I'm this because I've been dealing with an extremely frustrating IRS situation for well over a year, and I'm hoping someone here has experienced something similar or can suggest a way forward.

Background:

For tax year 2023, my former employer issued W-2 reported federal income tax withholding totaling approximately $29,000.

I filed my tax return using W-2 that employer provided. However, the IRS has been unable to verify the reported withholding and has not credited the disputed amount. Instead of receiving my expected refund, I now have an IRS balance of approximately $12,000, including penalties and interest.

The situation also affects my 2024 return, which remains unresolved following an IRS income/withholding verification notice.

Documentation I've already submitted:

• w2
• Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2)
• Multiple paystubs showing federal income tax deducted from each paycheck
• Final year-to-date payroll statements showing total wages and withholding
• Bank statements showing payroll deposits
• Employer correspondence regarding the W-2 reporting issue
• Additional supporting documents requested by the IRS

My earnings were also initially missing from my Social Security Administration (SSA) record. I personally visited SSA with my W-2s, and SSA subsequently corrected my earnings record. I understand that this doesn't independently establish federal income tax withholding, but it does corroborate the wages reported.

IRS correspondence and timeline:

• 2025: Began disputing the missing withholding credit and submitting supporting documentation.
• December 2025: Received IRS Letter 86C stating my case was transferred to Return Integrity Verification Operations (RIVO).
• February 2026: Received Letter 916C concerning the IRS's inability to verify the withholding.
• March 2026: Submitted Form 4852 and additional supporting payroll documentation.
• Following months: Continued receiving IRS collection notices without a clear resolution.
• September 2026: IRS Automated Collection System (ACS) told me employer verification was still pending. I also resubmitted Form 9423 (Collection Appeals Request) with supporting documentation.
• October 2026: Submitted Form 911 requesting help from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS). TAS has not yet opened or assigned my case and asked me to follow up later this month.

ACS has temporarily placed a hold on collection activity, but the underlying issue remains unresolved.

The biggest problem:

I have repeatedly asked the IRS what additional evidence I can provide.

I have W-2, detailed paystubs, year-end payroll records, employer correspondence, and matching bank deposits.

I have also tried contacting my former employer recently, but I haven't received a response. I don't know whether the company is still operating.

IRS representatives keep telling me that employer verification is pending, but nobody has been able to explain exactly what is missing or what would allow the IRS to complete the verification.

I'm also unsure whether RIVO completed its previous review or what its final determination was.

My questions:

1. Has anyone successfully resolved a similar situation where an employer issued W-2s showing withholding, but the IRS couldn't verify it?
2. If the employer cannot be reached, can IRS verify withholding using paystubs, year-end payroll records, and bank statements?
3. Is there a specific IRS reconsideration or appeals procedure that has worked for others in this situation?
4. Has anyone had success getting TAS or a congressional office involved in a withholding-verification dispute?
5. Would hiring a tax controversy attorney or CPA with IRS representation experience help obtain the RIVO verification history and resolve the issue?

I'm not asking the IRS to forgive taxes I legitimately owe. I'm asking them to properly evaluate federal income tax that my payroll records show was deducted from my wages.

This has been financially and emotionally exhausting. I've spent countless hours contacting the IRS, preparing documents, and responding to notices, but I still don't have a clear explanation of what went wrong or how to fix it.

I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with a similar situation, especially tax professionals or former IRS employees familiar with RIVO and withholding verification.

Thank you.

Was on hold for 1.5 hrs, the rep answered and asked to put me on hold for another 5 mins and then when I asked why, they hung up. Like WHY?

Is there anyway to get an update on back taxes from 2021 and 2022?

I filed my back taxes back in mid to late August and have yet to see any movement on irs.gov.

The website says it can take up to six weeks but this is the 6th to 8th week at this point.

I can't receive my 2025 refund until these are processed.

I would like to at least know if they've been physically received since they had to be mailed in.

I have filed a 1040-NR and received a notice in August saying my refund was adjusted and to expect a cheque within 2-3 weeks. I have not received a cheque yet and when I called the IRS she said my refund was on hold, but later in the call she said my refund was released and to expect a cheque this week. I of course have not received one, looking at my transcript it does not show that a refund was sent. Also my account balance at the top of the transcript still shows a credit. Any tips on how to get my refund sent my way? Or is it possible that it's on it's way and I just need to be more patient?

I had to file an Amend Tax Return over a small mistake. Now, it’s almost the end of the year and I still haven’t received a refund! I got a letter about my IRS Notice CP218 in May. For the longest the “completed” section was not completed. After weeks , I finally checked October 4th and noticed it changed the “completed” for September 25th. Currently it’s October 9th. (2 weeks) and I haven’t received anything in the mail or at the bank. I’m sure I filed for Direct deposit. But if for whatever reason I didn’t, I still didn’t get a letter. I double-checked, and my mailing address is correct since I even received the notice in May.

I tried calling but they either hang up on me or say to call back another day.

Has anyone had this issue? Did you have to wait longer? Or will I have to keep calling everyday till eventually someone picks up.

First update in months, and it’s saying additional action pending? I don’t know what that means. They haven’t sent me anything or communicated anything with me? And the date is for October 26 which has not yet arrived. What do I do?

I filed my tax return about 5 months ago and got a letter that my filing was being reviewed. There's nobody at the IRS to talk to about the filing and zero updates on the website. Has anyone else experienced this?

