IRS Letter 5071C: Identity Verification
The IRS suspects a return filed in your name may not be yours and is holding it until you verify your identity.
- Respond within
- 30 days
- How urgent
- Respond promptly
- Appeal rights
- Not with this notice
How long you have
This notice gives you 30 days to respond. The due date is printed on the letter itself.
The IRS's own guidance on any notice is short: “If we ask you to respond, act by the due date.”
What we do with a 5071C
We help you through the verification, and if the return was not yours, we open the identity-theft protocol immediately.
This page is general information, not advice on your specific matter. An Enrolled Agent has to read your actual notice and your transcripts before telling you what to do about it.
Related notices · Return processing and identity
The next step
Decoded your 5071C? Now let's answer it.
Send us the actual notice. A licensed Enrolled Agent will review it free of charge, confidentially, the same week.