IRS Backlog and Confusing Notices

According to the IRS website as of July 31, there were approximately 13.8 million unprocessed individual income tax returns. You read that right...13.8 million!! In addition, the IRS has recently started sending out confusing and often erroneous computer-generated IRS notices with either adjusted refunds, adjusted stimulus check amounts, or requesting money. As recently as Aug 21 the IRS decided to suspend the mailing of notices that have a balance due because they have such a backlog of payments that have been sent but not processed. Frankly, it is simply a huge mess.

What should I do if I received a notice?

First of all - Avoid scams. You should know that the IRS will never contact a taxpayer using social media, text messages, email, or even the phone (they simply don't have enough agents to make actual phone calls). The first contact from the IRS will come via mail.

Next - Don't panic and don't ignore it. It is important to keep in mind that each tax return is completely different so there is no one general answer for all the notices, but for the notices, we have reviewed so far most of the time the notice is an error on the IRS side.

If you receive a notice:

• Act quickly. Taking timely action could minimize additional interest and penalty charges
• Send us a copy of all the pages of the notice right away
• Don't reply to the IRS. There is usually no need for a taxpayer to reply to a notice unless specifically instructed to do so
• Confirm if you received stimulus payments during the year and for what dollar amount
• Pull your transcript from the IRS website