Got IRS Letter 5071C? How to Verify Your Identity
Letter 5071C means the IRS received a tax return with your name and Social Security number and wants to confirm you filed it before it processes the return or sends a refund. It doesn't mean you did something wrong. Here's how to respond quickly.
By the Enrolled Agents and CPAs at A&W Tax Services · Updated
Why you got the letter
The IRS screens returns for signs of identity theft. When a return looks unusual — a new address, a new bank account, a big change in income or a large refund — it may hold the return and send a 5071C. Most of the time the person who gets the letter did file the return and just needs to confirm it.
How to verify
- Online — go to idverify.irs.gov and sign in or create an ID.me account; this is usually the fastest way
- By phone — call the toll-free number printed on your letter
- Use only the website or number in the letter itself; the IRS starts contact by mail and won't ask you to verify through a text, email or social media message
What to have ready
- The 5071C letter
- The tax return the letter is about, including your W-2s, 1099s and any schedules
- Your prior-year tax return, if you filed one
- Photo ID if you verify online
Other identity letters
Letter 4883C works the same way but must be answered by phone at the number in the letter. Letter 5747C asks you to verify in person at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center, by appointment. Whichever letter you get, respond as soon as you can — the return and any refund stay on hold until you do.
What happens next
After you verify, the IRS releases the return for processing. That can take up to nine weeks, and the IRS may still adjust the return or ask for more information.
If you tell the IRS you didn't file the return, it will remove that return from your account and explain your next steps, which may include filing your own return on paper. To protect future years, request an Identity Protection PIN through your IRS online account — once you have one, no return can be e-filed under your Social Security number without it.
When to get help
If you can't pass the online check, the phone lines are hard to get through, or the letter is about a return someone else filed in your name, an Enrolled Agent can help. With your authorization, we can review your IRS transcripts, work with the IRS on your behalf and file a correct return.