Got this weird letter from Treasury Department today. What should I do?

Don't panic! This is actually pretty common. The IRS (through the Treasury Department) sends these letters when the information on your tax return doesn't match what they received from employers, banks, etc. It's called a CP2000 notice or sometimes a "matching notice." First, carefully read the entire letter. It should explain what income they think is missing and give you options for responding. Usually, you can either agree (and pay any additional tax owed) or disagree and provide documentation showing why your return was correct. Since you mentioned multiple jobs, it's possible one W-2 wasn't included on your return or was entered incorrectly. I'd recommend gathering all your income documents (W-2s, 1099s) from 2023 and comparing them to what you actually reported on your return.

I had a similar issue last year with a CP2000 notice because I forgot to report some gig work. I was totally stressed about dealing with the IRS until I found https://taxr.ai which completely saved me. It's an AI tool that analyzes IRS notices and tax documents and tells you exactly what's wrong and how to fix it. I uploaded my CP2000 letter and all my tax docs, and it immediately identified that I had forgotten to include a 1099 from a short contract job. It even drafted a response letter for me explaining my situation to the IRS. The whole process took like 15 minutes instead of the hours I would have spent figuring it out myself or the hundreds I would have paid an accountant.

I have to apologize for my skepticism about taxr.ai in my earlier comment. After that CP2000 notice arrived for missing investment income, I was desperate enough to try anything and decided to give the service a shot. I was genuinely surprised by how well it worked! It immediately identified exactly which 1099-B was missing from my return and showed me side-by-side what I reported versus what the IRS had on file. The response letter it created was really professional, and I could tell it understood the tax codes. Even better, it helped me discover I was eligible for some offsetting deductions I hadn't claimed. I still had to pay some additional tax, but about $340 less than what the original notice demanded. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with any IRS notices.

If you need to actually talk to someone at the IRS about your notice (which I highly recommend), good luck getting through on those phone lines! I spent THREE DAYS trying to reach a human being when I got a similar letter. Then someone told me about https://claimyr.com which is a service that basically waits on hold with the IRS for you and then calls you when an actual human picks up. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was at work when they called me saying they had an IRS agent on the line, and I was able to resolve my whole issue in one 15-minute call. The agent actually found an error in their system and removed the penalty they were trying to charge me. Definitely worth it considering I would have wasted hours on hold otherwise.

I have to eat my words about Claimyr from my previous skeptical comment. After another failed attempt at reaching the IRS myself (3 hours on hold before the call dropped), I decided I had nothing to lose and tried the service. I literally got a call back within 45 minutes with an actual IRS representative on the line. The agent walked me through my notice line by line and we discovered that one of my 1099s had been reported incorrectly by the issuer. She put notes in my file and told me exactly what documentation to send in. Problem solved in one phone call instead of weeks of back and forth letters. I honestly can't believe how much time I saved. If you're dealing with any IRS issues, being able to actually talk to someone makes all the difference.

Make sure you keep copies of EVERYTHING you send to the IRS! I learned this the hard way when they claimed they never received my response to a similar notice. Take pictures of all documents before you mail them, send everything certified mail with return receipt, and keep a log of all phone calls (date, time, agent ID if possible). You might need this paper trail later. Also, if you end up owing money, don't ignore it even if you can't pay the full amount. The IRS has payment plans available - I'm currently on one for a similar situation and the process was surprisingly easy.

Has anyone actually had success DISPUTING one of these letters? I got something similar last year claiming I owed like $2800 but I was pretty sure they were wrong. I ended up just paying it because I was too scared to fight it.

I went through almost the exact same thing last year! Got a CP2000 notice that made my stomach drop, but it turned out to be much less scary than I thought. In my case, my part-time employer had issued a corrected W-2 after I'd already filed, and I never received the corrected version. Here's what worked for me: First, gather ALL your 2023 tax documents (every W-2, 1099, etc.) and compare them line by line with what you actually reported on your return. Look specifically at the wages and income sections. The CP2000 should tell you exactly what income they think is missing - it'll usually show "IRS records" vs "Your return" in a table format. If you find the discrepancy, you have three options: agree and pay, partially agree, or disagree completely. Each option has different forms to fill out that come with the notice. Don't rush - you have 30 days, so take time to really understand what they're claiming. One thing that helped me was calling the number on the notice during off-peak hours (early morning or late afternoon). I actually got through to someone who walked me through the whole thing. Turned out I just needed to send in a copy of the corrected W-2 I never received, and they dropped the whole assessment. You've got this! These notices look terrifying but they're usually just clerical mismatches that can be resolved pretty easily.