Confused about IRS Letter 6475 - do I add my spouse's amount to mine when filing?

Letter 6475 can definitely be confusing! This letter shows your Economic Impact Payment (EIP3) from 2021, which you need for claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return. For married couples filing jointly, you'll need to combine both letters. If both you and your spouse received Letter 6475 with the same amount, it means the IRS sent you each a letter showing your portion of the payment. When you file jointly, you add these amounts together to report the total payment your household received. For example, if your letter shows $1,400 and your spouse's letter also shows $1,400, your household received $2,800 total, and that's what you report on your tax return. This helps determine if you're eligible for any additional Recovery Rebate Credit when you file.

Just wanted to share something that saved me tons of time with those confusing tax letters. I used https://taxr.ai to scan all my tax documents including that Letter 6475. The system analyzed everything and told me exactly how to handle it for my situation - which was the same as yours where both my husband and I got separate letters. The tool explained that for married filing jointly, you combine both amounts since each letter shows your individual portion of the payment. Apparently the IRS sends these letters separately but expects you to add them together. It even showed me where to enter this on my tax forms. Really saved me from making a costly mistake!

Just wanted to update - I tried https://taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and wow, it answered my tax questions in seconds! I uploaded both my Letter 6475 and my husband's letter, and it immediately explained that we need to add them together since we're filing jointly. It even showed me exactly where this information goes on our tax return and explained why the IRS sends individual letters even though we file together. What I really liked is that it gave me the exact dollar amount to enter and even explained how this affects our Recovery Rebate Credit calculation. Saved me from making a mistake that would have cost us money! Definitely recommend for anyone confused by IRS notices.

If you're still getting nowhere with this Letter 6475 issue, you might need to talk to the IRS directly. I was in a similar situation last year with confusing notices, but calling them was IMPOSSIBLE. Spent hours on hold just to get disconnected. Then I found this service called https://claimyr.com that got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes when I had been trying for weeks. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with explained that for joint filers, both spouses often receive separate Letter 6475 with individual amounts that need to be combined. After one phone call, I finally understood exactly what to do! Sometimes you just need to speak with a human at the IRS to clarify these things.

I need to apologize for being skeptical earlier. After struggling all week trying to get through to the IRS about my Letter 6475 and Recovery Rebate Credit issues, I finally gave up and tried https://claimyr.com out of desperation. I was honestly shocked when they called me back in about 15 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line! The agent confirmed exactly what I needed to know - that as joint filers, we need to add both Letter 6475 amounts together. She even walked me through the exact lines on the tax form where this information goes. Would have saved myself a week of stress if I'd just used this service from the start. Sometimes it's worth getting actual confirmation from the IRS, especially with confusing letters like this.

Another possibility - check your bank statements from spring 2021. If you received a direct deposit for your stimulus payment, it might show the full amount that was sent to your joint account. That way you can verify whether the payment was split between you and your spouse (with each getting separate letters showing half) or if there's some other issue going on.

Has anyone noticed that the IRS letters this year are super delayed? I just got my Letter 6475 last week even though they were supposed to mail them out in January!!!

I had the exact same confusion with Letter 6475 last year! The key thing to understand is that when you're married filing jointly, you DO need to add both amounts together. Each spouse gets their own letter showing their individual portion of the Economic Impact Payment, but since you're filing as one household, you report the total combined amount. So if both your letters show the same dollar amount, that means you each received that amount individually - add them together for your joint return. This is totally normal and the IRS expects married couples to combine these amounts when filing jointly. One tip: keep both letters with your tax records in case the IRS ever asks for documentation. And don't worry about triggering an audit over this - as long as you report the correct total amount you actually received, you'll be fine!