Today TaxMama® hears from Hamed in the TaxQuips Forum, who is quite annoyed. “I sent a change of address form to my IRS auditors with my response to the audit. They ignored the change of address and sent their response to my response to the old address. I also mentioned the change of address in my cover letter. What does it take to make IRS understand that my address has changed?”
Dear Hamed,
You are responding to an IRS notice that went to your old address. By the time you got the notice, it’s probably past the response deadline. So the computer will already have sent the next letter in the series before receiving your response.
I know this sound counter-intuitive; but it’s in your best interests to notify the IRS and your state tax agency about your change of address when you move. Use Form 8822 for the IRS and whatever form number your state uses. Doing this ensures that you get notified when something is just a question or minor problem. It can be resolved quickly and easily – before it turns into a huge, complex problem, resulting from not responding on time.
Sure, it helps to send the change of address at the time of the audit. If you sent a timely response, someone should have seen it before replying. However, what you don’t understand is that the IRS is so ridiculously understaffed that mailed-in audit responses must be scanned and entered into the system manually – and the IRS is about 2-4 months behind in getting those responses posted.
To address the problem right now, call the phone number on the letter. Don’t call on a Monday or Friday morning. Try calling after 2:00 pm in your time zone on a mid-week afternoon. Ask them to update your address while you’re on the phone – and let them know that you sent a change of address form recently.
And remember, you can find answers to all kinds of questions about IRS communications and other tax and business issues, free. Where? Where else? At www.TaxMama.com.
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