The IRS claims I owe taxes I already paid - Have receipt but they show no record! What to do?

This happens more often than you'd think! Don't panic - you have documentation of payment which is the most important thing. Here's what you should do: First, make a copy of your receipt from pay1040.com and your bank statement showing the transaction. You'll need these as proof. Next, draft a response letter to the IRS explaining the situation. Include copies (never originals) of your payment proof and reference the notice number from the letter they sent you. Mail this response using certified mail with return receipt requested so you have proof they received it. This creates a paper trail protecting you from penalties while they sort it out. Also check if there might have been a mismatch in how the payment was applied. Sometimes payments get misapplied if there was a typo in your SSN or tax year specification when you made the payment. While you wait for this to resolve, keep trying different times to call the IRS - early morning (right when they open) is often best for getting through.

I went through this nightmare last year and discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me sort everything out. My situation was almost identical - paid through a third-party processor, had my receipt, but the IRS had no record of it. I uploaded my receipt and bank statement to taxr.ai and their system analyzed everything, identified the likely issue (I had used my business EIN instead of my personal SSN when making the payment), and generated a response letter specifically for my situation. They also extracted all the exact payment details from my receipt that the IRS needed to track down my payment. The best part was they explained exactly what would happen next and how long it would typically take to resolve. Saved me so much stress because I knew what to expect!

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after seeing this thread and it was actually super helpful! I was skeptical at first, but they identified the exact problem right away. In my case, I had made a payment through my tax software but selected "2024 estimated tax" instead of "2023 tax return payment." Their system generated a perfect response letter with all the transaction details highlighted exactly as the IRS needs to see them. Got a resolution letter from the IRS last week confirming they found my payment and applied it correctly. Whole process took about 3 weeks which was way faster than I expected. The detailed analysis they provided showed me exactly what went wrong, and now I know what to watch out for when making future payments. Would definitely recommend if you're stuck in payment purgatory with the IRS!

When this happened to me last year, I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS. Complete waste of time. Finally tried Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and they got me connected to an IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was super skeptical at first, but it actually worked! The IRS agent was able to look up my payment by the confirmation number on my receipt and found that it had been misapplied to a different tax year. They fixed it on the spot and sent me a confirmation letter. Saved me from having to send letters back and forth and waiting months for a resolution. Worth every penny just for the stress relief of getting it resolved immediately.

I need to eat my words and apologize to Profile 14. After posting my skeptical comment, I was desperate enough to try Claimyr since my IRS issue was about to hit the deadline. I honestly expected it to be a waste of money, but I got a call back in 32 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line! The agent found my payment immediately (it was applied to my spouse's separate account even though we filed jointly). She fixed it while I was on the phone and canceled the collection notice. She even gave me a confirmation number for the correction. I spent WEEKS trying to get through on my own with no success. Wish I hadn't been so stubborn - could have resolved this whole thing a lot sooner. If you're on the fence about trying it, just do it. The peace of mind alone is worth it.

Have you checked if maybe the payment went through but was applied to the wrong tax year or wrong type of tax? This happened to me once - I paid my regular income tax but they applied it to self-employment tax or something. Called the local Taxpayer Advocate Service and they helped sort it out. Might be worth trying them instead of the main IRS number.

Did you check if your spouse's SSN was used instead of yours when making the payment? That's what happened to me with our joint return. The payment was showing up under my wife's account but not mine, even though I was the primary taxpayer. Such a stupid system that they can't link payments between spouses on joint returns!

Great news that you found the issue with using your spouse's SSN instead of yours! This is such a common mistake with joint returns. When you call the IRS tomorrow, make sure to have both your receipt from pay1040.com and your bank statement ready. Tell them specifically that the payment was made using your spouse's SSN but needs to be transferred to your account as the primary taxpayer. They should be able to locate the payment in their system and reapply it correctly to your return. Also mention the collection notice number from the letter you received - this will help them pull up your case quickly. Once they transfer the payment, ask them to send you a written confirmation and to remove any penalties that may have been assessed. You might also want to update your post with this resolution since it could help other people who run into the same issue. The SSN mix-up on joint returns seems to trip up a lot of folks!