Has anyone successfully gotten the penalties removed in a CP23 situation? I had a similar issue last year and got the payments sorted out, but they wouldn't remove the failure-to-pay penalty even though it was their mistake.

I went through this exact same CP23 nightmare two years ago! The IRS somehow "lost" three of my quarterly estimated payments despite having valid EFTPS confirmation numbers. What saved me was being extremely persistent and documenting everything. Here's what worked: I sent a certified letter to the IRS address on the CP23 notice with copies of ALL my EFTPS confirmations, bank statements showing the withdrawals, and a detailed timeline of when each payment was made. I also included a formal request for penalty and interest abatement citing "reasonable cause" since the error was entirely on their end. The key is to be very specific about the dates, amounts, and confirmation numbers. Don't just say "I made payments" - give them every single detail they need to trace the payments in their system. It took about 8 weeks, but they eventually found all my payments and reversed everything including penalties and interest. Also, if you have to call again, ask to speak with a "payment tracer specialist" - they have more authority to research misapplied payments than regular customer service reps. Good luck, and don't give up! You're definitely not at fault here.

Don't forget to check if she needs to pay state income tax in the state where she's working! Federal exempt status doesn't automatically mean state exempt. Some states have much lower thresholds for taxation.

Great question! I went through this exact situation with my college-age son last year. The key thing to remember is that being claimed as a dependent doesn't automatically disqualify your daughter from claiming exempt status on her W-4 - it just changes how her standard deduction is calculated. As others have mentioned, for dependents in 2025, the standard deduction is the greater of $1,250 or earned income plus $400 (but capped at the regular standard deduction of $14,600). With her expected $6,700 in earnings, her standard deduction would be $7,100. One additional tip: make sure she keeps good records of her actual earnings throughout the summer. If she ends up making significantly more than expected and goes over that $7,100 threshold, she might owe some tax even though she claimed exempt. In that case, she'd need to make quarterly estimated payments or face potential penalties. Also, don't forget about FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare) - those will still be withheld from her paychecks regardless of her exempt status, since exempt only applies to federal income tax withholding.

I never even got a letter last year. Found out I needed to verify when I called about my delayed refund after waiting 6 weeks. The system is a mess.

Not sure if this is helpful, but I called the Taxpayer Advocate Service when I had issues with identity verification. They couldn't do the verification themselves, but they gave me direct instructions on what to do and it sped things up a lot.

Oh my goodness, I'm so glad I found this thread! 😫 I literally just got my verification letter yesterday and was freaking out because I thought I did something terribly wrong! My WMR still shows the first bar too, and I'm getting so worried because I NEED this refund for some medical bills that are coming due. Does anyone know if responding online through the ID.me verification is faster than mailing back documents? I'm feeling so stressed about this whole situation!

I just went through this same situation about 3 weeks ago! Got my verification letter on day 14, way before the 21-day mark, and it completely threw me off too. Turns out it's becoming more common this year - the IRS is sending them earlier to manage their workload better. In my case, it was because I claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit and they needed to verify my income documentation. The amended docs you mentioned definitely could have triggered it - any time you submit additional paperwork, it can flag the return for manual review. A few things that helped me: • Don't panic - the letter doesn't mean you made an error • WMR won't update until after verification is complete • Respond as quickly as possible (I sent mine back within 3 days) • Keep copies of everything you send back My refund was released exactly 16 days after they received my verification response. The whole process added about 3 weeks total, but it wasn't nearly as scary as I initially thought. Just follow the letter's instructions precisely and you should be good to go!

Is anyone using TurboTax for nonresident alien returns? I tried but it keeps getting confused about my pretax deductions and tax treaty benefits.

I went through this exact same issue last year! As a nonresident alien from Canada on a TN visa, I was initially told by my employer that my health insurance premiums couldn't be excluded from federal wages. After doing extensive research and consulting with a tax professional, I discovered that the Canada-US tax treaty actually does allow for certain pretax deductions to be excluded from taxable income, even for nonresident aliens. The problem is that many payroll departments aren't familiar with the nuances of different tax treaties and visa classifications. I had to provide my HR team with specific references to Article XV of the Canada-US tax treaty and IRS Revenue Procedure 84-35 to get them to issue a corrected W-2. My advice: Don't just accept your employer's word on this. The rules vary significantly based on your home country's tax treaty with the US and your specific visa status. I'd recommend getting documentation from the IRS or a qualified tax professional who specializes in nonresident alien taxation before accepting that your pretax deductions should be fully taxable at the federal level.