1. Don’t panic. You often only need to respond to take care of a notice.

2. There are many reasons why the IRS may send a letter or notice. It typically is about a specific issue on your federal tax return or tax account. A notice may tell you about changes to your account or ask you for more information. It could also tell you that you must make a payment.

3. Each notice has specific instructions about what you need to do.

4. You may get a notice that states the IRS has made a change or correction to your tax return. If you do, review the information and compare it with your original return.

5. If you agree with the notice, you usually don’t need to reply unless it gives you other instructions or you need to make a payment.

6. If you do not agree with the notice, it’s important for you to respond. You should write a letter to explain why you disagree. Include any information and documents you want the IRS to consider. Mail your reply with the bottom tear-off portion of the notice. Send it to the address shown in the upper left-hand corner of the notice. Allow at least 30 days for a response.

7. You shouldn’t have to call or visit an IRS office for most notices. If you do have questions, call the phone number in the upper right-hand corner of the notice. Have a copy of your tax return and the notice with you when you call. This will help the IRS answer your questions.

8. Keep copies of any notices you receive with your other tax records.

9. The IRS sends letters and notices by mail. We do not contact people by email or social media to ask for personal or financial information.

10. For more on this topic visit IRS.gov. Click on the link ‘Responding to a Notice’ at the bottom of the home page. Also, see Publication 594, The IRS Collection Process. You can get it on IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

 Sometimes a second pair of eyes reviewing your bookkeeper’s work can reduce the crackdown you see above. We can schedule a free business consultation with you to review your current methods and develop a lasting partnership.

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The post Ten Things to Know about IRS Notices and Letters appeared first on Checkbox Accounting.

Do not give out social security, bank, or credit card numbers over the telephone or by email to anyone who cannot verify they are our employees. Have your clients ask the agent to confirm information on the tax notice we mailed to them or hang up and contact us immediately to talk to a live agent. We heard from people who received phone calls from scammers impersonating the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), telling the “would-be victims” that they owed taxes and, if the taxes not paid, they would be arrested. These scammers also told the taxpayers that the State of California would do the same and about their personal information and how much money they could immediately pay.

This is the second warning we issued in recent months. In October, we alerted the public of a report that scammers contacted elderly people in Beverly Hills and informed them they received a red light traffic ticket that was referred to us for collections. The scammer instructed the victims to load money on a prepaid debit card and send it to a bogus address. The scammer refers victims to an actual FTB phone number for reference.

Other scammers claim to represent FTB to lure people into revealing personal and financial information. This type of scam is called “phishing” and is aimed at getting personal information to commit identity theft. These types of scams often involve an email that masquerades as an offer to check the status of your state income tax refund.

State Controller John Chiang partnered with nonprofit groups and other state offices to help people understand current scams plaguing consumers and taxpayers. He held more than a dozen events designed specifically to help seniors protect their financial information. For more information about upcoming seminars, go to sco.ca.gov and search for tax scam seminars.

We take the safety and security of taxpayer information very seriously. If your clients receive a questionable contact from us, they should consider the following:

1. While we call people who owe taxes, we never ask taxpayers for personal identification numbers, passwords, or similar access information for credit cards, bank accounts, or other financial information.
2. If your client knows they don’t owe taxes or never receive a billing notice from us your client can verify account information by accessing MyFTBAccount or calling us directly at 800.852.5711 to review their account.
3. Our criminal investigators never solicit payment from debtors under the threat of incarceration.
4. We do not have the ability to process funds from third-party issued debit cards, prepaid credit cards, or wire transfers.
5. Taxpayers should only make state tax payments to us through our normal payment channels: online Web Pay or credit card services; or by mail with personal check, money order, cashier’s check, or Western Union Quick Collect payments.

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