Is this IRS letter real? How to check before you respond
The IRS almost always starts with a letter in the mail, and a genuine letter can be checked without using anything printed on it. The fastest check is your own IRS Online Account, which shows the same balances and notices the IRS holds.
THE CLOCK — CHECK FIRST, BUT DO NOT LET THE REAL DATE PASS
A genuine IRS letter can carry a real statutory deadline, so checking should take hours, not weeks. Verify through irs.gov or your Online Account, then respond by the date on the notice. A fake letter's deadline is designed to rush you past the check.
How the IRS actually makes contact
The IRS says it normally contacts people the first time by mail, delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. It sends email only to people who opted in, from addresses it names on irs.gov, and text messages only to people who opted in, from specific short codes. It says a social media direct message is never from the IRS.
Phone calls happen, from the IRS and from the private collection agencies it uses, but they follow letters. The IRS says some automated calls direct people to IRS.gov and do not share specific details. Home and business visits are uncommon, and the IRS says it generally sends a letter before one.
It also lists the warning signs of a fake call, email or text: it is unexpected, it rushes you, it threatens you, it asks for personal or financial information, or it demands payment now.
CHECKING A LETTER WITHOUT TRUSTING IT
- Find the notice or letter number, usually in the top or bottom right corner, and search for it on irs.gov
- Sign in to your IRS Online Account, reached by typing irs.gov yourself, and look for the notice, the balance and the tax year
- Compare the balance and year on the letter with the account; a genuine notice will match
- Call the IRS on a number you found on irs.gov, not one printed only on the letter
- For identity verification letters, begin at irs.gov/verifyreturn, typed in yourself
- Pay only through irs.gov or by check payable to the United States Treasury
A transcript also shows notices issued and payments posted. It is the same record the IRS works from.
When a private company calls about your taxes
The IRS is required by law to use private collection agencies for certain inactive accounts, so a genuine call from a non-government company is possible. The IRS's safeguards are specific.
Before any agency contact, you receive two letters: the IRS's own CP40, saying your account has been assigned and naming the agency, then the agency's letter. Both carry a taxpayer authentication number, and you exchange parts of it with the caller to verify each other. The agencies under contract are named on the IRS's private debt collection page. The IRS says they will not threaten you.
Payment goes to the IRS, never to the agency. The CP40 itself points you to the IRS's own payments page. A caller who wants the money paid to them rather than to the IRS is not following the program's rules.
When someone comes to the door
The IRS says only four types of its employees may visit a home or business, and that each carries official identification. Revenue officers, who work on collection, usually mail Letter 725-B or call to set up a visit. Revenue agents conduct examinations and contact you by mail first. Criminal Investigation special agents are federal law enforcement officers who, the IRS says, do not work civil tax cases and do not demand payment. Fuel inspectors visit only fuel industry sites.
Revenue officers, revenue agents and fuel inspectors carry an IRS-issued pocket commission and an HSPD-12 card, each with a serial number and photo, and you can ask to see both. If the person does not show them, or you are unsure, the IRS says to call the number on the card the officer provides.
The IRS says that if you owe tax you can pay a revenue officer by cash, check, certified funds or money order payable to the United States Treasury, or pay online. Anything else is a reason to stop and check.
Massachusetts DOR letters
Department of Revenue notices carry a Letter ID in the upper right corner. You can check any DOR notice by logging in to MassTaxConnect, DOR's own portal, or by calling the DOR Contact Center, with the number taken from mass.gov rather than from the letter.
DOR also uses outside collection agencies. Its guidance says an agency employed by DOR has no lien or levy powers, and uses the collection techniques of its ordinary business. Actual levies and liens come from DOR itself.
The FTC's American Tax Service case involved mailers that impersonated state tax agencies as well as the IRS. Anything that looks official but asks you to call a relief company rather than the agency is advertising, however it is dressed.
Where this comes from
The statutes behind this page, so you can check any of it rather than take it on trust.
- IRC §6306
- The private debt collection program. Private agencies do contact taxpayers for the IRS, but only after the IRS sends a CP40 notice first.
- 16 CFR Part 461
- The FTC's rule against impersonating government agencies, including in mail and calls about tax debt.
This page explains what the IRS or the Massachusetts Department of Revenue does and cites the statute. It is not advice about your situation, which depends on facts none of this knows. Tell us what your letter says and what date is on it. Please do not send Social Security numbers or tax documents through the form.
Spotting a tax relief scam
The FTC and the IRS publish the same warning signs: a promise to settle for a fraction before anyone has looked at your finances, a fee demanded up front, and mail dressed up to look official. The free checks come from the IRS itself.
Notice CP40
The IRS has handed an unpaid balance to one of the private agencies it is required by law to use. The CP40 names the agency and gives you a number to verify them. Payments still go to the IRS, not to the agency.
Letter 5071C
A return was filed under your Social Security number or ITIN, and the IRS will not process it until you confirm it was yours, or tell it that it was not. There is no penalty clock, but nothing moves until you verify.
The IRS notice sequence
Most IRS balances move through the same run of letters, and only a few of them carry a deadline that cannot be recovered. This page lays the sequence out in one place, with the two side tracks that feed into it.
Questions about is this irs letter real?.
- How can I tell if an IRS letter is real?
- Search the notice number on irs.gov, then sign in to your IRS Online Account, typing the address yourself, and check whether the notice, balance and tax year appear there. The IRS says it normally makes first contact by mail.
- Does the IRS contact people by text or email?
- Only if you opted in. The IRS says it emails and texts only people who opted in, from specific addresses and short codes it lists, and that a social media direct message is never from the IRS.
- Is a private debt collector calling about my taxes legitimate?
- It can be. The IRS sends a CP40 first, then the agency writes, and both letters carry a taxpayer authentication number used to verify the caller. The contracted agencies are named on the IRS private debt collection page. Payment always goes to the IRS.
- What ID does an IRS employee carry?
- The IRS says revenue officers, revenue agents and fuel inspectors carry a pocket commission and an HSPD-12 card, both with a serial number and photo. You can ask to see both, and call the number on the card provided if unsure.
- How do I check a Massachusetts DOR letter?
- DOR notices carry a Letter ID in the upper right corner. Log in to MassTaxConnect or call the DOR Contact Center using contact details from mass.gov, not from the letter, and confirm the notice and balance there.
Tell us what the letter says and what date is on it.
Scope and price in writing before anything starts. Where what you need is something we do not do, you will be told that instead.
Please don't send Social Security numbers or tax documents through this form.