You Got a Letter from the IRS. Now What?

The envelope produces two reactions, and both are mistakes. One is panic. The other is the kitchen drawer. The large majority of IRS letters are routine, and many are closed with a single reply. But nearly every one of them has a response date printed on it, and the date is what does the damage when it is missed.

Step 1: Make sure it is really the IRS

Impersonation is common enough that this comes first. The IRS makes first contact by mail. It does not open with a phone call, a text, an email, or a social media message. It does not ask for gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency, and it does not threaten to send the police.

A genuine notice names the tax year, carries a notice or letter number, and explains your right to disagree. If you have any doubt, do not dial the number on the page. A fake letter prints a fake number. Find the IRS on your own, or sign in to your account at IRS.gov, where real notices are listed.

Step 2: Find the notice number and the deadline

Every notice has an identifier, usually a code starting with CP or LTR, printed in a corner. Searching that code on IRS.gov brings up a plain-language explanation of what the letter means and what reply is expected. It turns a frightening page into one specific, answerable question.

Then find the date you must respond by, and write it down. Response windows are usually a few weeks, and they run from the date printed on the letter, not from the day you opened it.

Step 3: Work out which kind of letter it is

The right response depends on the category, and the categories range from harmless to urgent:

• Informational. A change was made, a refund was adjusted, a payment was applied. Often no reply is needed. Read it, compare it with your records, file it.
• A request for one thing. A missing form, a signature, proof of identity. Usually settled by sending exactly what was asked for, on time.
• A proposed change to your return. Most often because a figure did not match what a third party reported. The CP2000 is the common one. It is a proposal: you may agree or disagree, but only inside the window.
• A balance due. Interest and penalties run while it stays open, so time costs money here.
• An examination notice. Uncommon. This is the point to bring in a credentialed professional before you reply.
• Collection activity. Letters about liens or levies are the most serious and the most time-sensitive of all. Do not let one sit.

Step 4: Check the claim against your own records

Before you agree or argue, pull the return in question and the documents behind it. A surprising number of proposed adjustments trace back to something ordinary: a form that arrived after you filed, a corrected 1099, income reported in the wrong year, a duplicate. Which one it is decides everything about your reply.

If you cannot find the return, request a transcript from IRS.gov. If a paid preparer filed it and will not hand over a copy, treat that as a warning of its own. Our guide to preparer scams and ghost preparers explains why.

Step 5: Decide whether to handle it yourself

Plenty of notices are a one-letter job. Handle it yourself when the letter is informational, asks for a document you have, or reflects a small correction you agree with once you have checked.

Bring in a credentialed professional when:

• The letter is an examination or collection notice.
• You disagree with a proposed adjustment of any real size.
• The amount is large relative to what you could absorb.
• More than one year, or more than one notice, is involved.
• Business income, rental property, or an entity return is in scope.
• You suspect the return was prepared badly, or dishonestly.

The credential is not a formality. Only a CPA, an enrolled agent, or an attorney can represent you before the IRS. A preparer without one of those cannot speak to the agency for you, even if they prepared the return that triggered the letter. Our guide to the three credentials covers what that means in practice.

Geography should not stop you. More than half of Mississippi's cities have one or two CPAs in total, and many towns have none. That matters less than it sounds: responding to a notice is document work, and most Mississippi CPAs handle it for clients statewide by phone, email, and video. Look in the nearest larger city rather than giving up on the idea. If the person is not on the board's active roster, they are not a CPA, whatever the sign says. Our verification guide shows how to check by name, since Mississippi publishes no license numbers.

Step 6: Answer in writing, and keep everything

• Reply by the deadline, even if the reply is that you need more time or that you dispute the figure.
• Answer what was asked. Volunteering extra information widens the conversation without helping you.
• Send copies, never originals, with the notice number and tax year on every page.
• Use a delivery method that leaves proof, and keep the receipt.
• Keep a copy of the whole package, plus notes from any call: date, time, who you spoke with, what was said.

IRS letter or state letter? They are handled separately

Mississippi taxpayers get mail from two agencies. Federal notices come from the IRS. State notices come from the Mississippi Department of Revenue. The steps above apply to both, but a reply to one is not a reply to the other, and a federal adjustment often produces a state follow-up later.

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. IRS and state procedures, forms, and deadlines change, and the right response depends on your notice and your facts. Confirm current requirements at IRS.gov, with the Mississippi Department of Revenue, or with a licensed professional before acting.

Frequently asked questions