The opening line of IRS Letter 5972C states, "You haven't paid all the taxes you owe as shown in the account summary below." It is used to threaten you with failing to pay or failing to file a tax return. They warn you that failure to comply will lead to an assessment and Enforced Collection unless you pay. They have most likely sent you previous Collections letters which you may not have received.
Before you respond you need to research your case.
First, get your Wage and Income Transcripts and your Account Transcripts for the time periods involved. If you have a fax machine the IRS will fax them to you. Otherwise, it takes 10 days to mail.
When you get the papers, review the Account Transcripts for any amounts due. If you need to file returns, you have the Wage and Income transcripts to guide you. If you are in Collection, the Account Transcripts will tell you the dates of assessment and the status of the file. From this information you can determine the Statute of Limitations and what you need to fight against the IRS.
Most often, you will have to complete a Form 433F or Form 433A to disclose your financial condition to The IRS.
Therefore, you should use these IRS forms to demonstrate your inability to pay or to mitigate the IRS action. There is a lot of evidence you need to gather and attach to the Forms in order to properly present your case. As you can imagine, anything you send to the IRS must be properly prepared. If not, the IRS will reject it and you will lose.
Fortunately, our Webinars show you exactly how to respond and what evidence to gather. Also, you can always follow the free Collection Prep Steps that we've created to respond to IRS Letter 5972C or you can call our office for a working session where we will help you to put your papers in order.
