That IRS Letter: Real, or a Scam? How to Tell Before You Panic
By Paul D. Diaz, EA, MBA ·
Your tax file holds everything a criminal wants — your Social Security number, your income, your bank details. Scammers know it, which is why IRS impersonation remains one of the most common fraud schemes in the country. From my desk, I see both kinds of mail: genuine IRS letters that need a real response, and fakes designed to scare you into handing over money or information.
Here is how I sort them.
The IRS starts with a letter — almost always
The IRS initiates contact by mail. Not by phone call, not by email, not by text, and never by a message demanding gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency. If someone calls or emails claiming to be the IRS and there is no corresponding letter in your mailbox, treat it as a scam until proven otherwise.
A legitimate IRS notice will reference a specific tax year, carry a notice or letter number (CP or LTR followed by digits, usually top right), and direct payments only to the United States Treasury — never to a third party.
Why the IRS actually writes to people
Most genuine letters fall into a short list:
- You have a balance due
- The IRS has a question about your return
- Identity verification before a refund is released
- A change was made to your return
- Your refund is larger or smaller than you claimed
- The IRS needs additional information
- Your return is delayed in processing
Some of these require nothing from you at all. Others carry deadlines that protect real rights — miss them and your options narrow fast.
What to do next
Read the letter carefully and note the tax year, the notice number, and any response deadline. Then get it in front of a federally licensed tax practitioner before you call anyone or pay anything. I read these letters every week; telling a genuine notice from a fake — and knowing which genuine ones actually need action — takes minutes for me and saves you from the two expensive mistakes: paying a scammer, or ignoring a real deadline.
Got a letter you're not sure about? Attach it with the paperclip in the chat — we scope and quote the work in writing after intake. And if you want to understand how the IRS machine works before it writes to you, grab the free Chapter 8 sample of the Guide.
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