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IRS letters, audits and back taxes, handled by a CPA who can talk to the IRS for you
An envelope from the IRS is almost never as bad as the first read. We decode the notice, check whether the IRS is right, and answer it in writing. With your power of attorney, we deal with the IRS directly so you don't have to sit on hold.
The notices we see most
The notice number is printed in the top or bottom right corner. It tells you what the IRS thinks happened and how urgent it is.
| Notice | What it means | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| CP2000 | Income the IRS received on a W-2 or 1099 doesn't match your return. It's a proposal, not a bill. | Check it against your records and answer by the response date, agreeing or disputing line by line. |
| CP14 | You have a balance due. | Confirm the balance is right, then pay or set up a plan before interest builds. |
| CP501, CP503 | Reminders that the balance is still unpaid. | Same as CP14, with more urgency. |
| CP504 | Notice of intent to levy certain assets, including state refunds. | Act now: payment plan, payment or dispute. |
| LT11 or Letter 1058 | Final notice of intent to levy, with your right to a hearing. | Request a Collection Due Process hearing within 30 days if needed. |
The IRS starts with a letter
The IRS doesn't open a case by text, email or social media, and it doesn't demand payment by gift card. If a message says it's from the IRS and it didn't arrive by mail, don't click or call back. Send it to us and we'll check.
Unfiled years
Missing a few years happens more than people admit: a divorce, a death, a business that went sideways. The fix follows the same steps almost every time.
- We pull your IRS wage and income transcripts, which list every W-2 and 1099 the IRS has on file for each year.
- We prepare the missing federal and Indiana returns. The IRS usually focuses on the most recent six years.
- If there's a balance, we set up a plan to pay it. If you were owed refunds, those can only be claimed for about three years, so older ones may be lost.
If the IRS already filed a substitute return for you, it probably overstates what you owe because it gives you no deductions. Filing your own return usually replaces it with a lower number.
Payment plans and penalty relief
- Short-term planUp to 180 days to pay the full balance, with no setup fee.
- Long-term installment agreementMonthly payments. If you owe $50,000 or less in combined tax, penalties and interest, it can be set up online.
- First-time abatementIf you had a clean record for the prior three years, the IRS will usually remove a first failure-to-file or failure-to-pay penalty on request.
- Reasonable causeIllness, a disaster or a death in the family can justify removing penalties. It takes a written explanation and documents.
For scale: the failure-to-file penalty is 5% of the unpaid tax per month, up to 25%. The failure-to-pay penalty is 0.5% per month, also up to 25%. That's why filing on time matters even when you can't pay.
Audits and exams
Most audits are correspondence audits: a letter asking you to support one or two items, such as a charitable deduction or business mileage. We organize the documents, write the response and handle follow-up questions. For office or field exams, we can attend in your place. CPAs have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS, so you may never need to meet the examiner.
What to bring
IRS trouble, answered straight
Not until someone checks it. CP2000 notices in particular are often partly wrong, for example counting a brokerage sale with no cost basis as pure profit. Paying agrees to the IRS's number.
Yes. You sign Form 2848, a power of attorney, and we can call, write and meet with the IRS for you on the years and tax types listed on it.
Yes. Indiana sends its own notices for state and county tax, and they often follow an IRS change. We answer both so the numbers match.
Call anyway. Many notices can still be answered after the date, though some rights, like a hearing request, have firm windows. The sooner we see it, the more options you keep.