The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that it will resume issuing collections notices to taxpayers that were previously suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some important points to note:
- No date has been set for when the notices will be sent out, but the IRS has a detailed plan in place to stagger the issuance of different types of notices to avoid overwhelming the agency.
- The IRS will communicate with taxpayers, tax professionals, and Congress on the timing of the plans to ensure that no one is caught off guard by the generation of notices.
- The plan is to give most taxpayers a gentle reminder notice before sending a final Notice of Intent to Levy to avoid the appeals process and get taxpayers back into compliance.
- The IRS will look at the totality of the 500-series of notices and taxpayers and their circumstances to see if there is a more efficient way of communicating and collecting past due amounts.
- The agency has been working with National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins, who has offered input that the IRS is incorporating and taking into consideration every step of the way.
- The staggered approach will help practitioners and the Taxpayer Advocate Service from being overwhelmed, as well as the IRS.
- The IRS will start generating CP-14 notices, which are the statutory due notices, in the very near future, and these will be sent out to taxpayers around the end of May.