Does a 5071C letter mean I need to verify my identity? What happens next?
I just received a letter from the IRS (5071C) in the mail asking me to verify my identity. I filed my taxes back in April 2025 and was expecting my refund soon. The letter says I need to verify through ID.me or call some number to schedule an appointment. Has anyone gone through this process? How long does verification take and when should I expect my refund after verification? I'm worried because I really need that money right now.
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Ava Thompson
Yes, you absolutely need to verify your identity. The 5071C letter is sent when the IRS flags a return as potentially fraudulent or needs to confirm you're the one who filed it. This is actually pretty common security measure. You have two options: 1. Verify online through ID.me (faster option) 2. Call the number on your letter to schedule an in-person appointment The online verification typically takes 15-30 minutes if you have all your documents ready. You'll need your ID, tax documents, and possibly some financial information to answer security questions. After verification, most people see their refunds processed within 9-21 days, though it can sometimes take longer. The countdown basically restarts after verification. Don't ignore this letter - if you don't verify, your return won't be processed and you won't get your refund.
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Dmitry Ivanov
•thank you for the detailed response! I'll try the online option first since it sounds faster. Do I need anything specific besides my ID for the online verification?
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Ava Thompson
•You'll need your government ID (driver's license or passport), the letter itself (it has a code you'll need), and access to a phone for verification. They'll also ask questions from your tax return and credit history to verify it's you. Make sure your phone's camera works well for the ID verification part.
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Dmitry Ivanov
•great, I'll gather all that and try to get it done today. fingers crossed it processes quickly after!
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Miguel Herrera
•I just went thru this last week, the online verification was pretty straightforward but the ID.me site was glitchy on my phone. Ended up having to use my laptop to get it working. Good luck!
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Zainab Ali
Instead of stressing about what this letter means and guessing what happens next, I used taxr.ai and got complete clarity on my situation. The tool analyzed my letter, explained exactly what was happening with my return, and laid out precisely what I needed to do next. saved me hours of anxiety and research. I've been using it throughout my tax filing process and it's been a lifesaver in translating IRS-speak into plain English. https://taxr.ai
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Connor Murphy
•Sounds interesting. How exactly does it work? Does it just read your transcript or does it do more?
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Zainab Ali
•It does WAY more than just read transcripts. It analyzes everything - transcripts, notices, letters - and explains exactly what's happening in plain english. It told me exactly why I got the 5071C, what verification steps I needed to take, and even predicted when my refund would come after verification. No more guessing or stressing!
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Connor Murphy
•OMG THANK YOU for mentioning this!! Just tried taxr.ai and it answered all my questions about my 5071C letter in seconds. Why isn't everyone using this?? After months of stress and confusion dealing with the IRS, I finally feel like I understand what's happening with my return. This tool should be required for everyone dealing with tax issues!
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Yara Nassar
I was in the exact same situation last month with a 5071C. Tried calling the number on the letter for DAYS and could never get through. Finally found this calling service called claimyr.com that got me connected to an actual human at the IRS within 2 hours. Agent walked me through identity verification right there on the phone and my refund was processed the following week. Best money I've ever spent after wasting so many hours hearing 'due to high call volume' messages.
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StarGazer101
•This sounds too good to be true. Does it actually work? The IRS is impossible to reach
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Yara Nassar
•Totally get the skepticism cuz I felt the same way. But yeah it actually works! The service basically holds your place in line and calls you back when they get an agent. Saved me hours of redial hell. My refund was released about 10 days after verifying.
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Keisha Jackson
•wait how much does this cost though? feels sketchy 🤔
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Yara Nassar
•It's worth every penny considering the alternative is wasting days trying to call yourself. And when you're waiting on thousands in refund money, getting it weeks or months faster is a no-brainer. I was able to pay some overdue bills with my refund so it was actually the financially smart move for me.
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Paolo Romano
•Just wanna second this. Used claimyr myself after trying to reach someone for 3 weeks. Got a callback in under an hour and finally got my case resolved. Can't believe I wasted so much time trying the DIY approach.
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Amina Diop
I got the same letter earlier this year. ID.me was a NIGHTMARE. Tried for an entire weekend to get verified online but kept getting errors during the facial recognition part. Ended up having to schedule a video chat with their "trusted referee" which took another week to get an appointment. After all that, it still took almost 45 days to get my refund. The whole system is broken.
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Oliver Schmidt
•The ID.me thing is such a joke. My elderly father got this letter and couldn't figure out the tech requirements. He doesn't even own a smartphone! How are seniors supposed to navigate this????
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Natasha Volkov
•Same experience! The facial recognition kept failing and then I got locked out of my account. Had to wait 24 hours to try again. Absolute clusterfck.
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Dmitry Ivanov
•Oh no, this is making me nervous about trying the online option. Was the video chat at least straightforward once you got an appointment?