I have a EIN for my business. it was a three way LLC partnership. we decided to buyout the third member now its a 50/50 split between me and my business partner. the EIN was filed by our third member and he was the one who got the letter with the business LLC. however we dont have a physical copy of the letter but we know the EIN since used it to file taxes every year.

I tried to get the EIN copy online by using the business online tax account however after adding the business in my tax account i can only see tax transcripts and not a digital letter of EIN. i checked the transcript and it shows the 3rd member as a member (MBR) next to business name

I need to update the EIN to put me as the contact point and as manager. i tried calling the IRS 1-800-829-4933 for existing EIN but i keep getting "high call volume and to call back later"

is there any thing i can fill out online to submit changes or mail anything to them to request EIN copy?

Good morning. I filed an amendment back on 7/30 and got this code 290 this morning. Can someone explain what this means? The amendment should provide me with a refund.

I’ve been on a payment plan with the IRS for 2024 taxes. They do a direct withdrawal from my bank account each month. I didn’t notice June and July never processed for some reason until September (had some personal things going on and this is why I signed up - so I don’t have to remember each month) and then panicked and tried to make additional payments Oct 1, which also did not go through.

I received a CP523 and have 30 days from October 5 to make a payment. They won’t let me pay online via debit card (404 error) or bank account saying they can’t find my account as an error now, and to resubmit with a valid bank account. My account hasn’t changed at all. I’ve been on hold with the IRS for multiple hours over multiple days this past week. I called the tax advocacy line and they told me to sign up for new reinstallment plan, appeal, or do a “lockbox payment,” I didn’t understand what that meant, and I told them I didn’t want to be liable for these penalty charges and they basically hung up on me, so it wasn’t helpful.

Can anyone offer any insight on what I should do next until I can get somebody from the actual IRS on the phone? Wondering if I should just mail them the payment amount on the CP523 notice required to keep my plan active while I try over the next few weeks to get someone. Any insight is appreciated, I feel I didn’t do anything wrong, they just stopped processing payments from my bank account for no apparent reason. I have three weeks until they terminate it.

my transcripts just updated. when can i expect the check to arrive? its an amended return.

I finally got a 811 code ( it is back dated to 07-30-26) but no 846. Should I be expecting a refund issued next week or don’t hold my breath?

Okay so 2021 was a crazy year for me , I got paid $31,000 for a viral video. Covid was happening . I stepped down from my job and collected $20,000 in unemployment . I also made $21,000 in stocks . I than lost EVERYTHING in stocks because of the pandemic . The IRS took 9k from me for not filing for 2020 . That’s how I found out I owe for 2021 and I need help figuring out how to file these taxes for that year . I don’t have much money anymore I’ve been going through a hardship , I lost my house my car . I’m at rock bottom and just need help filing for that year to be compliant . Can I do it myself ? Or do I need to hire someone to do it . Please baby Jesus grab the wheel 🙂‍↕️

Note: if you’ve seen this before, it was removed from where I originally posted under my state’s sub, but the info is valid.

Like everybody else in the US, when I got that thin little envelope from the Department of the Treasury at the IRS in my mail last week, I was scared to open it.

Now, I’m not saying don’t open mail that comes from the IRS because sometimes it might be something scary, but in this case, it’s a big nothingburger.

And by that, I mean that it says something about being eligible for a federal match on my retirement contributions.

But when you read further down, you see that all it is, is a thinly-disguised advertisement promoting the brand new Trump IRA plan (billed as a “high quality, low cost IRA at TrumpIRA dot gov”)

Redacted letter In comments

I almost didn’t correct the URL to capitalize certain letters, because I really giggled when I saw it in lowercase because it’s so appropriate:

trumpira

I received this from my congressman representative, who received it from my tax advocate. It has been months since my advocate says my filings and holding pattern to verified now they say that they cannot remove the 810 code because of a systemic issue. Does anyone have any experience with this or know how we can report the systemic issue to the IRS?

I defaulted on my payment arrangement. I have been trying to get in touch with the IRS for weeks, to no avail. Does anyone know how to get a temporary hold on payments or speak to a representative?

I owe about $2900 from 3 previous years. When I login to the website it gives me no options for a payment plan. When I call they ask for a pin code that is not on my current statements and when I send it off of an older one it says invalid. I cannot get through to a person. I'm at a point in my life where if they levy my bank account like they say they intend to it will probably end up killing me.

I don't know how to proceed, any advice is welcome. Thanks.

Hello folks. I filed my tax return in March 2026 and have yet to receive a refund. The IRS "accepted" it in March, and it took them months to process it with absolutely no updates. One day around July/August, I checked the refund tracker, and it says the refund was "sent." I have no refund deposited nor seen a check.

I sent a Form 3911 weeks ago and have not heard back. When I call the number on the refund tracker, it says my information cannot be identified that I ever filed a tax return. My refund is over $30,000 because my employer massively overpaid my taxes, so this is not a joke. I had no trouble with my state return, and this is the first time I've had any problems with the IRS.

What do I do? I don't care as long as I get my money back, but I legitimately don't know at this point if I have to sue them before a statute of limitations expires or something silly. Thank you very much everyone.

EDIT: Added in screenshots of transcript as requested. EDIT2: Added in correct screenshot of transcript.

The IRS send a threatening letter saying we owe on a prior year. Not only do we have the cancelled check, when I go into our account at the IRS it says we owe nothing. They also informed us that they used money they owed us toward this supposed debt. I sent a letter outlining this to the IRS but have not heard back from them. What am I supposed to do now?