Received letter from IRS LTR 2893C - Is it legit ??

[Chilt71]

My wife and I received a letter from the IRS with code LTR 2893C   basically saying they had changed the amount we claimed as excess Social Security Tax withholding and that there was an excess shown on the return and we now have a balance due and we would receive a bill in 4 to 8 weeks.  Is this letter legitimate?  It does have our correct TIN and the amounts for Soc Security Tax withheld are correct but it seems very fishy. TurboTax did not get any errors or warnings and so not sure what the problem might be. Can we contact TurboTax to ask them ?

It referred us to contact the office of M Aguirre at [phone number removed] and the address is 5045 E Butler Ave, Fresno, CA [social security number removed]

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

it could be legit. did you and your spouse each have a W-2?   if the spouse's W-2 wasn't coded as such, then TT would report excess social security which would be a credit against the tax you owed when in fact there was no excess.   this would be your input error and not an error TT's could catch.  

you have various options 

contact turbo tax support or

go to it IRS website and either

click on view your account or 

get a transcript of your return (get your tax record)

[xmasbaby0]

Is the letter for a tax year prior to 2018?

EXCESS SOCIAL SECURITY

Look at line 71 of your tax return.  If there is an amount there, then you claimed to have paid excess Social Security.  That could happen when you enter all of the W-2 income under only one name on a joint return.  The IRS refunds the “excess” Social Security.  Now they have matched your W-2’s to the return and they want that money back.

You need to check the worksheets for the tax return to see if you made the error of listing all of the income under only one spouse.   See if you entered all of the W-2 income for both spouses under only one of the names on a joint return.  That is the most common reason for this problem.  Unfortunately, it is user error.  As you prepare your return, several screens alert you to it.

Did you save your W-2's?  (You should always save your own W-2's for you own records).  Look at box 4 of each spouse's W-2 to see what is there.  Is there more than the maximum for either one of you in your box 4?

2016  Maximum $7347      2017 Maximum $7886  2018 $7960.80 

2019 $8239.80

And if you did in fact make the mistake of entering all of the income for your W-2’s under only one spouse’s name, you may have made that same mistake on the next year’s tax return if you transferred all your data over from the past year to the next.  Check to see—before you get another IRS letter.

Edited to say check box 4

[SteamTrain]

The address appears to be legitimate :

https://www.irs.gov/filing/submission-processing-center-street-addresses-for-private-delivery-servic...

[Dlw2020]

What was the phone number? I got a similar letter but is says contact by phone number ___ then it says or by letter and include the tab. The phone number is blank though? Thank you

[BrandiLO]

Calling the IRS can be quite frustrating when trying to get a live person on the line at this time of year. I've called myself to create these steps as a workaround to get to a live agent. 

Please call 1 (800) 829-1040 and follow the prompts below.

Press 1

Listen to the recording (it will not allow you to skip), then press 2

Press 1

Press 3

Press 2

Enter your social security number

Press 1

Press 1 to confirm the entry is correct

Next, please allow the menu options to be played but do not choose any of them. The recording will then say, "If you have not heard your topic, please hold". Afterward, the recording will say, "if you owe money and agree with the amount you owe, press 1", but do not press anything. The system will again say, "please hold". Then you will be transferred to a representative. 

Please click here for more details and information for how to prepare for a call to the IRS.