About Your Notice

If you receive a letter or notice from the IRS, it will explain the reason for the correspondence and provide instructions. Many of these letters and notices can be dealt with simply, without having to call or visit an IRS office.

The notice you receive covers a very specific issue about your account or tax return. Generally, the IRS will send a notice if it believes you owe additional tax, are due a larger refund, if there is a question about your tax return or a need for additional information. .

IRS Notice Redesign

Currently, the IRS is in the process of redesigning and revising its correspondence with taxpayers for clarity, effectiveness and efficiency. To start, the redesign affects nine notices. The new format includes a plain language explanation of the nature of the correspondence, clearly states what action the taxpayer must take and presents a clear, clean design.

Redesigned Notices

Other Notices and Letters

Eight Things to Know If You Receive an IRS Notice or Letter

Read about eight things every taxpayer should know about IRS notices.

How To Identify Your Notice

The notice number prints on the top of the first page of all our notices and on the lower left-hand side of the tear-off stub included with most of them. That number identifies the message we deliver in every notice. While the contents may vary somewhat, every notice with the same number has the same basic purpose.

What If My Notice Isn't Listed

You'll find useful information here about many of the notices we send, including the purpose of the notice, the reason we send it, and a list of enclosures we might include with it. There's also sample content for each. Since parts of our notices vary depending on account conditions, the samples may not exactly match the notices we mail. The basic message, though, will be the same.

• Individual Filer Notices
  Notices we send about Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ, or any schedules, forms, or attachments included with it are Individual Filer Notice.
• Business Filer Notices
  Notices we send about business-related tax forms such as Forms 941, 1065, and 1120, are Business Filer Notices.