Got a letter from the IRS? Here is what it means.

Proposed change from the IRS Automated Underreporter system after a third-party form did not match your return. Not an audit, but it has a hard deadline.

Deadline: 30 days from the notice date (60 if outside the US)

Your first bill from the IRS: it says you owe a balance on a filed return. It can stem from a misapplied payment, and the start of the collection sequence.

Deadline: Pay or respond by the due date on the notice (typically 21 days)

Statutory Notice of Deficiency, often the sequel to an unanswered CP2000. Your last chance to dispute the tax before it is assessed, on a deadline that cannot be extended.

Deadline: 90 days from the notice date to petition the U.S. Tax Court

Final Notice of Intent to Levy. The last warning before the IRS can seize bank funds and garnish wages. A timely hearing request generally pauses levy action and preserves your rights.

Deadline: 30 days from the notice date to request a Collection Due Process hearing

The first reminder that a balance is still unpaid after your CP14. Penalties and interest keep building, and it is the point in the sequence where a payment plan is still simple to set up.

Deadline: Pay or respond by the date on the notice (typically 21 days)

The urgent reminder in the collection sequence, after CP14 and CP501. The IRS is signaling that levy notices are approaching, so this is the point to resolve or arrange a plan.

Deadline: Pay or respond by the date on the notice (often 21 days, sometimes 10)

A Notice of Intent to Levy that can seize your state tax refund. Serious, but not yet the final levy notice that grants a Collection Due Process hearing. The moment to resolve before the LT11.

Deadline: 30 days from the notice date before the state-refund levy

The IRS is holding your refund while it reviews your return against third-party records. It is a pre-refund review, not an audit, and the notice itself asks you for nothing.

Deadline: No reply needed; the IRS asks you to allow up to 60 days

An identity-verification letter. The IRS flagged a return filed under your SSN as possibly not yours and holds it until you verify. Most people can verify themselves online for free in minutes.

Deadline: No fixed deadline, but your refund is held until you verify

Your IRS installment agreement is in default and the IRS intends to terminate it. Usually curable within the deadline, but only if you act before the plan ends.

Deadline: 30 days from the notice date before the plan terminates

A civil penalty has already been assessed against a business or entity account, often for a late or missing return such as Form 5472, 5471, 1065, 1120-S, or 3520. The correction or relief path depends on the form, period, account history, and documented facts.

Deadline: Pay by the date on the notice or request abatement promptly; interest starts on any unpaid amount after that date