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Find your notice. Find your deadline.

Every letter the IRS sends carries a number in the upper right corner and a date. Those two things determine what your options are and how long they last. Some of these clocks cannot be restarted once they run out.

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Which notice do you have?

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select a notice

General statutory periods.
Your notice date governs.

Start here

Choose the notice you received. This shows the deadline that applies, what it controls, and what remains possible once it has passed.

This describes general statutory periods and is not legal advice about your matter. Deadlines run from the date printed on the notice, and some carry different periods — a Notice of Deficiency addressed to a person outside the United States allows 150 days rather than 90.

Time-critical — a right is lost when the clock runs out

CP3219A · CP3219N · Letter 3219

Notice of Deficiency

The ticket to the United States Tax Court, and the only route to a judge without paying the tax first. In most circuits the deadline is treated as jurisdictional, and it should be treated as absolute.

90 days to petition the Tax Court

LT11 · Letter 1058

Final Notice of Intent to Levy

The IRS is preparing to take wages, bank accounts, or receivables. A timely hearing request suspends levy action and puts the case before Appeals.

30 days to request a CDP hearing

Respond promptly — the next letter is worse

CP2000

Proposed changes to your return

Not a bill and not an audit. An automated match against third-party reports, and the proposed figures are frequently overstated once cost basis is supplied.

30 days to respond

CP504

Notice of intent to seize your refund

An escalation notice. It allows the IRS to take state tax refunds and signals that enforced collection is approaching, but it is not yet the final notice.

30 days before escalation

No fixed deadline — but the early weeks decide the case

Letter 2205 · Letter 566

Your return has been selected for examination

No statutory clock, which makes it easy to underestimate. What happens in the first few weeks sets the scope of the audit, and scope is where most cases are won or lost.

Scope is set early

Something else

A notice not listed here

The IRS sends dozens of notice types. Send the number in the upper right corner and the date to find out which clock is running.

Ask before you decide anything

If your notice has a date on it, start now.

Send a general description of your situation. Please do not include Social Security numbers, account numbers, or documents in a first message.

Call (360) 839-9677

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