Missed IRS Notice of Deficiency Filing Deadline - What Can I Do Now?
I really messed up and I'm panicking. I received a notice of deficiency from the IRS for unreported investment income from my Robinhood account, but I missed the deadline to file my Tax Court petition by about 2 weeks. I'm so stressed about this. I went ahead and sent in my petition anyway along with an amended tax return that included Schedule B and another form (can't remember which one exactly) to show the corrections I've made. I thought maybe they'd still accept it since it wasn't that late. About 6 weeks later, I received a packet from the IRS and now I'm confused about what my options are. Can I still fight this in Tax Court even though I missed the deadline? Will they automatically reject my petition? Are there any other options I have to dispute the deficiency notice at this point? Anyone dealt with something similar?
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Angelina Farar
Unfortunately, the Tax Court deadline is pretty strict. Once you miss the 90-day window to petition the Tax Court after receiving a notice of deficiency, the court generally lacks jurisdiction to hear your case. This is considered a statutory deadline that the court itself can't extend. However, you still have options! While you can't go to Tax Court now, you can pay the tax (you don't have to pay penalties yet) and file a claim for refund with the IRS. If they deny your refund claim or don't respond within 6 months, you can then file a refund suit in either the U.S. District Court or the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The packet you received is likely a dismissal notice from the Tax Court explaining that they can't accept your petition because it was filed after the deadline.
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Jessica Nolan
•Thanks for responding. Does that mean I have to pay the full amount they're saying I owe before I can dispute it? What if I don't have that kind of money right now? The deficiency amount is pretty large.
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Angelina Farar
•Yes, unfortunately you do need to pay the full tax amount (not penalties and interest) before pursuing the refund route. This is why the Tax Court option is so valuable - it's the only place you can dispute taxes before paying. If you can't pay the full amount, consider reaching out to the IRS about an installment agreement while you prepare your refund claim. You could also look into an Offer in Compromise if you truly cannot pay the assessed amount. Another option is to contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service, as they might be able to help in situations where the standard procedures create a hardship.
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Sebastián Stevens
I was in a similar situation last year when I missed filing my Tax Court petition by about 10 days due to some confusion with certified mail dates. I was super stressed out until I found this AI tool called taxr.ai that helped me understand my options after missing the deadline. I uploaded the notice of deficiency letter and some other documents to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything and explained exactly what my options were. It confirmed what others are saying here about paying first and then filing a claim for refund, but it also found some specific case law examples where people in similar situations to mine had successful outcomes.
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Bethany Groves
•How does that tool work exactly? Does it just give general advice or does it actually help you prepare documents? I'm curious if it would help with my situation where I have a CP2000 notice for unreported crypto.
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KingKongZilla
•I'm skeptical about using AI for tax issues. Couldn't you get the same information from the IRS website or calling them? These missed deadline rules seem pretty standardized.
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Sebastián Stevens
•It's more than just general advice - it analyzes your specific documents and provides tailored guidance. It identified my exact situation with the missed Tax Court deadline and outlined my specific options with step-by-step instructions. For your CP2000 crypto situation, it would analyze the notice and help you understand exactly what the IRS is questioning and your response options. Tax rules are standardized, but knowing which ones apply to your specific case is the hard part. The IRS website has thousands of pages and their phone lines are notoriously difficult to get through. The AI tool aggregated information from IRS manuals, court cases, and tax code that would have taken me days to research on my own.
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Bethany Groves
I was skeptical too but I decided to try taxr.ai after getting nowhere with multiple calls to the IRS about my CP2000 notice. It actually saved me thousands! I uploaded my notice and within minutes it spotted that the IRS had double-counted some of my crypto transactions. The tool highlighted exactly where the error was and gave me a template letter to respond with documentation. The IRS accepted my explanation and reduced my assessment by over $5,000. What impressed me most was how it cited specific sections of the tax code that applied to my situation and explained everything in plain English. Definitely worth trying if you're stuck with a tax notice situation like the original poster.
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Rebecca Johnston
For what it's worth, I had a similar situation with a missed Tax Court deadline and was incredibly frustrated trying to reach someone at the IRS to discuss my options. After spending literally hours on hold over multiple days, I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. The agent walked me through my options after missing the Tax Court deadline and helped me set up a payment plan while I prepared my claim for refund. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. It saved me so much time and frustration compared to the regular IRS phone system.
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Nathan Dell
•How does that even work? I don't understand how a third party service can get you through to the IRS faster than calling directly. Sounds too good to be true or like they're doing something sketchy.
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Maya Jackson
•I've heard of these services but they seem like a waste of money. If you just call early in the morning right when they open, you can usually get through without too much trouble. Why pay for something you can do yourself?
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Rebecca Johnston
•It's not sketchy at all - they use an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When an agent picks up, you get a call connecting you directly to that agent. They don't access any of your tax info or interact with the IRS on your behalf - they just handle the hold time. You're right that sometimes you can get through by calling early, but that's not reliable. I tried early morning calls for three days straight and still had 2+ hour hold times before getting disconnected. With Claimyr, I didn't have to keep redialing or sit by my phone for hours. Plus, when dealing with a time-sensitive issue like a missed deadline, getting through quickly can make a big difference.
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Maya Jackson
I take back what I said. I actually tried Claimyr this morning after struggling for over a week to reach someone at the IRS about my wage levy. Every time I called directly I was getting the "call volume too high" message and getting disconnected. The service got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes, and the agent helped me set up a payment plan to release the levy. I was honestly shocked at how well it worked after all my failed attempts. Saved me from missing another day of work to sit on hold. For time-sensitive issues like the OP's missed deadline situation, getting through quickly really does matter.
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Tristan Carpenter
My understanding is that there are some rare exceptions to the 90-day deadline for Tax Court petitions. I think they're called "equitable tolling" situations. If you had some extraordinary circumstance like being in the hospital or deployed in the military, it might be worth mentioning that in a follow-up to the Tax Court.
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Jessica Nolan
•That's interesting. I didn't have any extreme circumstances like that though. Just poor planning and procrastination on my part unfortunately. Do you know if the IRS ever just "forgives" these situations if I explain it was an honest mistake?
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Tristan Carpenter
•The IRS generally doesn't "forgive" missed deadlines just because it was an honest mistake. They hear that all the time. If it was truly just procrastination, you'll need to follow the pay-first-then-claim-refund route the others mentioned. However, there was actually a recent Supreme Court case (Boechler v. Commissioner) that established equitable tolling could apply for certain tax deadlines, though that was for Collection Due Process cases, not deficiency notices. Still, tax law continues to evolve on these issues.
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Amaya Watson
Has anyone dealt with amended returns being processed during this type of situation? I filed an amended return like OP did and I'm wondering how long it typically takes the IRS to process those compared to regular returns?
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Grant Vikers
•In my experience, amended returns are taking FOREVER right now - like 6+ months. I filed one in April and it's still "processing" according to Where's My Amended Return tool. But that's separate from the Tax Court deadline issue. The amended return won't stop the deficiency assessment if you missed the petition deadline.
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