Got a 2802C letter from IRS saying my withholding is wrong but I'm sure it's right. Do I need to respond?

These 2802C letters are part of the IRS income verification process. They basically mean the IRS is comparing what you reported with what your employer reported. If you're confident your withholding is correct based on your W-2, you don't necessarily need to respond right away. The letter is more of a notification that they're reviewing your information. However, it's always good practice to keep all your supporting documents handy. Make sure you have copies of your W-2, pay stubs showing withholding, and your filed tax return. The IRS will send you a follow-up letter with their findings. If they determine there's a discrepancy, they'll send a CP2000 notice showing the proposed changes and any potential additional tax. At that point, you would need to respond by either agreeing or disagreeing with their assessment.

I went through something similar last year and ended up using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to help sort through the mess. I'm terrible at keeping my tax documents organized and I was getting nowhere with the IRS. Their system automatically analyzed my tax letters, pay stubs and W-2s to help identify the discrepancy (turned out I had accidentally transposed two numbers when entering my withholding). It saved me so much stress because their system could see exactly where the numbers weren't matching up between what my employer reported and what I filed. They even generated a response letter for me to send to the IRS explaining the situation.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai that I asked about earlier. I decided to try it with my 2802C letter situation and wow, it was super helpful! The system immediately showed me that the withholding amount on my W-2 didn't match what my company reported to the IRS (off by $1,200!). Turns out HR had submitted a corrected W-2c to the IRS but never sent me a copy. I would've been completely blindsided when that CP2000 notice eventually came. I reached out to my company's payroll department with the information from taxr.ai and they confirmed the error and sent me the W-2c I should have received months ago. Just thought I'd share since I was in the exact same boat as the original poster. Definitely worth checking out if you're trying to figure out why the IRS thinks your withholding is wrong!

If you're struggling to get answers directly from the IRS about your 2802C letter, I'd recommend checking out Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). After getting my letter, I spent HOURS trying to get through to the IRS phone line but kept getting the "call volume too high" message and disconnects. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of days of redial hell. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent explained that in my case, the 2802C was triggered because my employer submitted a corrected W-2 after I'd already filed, so the numbers didn't match. She explained exactly what I needed to do (just wait for their review to complete since the corrected W-2 showed MORE withholding, not less).

I need to eat my words about Claimyr from my skeptical comment earlier. After another failed attempt to reach the IRS about my own issue, I decided to try it out of desperation. I was absolutely shocked when I got a call back in 35 minutes connecting me to an actual IRS representative! The agent reviewed my 2802C letter details and explained that it was triggered because my investment company had reported different withholding amounts than what appeared on my 1099-B. Turns out they had submitted a corrected form but never told me. The agent gave me clear instructions on what documentation to submit to resolve the issue. I'm still surprised this actually worked. Would have saved me weeks of stress if I'd tried it sooner instead of being so skeptical. Sometimes newer solutions really do work better than the "send certified mail and wait 3 months" approach.

Here's what nobody's mentioned yet: Sometimes these 2802C letters are actually related to identity theft prevention. If the IRS identifies potential identity theft issues, they may send this letter as part of their verification process. In 2023, I got one of these after someone tried to file a fraudulent return using my SSN. The IRS caught it because the withholding reported on the fake return was way off from what my employer reported. If you haven't already, I'd recommend checking your credit reports and maybe placing a fraud alert just to be safe. Not saying that's what's happening in your case, but it's something to be aware of.

Has anyone gotten a 2802C letter and just completely ignored it? What actually happens? I got one last year and kinda forgot about it until I saw this post...😬

I actually went through this exact situation with a 2802C letter about 6 months ago. Like you, I was absolutely certain my withholding was correct - I had my W-2, pay stubs, everything matched perfectly. Here's what I learned: The 2802C is basically the IRS saying "hey, we're looking at this" rather than "you definitely owe money." In my case, it turned out my employer had filed a late correction to their payroll reporting that I wasn't aware of. The withholding amount I reported was correct based on my W-2, but the employer had submitted an updated form to the IRS after year-end. My advice: Don't panic, but definitely don't ignore it. Keep all your documentation organized and wait for the follow-up letter. If you get a CP2000 notice later and you're still confident your numbers are right, you can absolutely dispute it with your supporting documents. The key is responding within the timeframe they give you (usually 30 days) if you do get that CP2000. Also, check with your employer's payroll department to see if they submitted any corrections after giving you your W-2. That's often the culprit in these situations.

I'm dealing with a similar situation right now! Got my 2802C letter about 3 weeks ago and have been stressing about it ever since. Like you, I've double and triple-checked everything against my W-2 and it all looks correct to me. Reading through all these responses has been super helpful - I had no idea that employers sometimes file corrections after issuing W-2s without telling employees. That could totally explain what's happening. I'm definitely going to call our HR department tomorrow to see if they submitted any amended forms. The waiting game is the worst part though. Has anyone here who went through this process have any idea how long the IRS review typically takes? I know someone mentioned 60-90 days for the follow-up letter, but I'm curious if anyone has actual experience with the timeline from start to finish. Also really appreciate the heads up about the identity theft angle - that's honestly something I never would have considered but makes sense given all the security measures the IRS has been implementing lately.