Received Notice to Submit Form 8895 after Filing Amendment - What Is This?

Thanks for the response. I double checked and it definitely says 8895. The notice has CP2000 in the upper corner and the address is the same IRS office in Kansas City that I've received legit notices from before. It's definitely from the IRS. Do you think they could be referring to Form 8958 (Allocation of Tax Amounts Between Certain Individuals in Community Property States)? Though I'm in Illinois, not a community property state, and I'm single, so that wouldn't make any sense either.

That's very interesting that it has a legitimate CP2000 number and appears to be from a valid IRS office. The CP2000 is a notice of proposed adjustment, which makes sense if it's related to your amendment. It's quite possible they meant Form 8958, though as you noted, it wouldn't be relevant for a single filer in Illinois. Another possibility is Form 8995 (Qualified Business Income Deduction Simplified Computation). The IRS systems sometimes have glitches when processing amendments, and it could be an automated error. Your best course of action is to call the IRS again and specifically ask for the department that handles CP2000 notices. Request that they clarify exactly what form they're requesting, as Form 8895 doesn't exist in current tax literature. Make sure to document the call with the representative's ID number and notes about your conversation.

Does this actually work though? I've gotten weird notices before and the IRS people themselves couldn't even tell me what to do. How does some website know better than IRS employees?

I'm curious - does it work for things other than form notices? I got a letter saying I owe penalties for underpayment but I'm CERTAIN I paid enough through withholding. Would this help figure out if they're calculating my payments wrong?

It absolutely works! The site was created by tax attorneys who know how IRS systems generate these notices and the common errors that occur. They've built a database of IRS notice patterns and can recognize errors that even IRS employees miss because frontline phone reps don't always have training on system-generated errors. Yes, it works for penalty notices too! It would analyze your withholding calculations against what the IRS is claiming and identify where the discrepancy is occurring. It can tell you if they've missed a payment, applied it to the wrong year, or made a calculation error. Then it gives you the exact language to use in your response to get it fixed.

How does this actually work though? Seems sketchy that some third party service can magically get through when the IRS lines are constantly busy. Do they have some special access or something?

Sounds like a scam tbh. How much do they charge for something you can do yourself for free? The IRS eventually answers if you keep calling at different times of day.

There's no special access or magic - they use technology to continuously call and navigate the IRS phone system until they secure a place in line. Then they call you and connect you directly to that secured spot. It's basically what you'd do manually if you had unlimited time and patience to keep redialing. They do charge for the service, but consider the value of your time. I spent over 15 hours across multiple days trying to get through myself with no success. With Claimyr, I was talking to an IRS agent within about 30 minutes of signing up. When you're dealing with a time-sensitive tax issue that could result in penalties or further confusion, that's worth something. Plus you actually get to speak with someone who can help rather than getting disconnected or told to call back.

No self-employment at all - just a regular W-2 job. The amendment was only to claim some education expenses I forgot on the original filing (Form 8863 for education credits). Nothing business related whatsoever. I'm wondering if maybe the "8" in 8863 and the "95" from somewhere else got combined into "8895" in their system? Still doesn't really explain why they'd be asking for a form that doesn't exist though.

The combination of 8863 and some other form number accidentally creating 8895 is actually a really plausible explanation. The IRS's computer systems are ancient and glitches like this happen more often than they admit. Since your amendment involved education credits, another possibility is they might be looking for Form 8915 (which relates to retirement plan distributions, but sometimes these codes get mixed up). Or maybe even Form 8885 (Health Coverage Tax Credit). I'd definitely recommend calling back and specifically explaining you amended for education credits using Form 8863, and asking if that might be causing confusion in their system. Sometimes just mentioning the correct form can help the rep figure out what's happening.

Good point! Real IRS notices have specific security features. The paper should have a watermark visible when held up to light. Also check if the letter has your last 4 SSN digits (scammers often don't have this). And NEVER call a phone number listed in a suspicious notice - always call the official IRS number instead.