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Letters 5071C and/or 6331C, Potential Identity Theft During Original Processing with Online Option, are mailed to taxpayers to notify them that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) received an income tax return using your name, Social Security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).
This notice or letter may include additional topics that have not yet been covered here. Please check back frequently for updates.
To protect you from identity theft, we need to verify your identity before we process the income tax return, issue a refund, or apply the overpayment to next year’s estimated tax.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) received an income tax return using your name, Social Security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).
The first thing to do is to check the return address to be sure it’s from the Internal Revenue Service and not another agency.
Call IRS immediately as you may be a victim of tax-related identity theft.
Have the following available when you call:
Note: Authorized third parties may assist taxpayers, but the taxpayer must be present on the phone or in-person.
Call the IRS Identity Verification number on your letter. Contact can be made online or by phone to verify your identity and tax return information.
Online
Use the IRS’s secure Identity Verification Service. It’s quick, secure, and available 24 hours a day.
Have a copy of the 5071C letter you received and a copy of the tax return for the tax year shown in the letter.
By phone
Call the toll-free IRS Identity Verification telephone number in the 5071C letter within 30days from the date of this letter.
The toll-free number IRS Identity Verification number is for Identity Verification only. No other tax-related information, including refund status, is available.
Once you have successfully verified your identity, it may take up to 9 weeks for you to receive your refund or apply the overpayment to next year’s estimated tax. However, if there are other issues, you may receive a notice asking for more information, and this may delay your refund.
If the IRS can’t verify your identity over the phone, they may ask you to schedule an appointment at your local IRS office to verify your identity in person. You will need to bring the documents listed above. You can make an appointment by calling toll free 1-844-545-5640.
Have the following available when you call:
Note: Authorized third parties may assist taxpayers, but the taxpayer must be present on the phone or in-person.
