improvement. Two Most Serious Problems – international information return (IIR) penalties and compliance challenges faced by taxpayers abroad – had disappointing responses from the IRS. Of the 15 recommendations I made regarding these two problems, the IRS fully adopted only two and completely rejected six for this underserved community of international taxpayers. I highlight a few of the IRS responses in this blog.
Volunteers play a vital role in our tax communities, especially for the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) Program and the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP). This week, we celebrate National Volunteer Week to recognize and thank those who give their time to serve their communities, assist taxpayers in need, and provide support for individuals who may not be familiar with the tax system.
The IRS provides online access to official federal tax forms, instructions and publications, which can be downloaded or printed from: https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions.
For the more than 40 forms that cannot be e-filed, the IRS permits paper filing of those forms with an electronic or digital signature through a temporary policy through October 31, 2023. While the IRS makes no distinction between electronic and digital signatures, taxpayers who choose to paper file should carefully consider the differences in these types of signatures when relying on an authorized representative or paid preparer to file those forms on their behalf. Paid preparers are required by law to sign in the paid preparer’s area of the return and give the taxpayer a copy of the return.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) needs additional information from you to process your income tax return.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) corrected one or more mistakes on your tax return due to a miscalculation.
Each year in the United States, hundreds of thousands of individuals become victims of identity theft. In fact, in 2022, the Federal Trade Commission received over 1.1 million reports of identity theft. For the same year, taxpayers filed over 228,000 Forms 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit, claiming they were experiencing tax-related identity theft, which occurs when a bad actor intentionally steals a taxpayer or dependent’s personal information without their knowledge or consent and uses it to file a fraudulent tax return.
National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins released her statutorily mandated mid-year report to Congress. The report expresses concern about continuing delays in the processing of paper-filed tax returns and the consequent impact on taxpayer refunds. At the end of May, the agency had a backlog of 21.3 million unprocessed paper tax returns, an increase of 1.3 million over the same time last year.
In December 2015, Congress required the IRS to hire private collection agencies (PCAs) to collect some of its inactive tax receivables. An inactive tax receivable includes, for example, a tax debt that the IRS removed from its active inventory because of a lack of resources or inability to locate the taxpayer; because a year has passed since the taxpayer or his or her representative interacted with the IRS; or because more than two years have passed since assessment and the account was not assigned for collection.
