PSA: You Can Verify Identity for Tax Return by Phone Without Waiting for Letter

This is super helpful info! I appreciate you sharing this workaround. • Saves weeks of waiting for that letter in the mail • Helps get refunds processed faster • Gives peace of mind knowing your return is moving forward Did they give you any timeline for when your amended return would finish processing after the verification?

I'd add one important caution here - make sure you're calling the actual IRS office and not a scam number. The real IRS never initiates contact by phone, so you should be the one making the call to their official number. I had to do this last year and the verification was pretty straightforward, though they grilled me harder than a backyard BBQ on the 4th of July! 😂 Worth it though to get my refund unstuck.

I tried calling. Got nowhere. Waited 2 hours. Hung up on twice. So frustrating. Just want my refund. Been waiting since February. Finally used Claimyr to get through. It worked! Got a real person in 15 minutes. They verified my identity right away. No more waiting for a letter. Worth every penny. https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c

For anyone trying this approach, be prepared with exactly the right documents: - Your 2023 W-2 with all fields accessible - Social Security cards or numbers for all dependents - Your filed 2024 return (all 47 pages if you filed with schedules) - Any 1099 forms from 2023 - Photo ID ready to verify The average wait time on regular IRS lines is 73 minutes according to recent data, but local office direct lines can sometimes be faster at 24-38 minutes. Best times to call are Thursdays between 8:15-10:00am or 4:00-4:45pm.

This is correct advice. Under Internal Revenue Manual section 21.1.3, taxpayers can complete identity verification via telephone authentication when certain criteria are met. Per IRM 3.13.5, identity verification is required whenever there are indicators of potential identity theft (IDT) or when authentication factors cannot be verified through automated means. The telephone verification process follows the same security protocols as in-person verification but can expedite processing by 4-6 weeks compared to waiting for and responding to Letter 5071C or 4883C. Be aware that under IRC §6103, they're required to ask very specific questions to protect your tax information from unauthorized disclosure.

Has anyone tried this recently? I'm wondering if it still works... I've been waiting for my letter for almost 3 weeks now and my tax deadline extension is coming up soon. I'm worried about penalties if I don't get this resolved quickly. Maybe I should try calling tomorrow? I'm just nervous they might think it's suspicious that I'm calling before getting the letter...

It might be worth noting that this approach tends to work best for relatively straightforward tax situations. If you have complex issues like foreign income, multiple schedule C businesses, or potentially questionable deductions, they may still require in-person verification in some cases. Also, the success rate seems to vary somewhat by region and office staffing levels. Eastern region offices appear to be processing these verifications more efficiently than some Western region offices, based on what I've observed in various tax forums.

I had a similar situation but with an audit verification rather than identity verification. Compared to your experience, mine was even faster - only took about 12 minutes on the phone. The agent asked for specific line items from my Schedule C and verified my mortgage interest deduction to the penny. This is definitely more efficient than what my brother went through last year - he waited 6 weeks for his verification letter, then another 8 weeks for processing after he responded. Phone verification cut the total time by more than half in my case.