So, I come home today to find an orange slip that says I missed a certified letter. Upon closer inspection I see that the letter is from the IRS:eek::eek: The PO is closed now, so I have to wait until tomorrow morning to actually claim the letter.
In the meantime, I am looking for some reassurance (begging for reassurance, actually) that something super awful isn’t lurking in that letter. I have tried looking for some information through google and everything I have read says that the IRS sends letters through regular mail before sending a certified letter out and also that certified letters are for collections. But I haven’t received any other correspondence from them up until this point. Also, I filed a tax return this past February and owed them a measly $16.00, which I verified was deducted from my account.
I guess this could be regarding a past year’s return. I am so anxious right now. Anyone have any experience with this?
I got a certified letter from the IRS once that said I made a mistake on one of my returns and they corrected it for me. I have no idea why it was certified. Don’t go overboard until you see it.
If your returns are fairly straightforward it may just be some deduction they have not allowed and you owe a bit more tax. Do you do your taxes yourself or do you have an accountant?
They probably want money but it could be just a modest amount. On the PITA end of the spectrum some returns will simply be randomly flagged for an audit just as a system check. The whys and wherefores of what makes this happen are not 100% clear in many cases.
Fuzzy Dunlop, I am hoping it is a small error of some sort. Thanks for the reassurance.
astro - I am young, I am single, no assets, retirement funds, I rent, so no home. I don’t think I have anything but standard deductions. I use a 1040EZ. I do my taxes myself. I owed some money this year according to my calculations, but I paid it. I am not a high earner or anything. I am so nervous. I have no idea what could be going on. And everything I’ve read says the IRS uses certified mail as a last resort to contact you, but I have NEVER received anything from the IRS and have been living at this address for 3 years and have filed taxes here.
ETA: Thank you JBDivmstr I so hope you are right on this
There also this. Apparently they will send a cert letter even for minor amounts. If your scenario is as straightforward as you indicate the chances of it being anything serious are very low.
I had the same missed mail notice one day, scared the bejeesus out of me until I could get to the PO the next day. The IRS was challenging a small stock option I had exercised. Turns out my company had not coded it correctly, and they the IRS thought I had not paid the appropriate tax. I had paid, and a single phone call and faxed copy of something cleared it up.
When the IRS said I owed another $2000 for last year’s taxes thanks to a missing 1099-R, all of the correspondence from the original notice on down to acceptance of a payment plan was via normal mail.
I owed some taxes from a few years ago and had to make a payment plan with the IRS, which involved a ridiculous amount of paper, sent to me in almost a dozen letters through regular mail. When I finally got a payment plan approved and set up, 2 months later I received a certified letter notice, that I had to drive a half hour to the post office to pick up, and it was a certified, 1 page letter from the IRS saying simply that the payment plan was set up.
