Is This IRS Letter Real? How to Tell a Genuine Notice From a Scam

A lot of houses have a drawer where the IRS mail goes. If yours holds a few years of envelopes, you are not the first person to keep one, and it is not too late to open it. There is a smaller job you can do first, tonight, without calling anyone. You can work out which of those letters, calls, and texts came from the IRS and which came from someone pretending to be the IRS.

Anyone who runs a crew knows better than to let a stranger onto a job site without asking who sent them. The same rule works here. The IRS has published how it contacts people and how it does not, and you can check every envelope against that from your kitchen table.

How the IRS reaches you the first time

The IRS says it normally contacts you the first time by mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. It says it emails and texts only when you have opted in, and that a social media direct message is never from the IRS.

Phone calls are the confusing part, because some of them are real. The IRS says it or a private collection agency may call you about an account matter. It also says, in its own words, that it never calls to demand payment now, threaten arrest, or inform you of a refund.

How to check a letter

Start with the number. The IRS says you can find the CP or LTR number on the right corner of the letter, and you can search for that number on IRS.gov to see what the notice is for. Some notices also appear in your IRS online account.

Our IRS Notice Roadmap explains 15 IRS letters in plain English, so you can look yours up there too.

A number alone does not prove a letter is real, because a scammer can copy one. Read what the letter asks you to do, and hold it up against the warning signs below.

Signs it is a scam

Scam mail exists. The IRS warns that scammers send fake tax bills to trick people into paying them, and that fake mail about unclaimed refunds is going around.

The IRS says a call, email, or text is not from the IRS if it does any of these things:

• It is unexpected.
• It rushes you.
• It threatens you.
• It asks for personal or financial information.
• It demands payment now.

The IRS names three more signs of an impersonator:

• It asks for gift cards. The IRS says it never asks for or accepts gift cards as payment.
• It threatens arrest or deportation.
• It will not let you question or appeal the amount.

If a voicemail came in while you were on a job, saying a warrant is out unless you call back today, that message shows three of those signs at once.

Caller ID does not settle the question. The IRS’s 2026 list of scams describes calls that use computer-generated voices and faked caller ID to look legitimate.

The IRS also warns about tax debt relief marketing that pressures people to pay for a promised settlement. Our guide to choosing a tax resolution specialist covers what to ask before you hire anyone, including us.

Sort the drawer into three piles

Put every envelope on the table and sort it.

• Put a letter in the real pile if its number matches a notice on IRS.gov or the letter also shows in your IRS online account. Open these and put them in date order.
• Put a letter in the not-sure pile if you cannot find the number or something about it looks off. The IRS says to call 800-829-1040 when a letter does not appear in its search or looks suspicious. Use that number from IRS.gov, and do not use a phone number printed on a letter you doubt.
• Put a letter in the fake pile if it shows the warning signs above. Do not reply, pay, or click anything.

How to report a fake

The IRS asks people to report impersonators, and it tells you where each kind of contact goes:

• Send a suspicious email or text to phishing@irs.gov.
• Report a suspicious IRS-related phone call to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the office that oversees the IRS, at 800-366-4484. Write down the number that called you and hang up first.
• Report a scam letter to the U.S. Postal Service or the Federal Trade Commission.

When a collection agency calls

The IRS hands certain overdue tax debts to private collection agencies, so a call from one of them can be real. The IRS says it mails you a notice first to tell you your account was assigned, and the agency then sends its own letter. Both letters carry a taxpayer authentication number, and you can use that number to confirm the caller is legitimate before you discuss anything.

What the real pile means

If the real pile is taller than you hoped, it is still better news than the drawer was. A real notice has a number and a date on it, and both can be worked with. The first step is knowing what you are dealing with, and you have now taken it.

That is also the point where someone else can take over. Heather Coonley, EA handles every case herself. The EA after her name stands for enrolled agent, and it means she is licensed by the IRS with unlimited rights to represent you before all administrative levels of the IRS, which in plain terms covers an audit, collections, or an appeal, all handled inside the IRS rather than in court. For someone with a stack of real notices, that means she can get your account records from the IRS, find out where each year stands, and speak to the IRS for you.

If some of those years were never filed, our post on coming forward after years of not filing covers what happens next.

Book a free consultation

Book a free consultation with Mercy Tax Solutions. Have the real pile nearby when we talk, in date order if you got that far. You will leave the call knowing what each notice means, which one matters first, and what your options are. There is no pressure to hire us when the call ends.

Schedule a consultation · 423-430-8515 · info@mercytaxsolutions.com

Fearless Advocacy. Fierce Relief.

Frequently asked questions

How does the IRS contact you for the first time?

The IRS says it normally contacts you the first time by mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. It says it emails and texts only when you have opted in, and that a social media direct message is never from the IRS.

Does the IRS call people on the phone?

The IRS says it or a private collection agency may call you about an account matter. It also says it never calls to demand payment now, threaten arrest, or inform you of a refund.

How can I check whether an IRS letter is real?

Find the CP or LTR number on the right corner of the letter and search for it on IRS.gov. If the letter does not appear in the search or looks suspicious, the IRS says to call 800-829-1040.

Does the IRS accept gift cards as payment?

The IRS says it never asks for or accepts gift cards as payment.

Which private collection agencies work for the IRS?

The IRS lists three private collection agencies: CBE Group Inc., Coast Professional, Inc., and ConServe. The IRS mails you Notice CP40 before the agency contacts you, and the agency then sends its own letter.