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Understanding the Most Common IRS Notices

For many taxpayers, receiving a letter from the IRS can feel intimidating. The envelope arrives with the IRS seal, and immediately, worry sets in: Did I make a mistake? Am I in trouble? The truth is, IRS notices aren’t uncommon, and most of them can be resolved fairly easily once you understand what they mean.

This article walks through the most common types of IRS notices, explains why taxpayers receive them, and provides guidance on how to respond.

Why the IRS sends notices

The IRS communicates primarily by mail — not phone or email. Notices are typically sent for reasons such as:

Clarifying information on a tax return,
Notifying you of a balance due,
Confirming changes made to your return,
Requesting additional documentation, and
Alerting you to a possible error.

Each notice is numbered in the upper right-hand corner (for example, CP2000 or Notice CP12). That code is your key to understanding the purpose of the letter. In all cases, contact us if you have questions about how to proceed.

Five common notices and what they mean

1. CP2000, proposed changes to your tax return. This notice is issued when the IRS finds a mismatch between the information […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2025-10-01T16:17:58+00:00October 1st, 2025|irs|0 Comments

The IRS Recently Announced 2026 Amounts for Health Savings Accounts

The IRS recently released the 2026 inflation-adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Employees will be able to save a modest amount more in their HSAs next year.

HSA basics

An HSA is a trust created or organized exclusively for the purpose of paying the “qualified medical expenses” of an “account beneficiary.” An HSA can only be established for the benefit of an “eligible individual” who is covered under a “high-deductible health plan” (HDHP). In addition, a participant can’t be enrolled in Medicare or have other health coverage (exceptions include dental, vision, long-term care, accident and specific disease insurance).

Within specified dollar limits, an above-the-line tax deduction is allowed for an individual’s contribution to an HSA. This annual contribution limitation and the annual deductible and out-of-pocket expenses under the tax code are adjusted annually for inflation.

Inflation adjustments for next year

In Revenue Procedure 2025-19, the IRS released the 2026 inflation-adjusted figures for contributions to HSAs. For calendar year 2026, the annual contribution limitation for an individual with self-only coverage under an HDHP will be $4,400. For an individual with family coverage, the amount will be $8,750. These are up from $4,300 and $8,550, respectively, […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2025-05-27T18:34:25+00:00May 27th, 2025|hsa, irs|0 Comments

What Tax Documents Can You Safely Shred? And Which Ones Should You Keep?

Once your 2024 tax return is in the hands of the IRS, you may be tempted to clear out file cabinets and delete digital folders. But before reaching for the shredder or delete button, remember that some paperwork still has two important purposes:

Protecting you if the IRS comes calling for an audit, and
Helping you prove the tax basis of assets you’ll sell in the future.

Keep the return itself — indefinitely

Your filed tax returns are the cornerstone of your records. But what about supporting records such as receipts and canceled checks? In general, except in cases of fraud or substantial understatement of income, the IRS can only assess tax within three years after the return for that year was filed (or three years after the return was due). For example, if you filed your 2022 tax return by its original due date of April 18, 2023, the IRS has until April 18, 2026, to assess a tax deficiency against you. If you file late, the IRS generally has three years from the date you filed.

In addition to receipts and canceled checks, you should keep records, including credit card statements, W-2s, 1099s, […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2025-04-15T18:38:28+00:00April 15th, 2025|audit, irs, taxpayer|0 Comments

Try IRS’s Online Tools for Immediate Assistance

With the busiest time in the tax filing season approaching, the IRS is reminding taxpayers of the online tools available at IRS.gov to get immediate answers. Various options are available at the Let us help you page that include information on filing a tax return, letters from the IRS, tax transcripts, refund status, and more. Self-service options are available at the Tools page where taxpayers can get free help online. Some taxpayers may file their tax returns for free by going to the File your taxes for free page. Step-by-step help for filing a tax return is provided at How to file your taxes: Step by step. Also, individuals with social security numbers or individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITIN) can create (or securely access) their Individual Online Account where they can access their tax records, view, approve and sign authorizations from their tax professional, check refund status, make payments, etc. If you have questions or need assistance, please dont hesitate to reach out to your Linkenheimer CPA.

By Linkenheimer LLP|2025-02-19T21:06:09+00:00February 19th, 2025|irs|0 Comments

IRS, Security Summit Partners Urge People to Watch Out for Bad Tax Advice on Social Media

The Internal Revenue Service and the Security Summit partners issued a consumer alert about the growing threat of bad tax advice on social media that continues to dupe people into filing inaccurate tax returns.

The IRS and the Security Summit partners are spotlighting the wildly inaccurate tax claims that continue building across social media. These scams take many different forms and make outlandish promises to inflate refunds.

“The growth of bad tax advice on social media continues to grow, luring unsuspecting taxpayers into filing bad tax returns,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “We urge people to do some research before falling for these scams. Finding a trusted tax professional or visiting IRS.gov is a better way to research a tax issue than relying on someone talking in their car or their kitchen about a non-existent tax hack.”

For years, members of the Security Summit – representing state tax agencies, tax professionals, tax software companies, and the financial industry – have worked to raise awareness about tax-related identity theft and related tax scams. To counter this growing threat of tax scams, many of the Summit members have joined together to launch a related group, the Coalition […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2024-12-17T19:16:41+00:00December 17th, 2024|irs, IT, Tech|0 Comments