Here’s What to Know about Refundable Credits Audits By Mail

[Music] the IRS conducts audits by mail to verify a taxpayer's eligibility for child-based refundable credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit typically we hold the refund until the audit is complete for Earned Income Tax Credit audits you'll usually need to provide documentation verifying your relationship to the children claimed and that they lived with you for more than half the year for information on the documents you can submit visit the form 886 EIC toolkit at irs.gov f88 6h toolkit if you aren't sure you qualify for the credits claimed you can visit the interactive tax assistant at irs.gov or the eitc assistant at irs.gov ITC send us copies of the requested documents with the reply sheet to show that you can claim the credit you can securely upload your documents through the document upload tool on irs.gov or send them by mail orax if you're mailing your information do not send original documents if we accept your return as filed you'll receive your refund in 6 to 8 weeks if you owe no other taxes or legal debts if the documents don't verify the audit issues or you don't respond we'll send you a form 4549 audit report the report shows the amount of tax owed or the corrected refund amount if you agree with our proposed changes sign and return the second page of the form 4549 if you don't respond to the form 4549 or the information that you provide is not sufficient you'll receive a statutory notice of deficiency which is the next legal step and allows you to petition the US Tax Court you can continue to work with us to resolve your issue however the IRS cannot extend the time to petition the US Tax Court if we don't accept your documents and you disagree with our findings you may request an appeal by filing a written protest and sending it to the address on the letter if you have a problem you can't resolve or an IRS action is causing a financial hardship contact the taxpayer Advocate service at taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov to view your account information including information on the status of your audit visit your account at irs.gov your account you'll need to register to view your account you can also visit irs.gov for information on refundable credits and irs.gov payments for payment options [Music]