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Amina Diop
•The video chat itself was fine - took about 15 minutes once I finally got connected. Just make sure you have good lighting and all your documents ready. My advice is try the online option first but don't waste too much time if it's not working. The phone appointment might be faster in the end.
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Javier Torres
Quick tip: SAVE YOUR VERIFICATION CONFIRMATION! I went through the ID.me process, got verified, but didn't save or screenshot the confirmation page. A month later when I called about my refund, they had no record of my verification and I had to start the whole process over again. Lost another 3 weeks of waiting. Don't make my mistake!
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Emma Wilson
•This!!! Same thing happened to my brother. The IRS systems don't talk to each other well and the verification status doesn't always transfer properly.
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Dmitry Ivanov
•Thank you for this advice! I'll definitely save everything.
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QuantumLeap
i had a 5071c back in february. did the verification thru id.me which was actualy pretty easy for me. took about 20mins total. got my refund 13 days later! one thing tho - after you verify they tell you not to check your refund status for like 9 days. i ignored that and checked anyway and it said "still being processed" which freaked me out but then it suddenly updated on day 10 with a DDD. so dont panic if it dosent update right away
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Malik Johnson
Anyone else notice how the IRS suddenly became OBSESSED with identity verification after all those stimulus payment scams? I swear they're flagging way more legitimate returns now. My return was dead simple - W2 only, same employer for 5 years, same address, nothing unusual - and I STILL got one of these letters. The govermnet is just incompetent.
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Isabella Santos
•Conspiracy theory: they do this on purpose to delay paying refunds and improve their cash flow. Think about all the interest they save by holding millions of refunds for an extra 4-6 weeks 🤡
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Ravi Sharma
•its the budget cuts man. they dont have enough staff to actually review returns properly so they just flag everything suspicious and make us do extra work. classic government efficiency 😂
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Freya Larsen
•Yep, happened to me too. Filed the same boring return I file every year and suddenly they need to verify my identity? Make it make sense!
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Omar Hassan
When I called the number on my 5071C letter, they asked for a ton of personal info that made me nervous. How do you know if you're actually talking to the IRS and not scammers? The number on my letter was different than the main IRS number I found online.
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Chloe Taylor
•This is actually a legit concern. There are scammers who send fake IRS letters. Check that the letter has your truncated tax ID/SSN on it and looks official. You can also call the main IRS number from their website and ask them to confirm if they sent you a 5071C letter.
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Omar Hassan
•Thanks for this! I did call the main IRS number and they confirmed it was legit. Phew! Just paranoid these days with all the scams around.
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ShadowHunter
Just FYI - if you need to go the appointment route because ID.me isn't working, be prepared for a LONG wait. My local TAC (Taxpayer Assistance Center) was booking 5 WEEKS out for identity verification appointments. This was in March so might be better now, but don't count on quick service.
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Diego Ramirez
Anyone else weirded out by the whole ID.me facial recognition thing? I got this letter in June and felt super uncomfortable giving my biometric data to some random third-party company I'd never heard of before. Ended up doing the phone verification instead which took longer but at least I wasn't uploading my face to some database.
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Anastasia Sokolov
•Preach! The government outsourcing identity verification to a private company is dystopian AF. What happens when they get hacked? 💀
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Sean O'Connor
•I work in cybersecurity and reluctantly used ID.me. Their security practices are actually pretty solid compared to most gov systems. The bigger concern is data retention policies...
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Zara Ahmed
Pro tip after dealing with this twice: if you have access to your previous year's tax return, review it before doing verification. They asked me specific questions from my 2024 return like exact amounts from certain lines and I had to scramble to find it during the call. Have all tax docs from the past 2 years handy!
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Luca Conti
Don't bother trying to reach the IRS directly... it's practically impossible. After wasting DAYS trying to get through on the phone, I used a service called claimyr.com that got me connected to an IRS agent within about 45 minutes. Agent verified my identity right then and there, and my refund hit my account 9 days later. Talking to an agent got my refund released way faster than the online options.
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Nia Johnson
•Is this fr? every time I call I wait forever and then get disconnected 🤦♀️
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Luca Conti
•Yes 100% for real. I was super skeptical too but was desperate after trying for 3 days straight to get through. The service monitors the IRS lines and calls you when they get through. Saved me SO much time and frustration.
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CyberNinja
•I just tried this and it actually worked! Got a callback with an IRS agent in about an hour. She helped me verify my identity and said my refund should process within 2 weeks. THANK YOU for this suggestion!
