IRS Letter 4883C
Letter 4883C: verify your identity by phone
Letter 4883C means the IRS received a Form 1040 return under your Social Security number or ITIN and, to protect you from identity theft, will not process it until you verify your identity and the return. You do this by calling the Taxpayer Protection Program hotline shown in the letter.
Do not file Form 14039
The IRS says plainly not to file Form 14039, the identity theft affidavit, if you received Letter 4883C. Follow the letter’s instructions instead. If you did not file a return for the year in the letter, say so when you call: someone may have filed using your name and number.
What to have ready when you call
The hotline is for identity and return verification only. It cannot give you refund status or any other tax information.
- The 4883C letter.
- The Form 1040 return the letter refers to. Forms W-2 and 1099 are not tax returns.
- A return for another year, if you filed one and have it.
- Supporting documents for each return you filed, such as Forms W-2 and 1099 and Schedules C and F.
Who can call, and what if the phone does not work
Someone else can call for you only if the IRS has a Form 2848, Power of Attorney, on file for them, and the IRS encourages you to be available on the call anyway. Without a Form 2848, you and the other person have to call together and you have to take part. A fiduciary for an individual, an estate or a trust sends Form 56 first.
If you cannot verify by phone, the IRS will ask you to make an appointment at your local IRS office and bring the documents listed above.
What happens next
Until you verify, the IRS cannot process the return, issue a refund or credit an overpayment. Once you have verified, it processes the return; the IRS says it can take up to nine weeks to receive your refund, and longer if it finds other problems.
An Identity Protection PIN helps keep anyone else from filing with your number in future years.
Something wrong with the return itself?
Only you can verify your identity with the IRS, online or by phone. If the return it is holding has a problem, or someone else filed in your name and your own return still needs to go in, USTAXX prepares it. We are an IRS Authorized e-file provider and work with clients remotely through a secure portal, by phone or video, and in person at our office in Naperville, IL.
Questions people ask
Should I file Form 14039 for Letter 4883C?
No. The IRS says not to file Form 14039 if you received Letter 4883C. Call the number in the letter and follow its instructions.
Can I verify Letter 4883C online?
Letter 4883C asks you to call the Taxpayer Protection Program hotline shown in the letter. If you cannot verify by phone, the IRS will arrange an in-person appointment.
Can my tax preparer call for me?
Only with a Form 2848 on file, and the IRS encourages you to be available on the call. Without one, you and that person must call together and you must take part.
How long until my refund after verifying?
Up to nine weeks, according to the IRS, and longer if it finds other problems with the return.
Where these rules come from
- IRS: Understanding your letter 4883C
- IRS: Publication 5027, Identity Theft Information for Taxpayers
- IRS: Get an Identity Protection PIN
General information, current when written, not advice about your situation. Fees and forms change; the official pages above are the authority.