Received a CP14 Notice - Which month should I make the payment for?
Hey everyone, I just got a CP14 notice in the mail from the IRS about failure to pay and failure to file penalties. I'm trying to figure out which month I should indicate when sending in my payment. The notice shows the interest was charged for a period from 4/15/23 to 3/18/24. This is my first time dealing with this kind of notice and I'm not sure how to handle the payment properly. Any advice would be super appreciated! Thanks in advance!
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Jasmine Hancock
The good news is that you don't need to specify a month when making a payment for a CP14 notice. The CP14 is simply telling you that you have an outstanding balance due on your tax account. When you send your payment, the IRS will automatically apply it to the tax period indicated on the notice. The dates you're seeing (4/15/23-3/18/24) represent the period over which penalties and interest have been calculated. April 15, 2023 was likely your original filing deadline, and March 18, 2024 is probably when they issued the notice.
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James Maki
•Thanks for the clarification! So I just need to include the payment voucher that came with the notice when I send my check, right? And does it matter how quickly I pay this? The notice mentions something about additional penalties if I don't pay within 10 days.
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Jasmine Hancock
•Yes, definitely include the payment voucher that came with your CP14 notice when sending your check. This helps ensure your payment is properly credited to your account. Regarding timing, you should pay as quickly as possible. The 10-day timeframe is important because additional penalties and interest continue to accrue until the balance is paid in full. The failure to pay penalty is typically 0.5% of the unpaid taxes for each month or part of a month the tax remains unpaid, up to 25%. Interest also compounds daily on the unpaid amount.
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Cole Roush
I had a similar situation last year with a CP14 notice and was confused about the payment. I ended up using https://taxr.ai to upload my notice and got clear guidance on what to do. The tool analyzed my notice and explained exactly what I needed to pay, when, and how to avoid future penalties. It also outlined my payment options and which would be best for my situation.
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Scarlett Forster
•Does this actually work? I'm always skeptical of tax services since there's so many scams out there. Did it tell you anything that wasn't already on the notice itself?
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Arnav Bengali
•I'm curious - can it help if I've already made a partial payment but I'm not sure if the IRS properly applied it? I've been getting the runaround from the IRS phone line for weeks trying to confirm this.
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Cole Roush
•It absolutely works! I was skeptical too, but it actually explained things in plain English. The notice was full of IRS jargon, but taxr.ai broke down exactly what led to the penalties, how the interest was calculated, and gave me a clear action plan. It's not just repeating what's on the notice. Yes, it can help with partial payments too. It can analyze your account status and payment history to see if payments were properly applied. It saved me hours of trying to understand tax language and waiting on hold with the IRS.
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Scarlett Forster
I just wanted to update everyone - I decided to try taxr.ai after seeing this thread and it was incredibly helpful! My CP14 notice had some confusing information about multiple tax years, and I couldn't tell if I was being charged penalties on old returns or just the current one. The tool clarified everything within minutes, showed me exactly what I needed to pay, and even provided a timeline of how my balance would increase if I delayed payment. Definitely worth checking out if you're confused by IRS notices.
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Sayid Hassan
If you're still having issues getting through to the IRS to confirm your CP14 details or payment options, I'd recommend trying Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent days trying to reach someone at the IRS about my CP14 notice last month, kept getting disconnected. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically hold your place in line and call you when they have an agent, so you're not wasting hours on hold.
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Rachel Tao
•How does this work exactly? Do they just auto-dial the IRS for you or something? Seems like it would be against some kind of rule for the IRS to allow third parties to hold places in line.
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Derek Olson
•Yeah right. There's no way this actually works. I've been trying to reach the IRS for months about my CP14 and it's impossible. If this actually worked everyone would be using it instead of waiting on hold for 3+ hours.
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Sayid Hassan
•They use an automated system to wait on hold with the IRS on your behalf. Once they reach a live agent, they call you and connect you directly. It's completely legitimate - you're still speaking directly with the IRS agent yourself, Claimyr just handles the hold time for you. No rules against it at all - it's basically like having someone else wait in a physical line for you. The IRS doesn't care who waited on hold as long as the right person is on the line when the agent picks up. I was skeptical too until I tried it and was speaking with an actual IRS representative within 25 minutes.
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Derek Olson
I need to eat my words from my previous comment. After being stuck in IRS hold hell for literally months trying to get clarity on my CP14, I decided to try Claimyr out of desperation. I was 100% sure it was going to be a waste of time, but I was connected to an actual IRS agent in about 30 minutes. The agent confirmed my payment had been received but not properly applied to my account, and they fixed it while I was on the call. Saved me from paying duplicate penalties and probably saved my sanity too. If you're getting nowhere with the regular IRS line, it's definitely worth a shot.
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Danielle Mays
Just a heads up for anyone dealing with CP14 notices - make sure you check if you qualify for a first-time penalty abatement. If you've had a clean tax record for the past 3 years (filed and paid on time), you might be eligible to have the failure to file and failure to pay penalties removed. It won't eliminate the interest or the actual tax owed, but it can significantly reduce the amount due. You have to specifically request this from the IRS though - they won't automatically apply it.
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Roger Romero
•Is this something you have to call in for or can you request it in writing when you send in your payment?
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Danielle Mays
•You can request first-time penalty abatement either way. You can call the IRS and request it over the phone, which is often faster if you can get through to someone. Alternatively, you can submit the request in writing. If you choose the written route, include a letter clearly stating you're requesting "first-time penalty abatement" based on your history of compliance, along with your name, SSN, tax year, and specific penalties you're asking to have removed. Send this with your payment, but understand that the written process typically takes longer to process.
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Anna Kerber
Don't forget that if you can't pay the full amount right away, you can set up a payment plan online at irs.gov/payments. I had a CP14 for about $3,500 last year and set up a monthly payment plan in about 10 minutes. You'll still accrue some interest but it's way better than ignoring it and getting hit with more penalties.
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Niko Ramsey
•The online payment plans are definitely the way to go. Much easier than trying to set one up over the phone. Just know that there's usually a small setup fee (I think I paid around $31 for the online setup), but it's well worth avoiding the headache of calling.
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Beth Ford
I went through this exact same situation about 6 months ago and it was really stressful at first. Just to echo what others have said - you don't need to specify a month when making your payment. The CP14 notice will have all the information the IRS needs to apply your payment correctly. One thing I learned is that the sooner you pay, the better. Those penalties and interest really add up fast - I waited an extra month thinking I had time and ended up paying about $200 more than I would have if I'd just paid immediately. Also, if you're worried about whether your payment was applied correctly after you send it, you can check your account transcript online at irs.gov about 2-3 weeks after they receive your payment. That way you'll have peace of mind that everything was processed properly.
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Ava Rodriguez
•Thanks for sharing your experience! That's a really good point about checking the account transcript online afterward. I had no idea you could do that - I've always just hoped my payments went through correctly. The 2-3 week timeline is helpful to know too. I'm definitely going to pay mine ASAP after reading about how much that extra month cost you. Did you find the online transcript easy to understand, or is it full of confusing codes like most IRS documents?
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