Insuring Acceptance of Correspondence by the IRS

The IRS must take action on any form only if they receive the document and acknowledge receipt. Understanding the second part of the previous sentence is very important.

Recently, I have seen several new clients who are absolutely certain that either a tax return was filed by a previous tax professional, or another document was mailed to the IRS, but the service denies receipt.

How does this happen? There are two paths to this undesirable outcome, electronic and mail. Let’s deal with each in turn.

When a return is sent electronically or certain forms such as the Form 2848 Power of Attorney are sent via electronic means, if it reaches the service and is acceptable, there is always an acknowledgement. There is also an acknowledgement if a document is received, but not acceptable.

This is common in e-filed returns where there are certain errors such as the wrong tax id number. The IRS will, generally within 24 hours, send an acknowledgement to the filing organization through their software that has error messages where they exist or just the header information. Referred to as the MEF ACK, this is easy to check and should be checked on filing.

Taxpayers should receive this report via secure means from the tax professional’s office within 2 working days. Remember, no MEF ACK, no filed return.

In the case of mailed correspondence, simple first class mail will never do. In a recent court case, the Fourth Circuit held that the taxpayer having sent a claim for refund first class did not demonstrate it arriving at the IRS.

Code Section 7502 says, in part, that a presumption of receipt by the IRS if postmarked before the deadline, but using registered or certified mail is required to defend the date.

Simply put, anytime something must be mailed, send it either certified or registered with a receipt requested box checked. Not being able to show receipt will destroy any chance of an affirmative defense to having made a deadline for submission. The IRS is generally very strict on deadlines.

Insuring Acceptance of Correspondence by the IRS

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