If the IRS needs to contact you regarding concerns about identity theft or if you have filed a report that your identity has been stolen, there are a few things you need to know.
Most importantly, if the IRS needs to verify your identity, it will send you a 5071C letter. You’ll need to have your prior year’s tax return and current year’s tax return, Forms W-2, 1099, and Schedules A and C available for reference before you take steps to verify your identity.
You can verify that the correspondence you receive is actually from the IRS in two ways:
• Call the number in the upper corner of the 5071C letter to speak to someone at the agency.
• Answer a series of questions at idverify.irs.gov. The questions will be related to your contact information and information from last year’s tax return, such as your adjusted gross income.
While this all sounds a little scary, you should be careful not to fall victim to any scams. You’ll know if the IRS is genuinely contacting you because you’ll get the official 5071C letter in the mail. The IRS will never reach out to you by phone or email.