Receiving any forms from the IRS is bound to raise a few eyebrows. Typically, they’re urgent important, and require a response with personal information sooner rather than later. That said, in a world of fake letters, spam mail, and people trying to steal your identity, you might want to hold your horses and examine the letter closely before proceeding.

If you’ve received a 5071c letter from the IRS, don’t panic because we’re here to help. Read on to learn everything you need to know about the 5071c letter. We cover what it is, how you should respond, and how to check your public records.

What Is a 5071c Letter?

A 5071c letter is a letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). While the IRS sends many letters, this specific document notifies you about identity verification before issuing a refund. Essentially, the IRS sends this letter when they need further proof of your identity to process your return.

More often than not, the IRS sends a 5071c letter when they have reason to believe that a tax return filed in your name was fraudulent. When the IRS sends this letter, the person on the receiving end has to fill out the form, confirm their information, and process the document to file a tax return or receive income owed to them from a tax refund.

For these reasons, understanding what a 5071c letter is and how it works is important. In fact, you only have around 30 days to respond before the issue escalates further, so it’s a good idea to resolve a 5071C letter promptly.

How to Resolve a 5071C Letter

When you see a 5071C letter, it means that the IRS has escalated the issue, and you need to resolve it. This can be done by calling the IRS via the Taxpayer Protection Program Hotline. Over the phone, you’ll want to have your 1040 form handy, a prior tax return, and other tax information to help the IRS confirm your identity.

You can also resolve a 5071C letter online through the IRS website. If you don’t have an account, you’ll have to create one using your driver’s license or passport. Then, you can sign in and answer questions about your return.

If you didn’t file a tax return, you’ll have to resolve the issue and make it known to the IRS because you’re likely a victim of identity theft. On the other hand, if you did file the return, you can explain why it may have looked fraudulent.

How to Verify Your Identity with the IRS

If you’re not the one who filed the tax return, you’ll have to verify your identity with the IRS. This can be done by providing the IRS with identifying documents through a video call with an ID.me agent.

ID.me is the service that the IRS and other government agencies use to verify information about your identity. In fact, to use IRS.gov you’ll need to have an ID.me account.

Information you may need to verify your identity in the event of identity theft may include:

• SSN
• Birth certificate
• Passport
• Driver’s license
• Mortgage statement
• Prior year tax information
• Banking information
• School records

While you won’t need all of this information, it helps to be more prepared than under-prepared.

Protect Yourself From Identity Theft and Resolve a 5071C Letter Today

To make sure you don’t see an IRS 5071C letter in the future, we recommend getting a pin from the IRS that’s needed to file your taxes. This can be done online through their website in as little as a few minutes.

However, protecting yourself from identity theft doesn’t stop with resolving the IRS 5071C letter. In fact, we recommend contacting credit firms like TransUnion and Experian to freeze your credit report. This can further prevent fraud and prevent people from opening credit lines in your name.Additionally, we recommend checking your public records to see if someone is trying to use your SSN or identity in other ways. The best way to do this is to use UnMask’s people search tool. It will provide you with a comprehensive full report of your public records to help you ensure that everything is in order.