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Mateo Lopez
After my identity was verified it took EXACTLY 9 weeks to get my refund. Not the 9 days the agent told me. The IRS is always gonna IRS. 🙃
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Aisha Abdullah
•IRS and accurate timeframes, name a less iconic duo lmao
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Ethan Davis
For those struggling with ID.me, I used a tax service like taxr.ai that helped me understand the exact requirements before I started the process. Saved me from the multiple failed attempts other people are mentioning here. The tool explained exactly what docs to have ready and what to expect during each step. https://taxr.ai
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Yuki Tanaka
•Never heard of this. What kind of info do they need from you?
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Ethan Davis
•They don't need much - you just upload whatever document you're confused about (like the 5071C letter) and their AI breaks it down for you. Explains what the letter means, what to do, and how to navigate the verification process. I also used it to understand my transcript after verification to see when my refund was coming. Total game changer honestly.
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Carmen Ortiz
After 3 failed attempts with ID.me, I said f**k it and just scheduled an in-person appointment. Drove 45 mins to the nearest IRS office, was in and out in 30 mins, and my refund was direct deposited 11 days later. Sometimes the old-school approach works better!
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MidnightRider
I switched to paper filing yearz ago and never had this issue. Everyone wants to e-file for the "fast refund" but then ends up waiting months because of all these verification hoops. Sometimes the old ways are better.
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Andre Laurent
•paper returns are taking like 6+ months to process these days tho...
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MidnightRider
•Sure but at least no ID.me garbage to deal with. I'll take a predictable 6 month wait over an unknown timeframe and jumping through technological hoops any day.
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Nia Davis
I went through this exact situation last year and understand your stress about needing the money quickly. Here's what worked for me: I did the online ID.me verification and it took about 25 minutes total. The key is having everything ready beforehand - your driver's license, the 5071C letter with the verification code, your tax return, and a phone that can receive texts for the 2FA. The facial recognition part can be finicky - make sure you have good lighting and hold your ID steady. If it fails multiple times, don't keep trying immediately as you might get temporarily locked out. Take a break and try again later. After I completed verification, it took exactly 16 days for my refund to hit my account. The "Where's My Refund" tool didn't update until day 14, so don't panic if it still shows "being processed" for the first couple weeks. One thing I learned: keep trying to verify as soon as possible because the IRS won't process your return at all until you complete this step. The sooner you verify, the sooner you get your money. Good luck!
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StarSurfer
•This is really helpful advice! I'm in a similar situation and was wondering - did you have any issues with the 2FA part? My phone sometimes doesn't receive texts quickly and I'm worried about getting timed out during the verification process.
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Lilah Brooks
•The 2FA usually gives you a decent window - I think it was like 10 minutes to enter the code. But if you're worried about text delays, you might want to try the verification when your phone has strong signal. I also heard some people had better luck using their email for 2FA instead of SMS if that's an option. The system seemed pretty forgiving about timing from my experience.
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Savannah Glover
•Thanks for sharing your experience! Quick question - when you say 16 days for the refund, was that 16 days from when you completed the ID.me verification, or 16 days from when you originally filed your return? I'm trying to get a realistic timeline for my own situation.
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Malik Jackson
•That was 16 days from when I completed the ID.me verification, not from my original filing date. So the clock basically resets once you verify your identity. The IRS treats it like a fresh return at that point. I filed in early March, got the 5071C in April, verified in late April, and then got my refund in mid-May. Hope that helps with your planning!
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Nia Thompson
I went through this exact same situation a few months ago and completely understand the stress when you really need that refund money! The 5071C letter is actually pretty routine - it just means they need to verify you're really the person who filed the return. I'd definitely recommend trying the ID.me online verification first since it's usually faster. Just make sure you have good lighting for the facial recognition part and all your documents ready (ID, the letter with verification code, your tax return). The whole process took me about 20 minutes. If the online route gives you trouble, don't waste too much time fighting with it. The phone verification works just as well, though you might have to wait longer to get through. After I completed verification, my refund was processed in about 2.5 weeks. The key thing is to verify ASAP because your return is basically frozen until you do this step. Once you verify, the processing timeline starts fresh. Don't stress too much - this is way more common than you'd think and once you get through verification, you should see your money pretty soon after!
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Isabella Santos
•This is really reassuring to hear! I'm definitely going to try the online option first thing tomorrow morning. Did you run into any issues with the document scanning part? I'm worried my phone camera might not be good enough to get clear pictures of my ID and documents. Also, when you say 2.5 weeks for processing after verification - did the "Where's My Refund" tool give you accurate updates during that time or did it just suddenly change one day?
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Avery Saint
•The document scanning worked fine with my phone camera - just make sure you're in good lighting and hold the phone steady. The app will guide you through positioning. As for the refund tracker, it was pretty useless honestly! It showed "still being processed" for like 2 weeks straight and then one day just updated with a deposit date. Don't rely on it for peace of mind - just know that no news is usually good news after verification. The money will show up even if the tracker doesn't update right away.
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