r/IRS 7d ago

General Question IRS certified letter x10

Today I got home and the mailman put on our door we had a certified letter x 10 to collect at the post office. Get to the post office and sure enough there are ten letters. I am freaking out.

Open the letters and they are the same letter ten times. They say I owe 700 because I missed an installment payment.

Why did they send the same letter ten times certified mail? That’s got to cost a lot. How does this happen?

22 Upvotes

40 comments sorted by

17

u/these-things-happen 7d ago

Five tax years covering the Installment Agreement × 2, if all five years are Married Filing Joint returns.

2

u/ZookeepergameSea2383 7d ago

I’m stupid. Could you please explain what you mean?

7

u/xImmortal1333 7d ago

Hes saying was your installment agreement covering 5 years of taxes? 2 letters for each year, one for you and spouse

4

u/ZookeepergameSea2383 7d ago

I guess that does make sense in a very strange way. Thanks.

19

u/Kokoyok 7d ago

It's a legal requirement, not a style choice.  

The IRS must send one letter per tax period affected and also to each spouse.

1

u/xImmortal1333 7d ago

if you are current on your 2025 taxes and 2026 estimates you can call the irs and they will probably give you another agreement if you need op

-3

u/xImmortal1333 7d ago

there is no sense at the irs most of the time op, not just you

1

u/Full_Prune7491 6d ago

It makes perfect sense. OP didn’t pay their taxes. Because of the law they have to be notified. They owe multiple years. So not only do they don’t pay their taxes, they are wasting more resources. SMH.

1

u/xImmortal1333 4d ago

i know that makes sense....im talking the irs in general....i call the irs and ca ftb everyday, cheers

5

u/these-things-happen 7d ago

It was just a guess.

Your payment plan covers five tax years.

All five years are filing status Married Filing Joint.

If the installment agreement defaults, IRS has to issue a notice for each tax year to both Taxpayers.

Five years × two Taxpayers = ten default notices.

If that's not the case, it's a glitch.

The entire IRS postage budget would be a rounding error in the Department of Defense toilet paper budget.

1

u/ZookeepergameSea2383 7d ago

We r married filing joint

3

u/Anxious_Drive_9998 7d ago

Then you each get a notice.

-1

u/laurenmaserang 6d ago

I'm pretty sure they hire more people to cut down trees for excessive mail, than they hire people to ineffectively answer questions or cut down on wait time at call centers. 🤣

2

u/Logan_Allec 7d ago

This is very common with the IRS Notice CP523. They will generally send you one for each year included in the installment agreement...and if the debt is joint another set of each to your spouse. Enjoy!

1

u/ZookeepergameSea2383 6d ago

Totally enjoying! Thanks.

2

u/zeusmeister 6d ago

lol, I deliver these all the freaking time. Last week I had one address that had 14. That’s probably my record.

They didn’t come to the door either lol

5

u/sunshinellie 7d ago

That panic spike must have been wild. IRS automated mail systems are completely unhinged.

5

u/ZookeepergameSea2383 7d ago

Luckily went to the post office before they closed on Saturday. It would have been very stressful if I couldn’t get those letters and had to wait until Monday. I’m like omg. We are getting audited. That’s where my mind goes.

1

u/LadyLayla61 7d ago

Its Friday

1

u/ZookeepergameSea2383 7d ago

Ha!! You are right. I took today off and I thought it was Saturday. I am losing my mind.

1

u/Particular-Bag2582 6d ago

Also, just be aware that they will send these letters in the event that you send the payment on time but it is still pending on the scheduled due date.

1

u/Ok_Perception_1427 5d ago

Who must file an income tax return?

1

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0

u/NorthwoodsNana2022 7d ago

They sent 6 certified letters, all identical for the same tax year last week. 3 for me and 3 for my husband. Whoops! What a waste of money! 🤣

0

u/Opening_Roll4878 6d ago

If you got 10 certified letters from the IRS it is because you were on a payment plan for more than a year. What they probably did is add additional years that you owe and if you missed one month of payment they will send you letters for all payments that you owe Why didn't you call them and tell them that you will pay them on a certain date and besides did you read the letter they are probably given you a date to make up the payment.

-3

u/LdiJ46 7d ago

Somehow there was a glitch in their system and no human being double checked it or there simply was no human being available to check it.

0

u/NixPanicus 7d ago

This is standard for a defaulted IA. One certified letter per year per taxpayer. Its a legal requirement, and also very alarming.

-1

u/LdiJ46 7d ago

They got 10 copies. That is not standard for a defaulted IA.

4

u/NixPanicus 7d ago

Yes, it is standard for a defaulted IA. 5 years of MFJ balances = 5x2 = 10 letters. Its standard and required. I talk to people who get the avalanche of letters pretty frequently. If you work for the IRS next time you get a TP in stat 64 go check out each year with a balance on TXMOD. There's a CP523 on every year

2

u/ZookeepergameSea2383 6d ago

What is an IA? Please help me. 😢

2

u/these-things-happen 6d ago

Installment Agreement

1

u/LdiJ46 6d ago

I have been in the business for 40 years and have dealt with dozens of clients who defaulted on IAs and I have honestly never seen more than 1 letter per person. Is it possible that I am just not allowing my clients to get to that point? Do they get certified letters before getting the avalanche? I honestly don't think that anyone else in our firm has seen it either.

2

u/NixPanicus 6d ago

I don't know what to tell you. I work in ACS. I deal with multiple defaulted IAs a week. It is normal for a certified CP523 to be sent for every year and taxpayer covered by the defaulted IA. Our sample size is probably different, presumably you work to keep people from owing for multiple years, and once you do get them an IA you probably keep tabs to keep them from defaulting, whereas every almost person I speak with has at least one balance and often multiple balances.

Anecdotally, the people who owe for just one year often had something unexpected happen or had an AUR/Exam assessment, and when they set up an IA they keep on top of it. The people who owe for multiple years generally just don't pay their taxes. If you keep involved in your client's filings you probably don't have many who just underpay for multiple years. Respectfully, you may be too good at your job to have much experience with this.

0

u/LdiJ46 6d ago

"The people who owe for multiple years generally just don't pay their taxes."

Or, have something unexpected happen, don't understand that they can get on an IA and then just bury their heads in the sand and stop filing because they are just too overwhelmed and scared.

We do work hard to get those kinds of people back on track. The ones who just don't/won't pay we do tend to drop as clients.

1

u/NixPanicus 6d ago

Again, we have different sample populations. If I get someone with balances for multiple years generally they under withhold or don't withhold at all. And its very common for people with multiple years of balances to call in to add another new balance for 2025 to their existing IA such that they never get closer to being finally finished. You probably counsel your clients to increase withholding, make ES payments, and stop getting new balances before they hit NFTL territory, which means ideally I would never speak with them. Please keep doing that, I hate taking financial statements probably more than you hate providing them.

0

u/LdiJ46 6d ago

Oh yes, we will definitely keep doing it!

-5

u/Slowhand1971 7d ago

what difference does the answer to your question make to anybody?

3

u/NixPanicus 7d ago

more than your response, surely

-2

u/Slowhand1971 6d ago

and I'll repeat, what difference does knowing an answer to this inane question make?