Letter 4883C: call the IRS to confirm your return

The IRS stopped a return that used your Social Security number until it hears from you directly. Unlike its online cousin, the Letter 5071C, this one asks for a phone call.

The call has two jobs: prove you are you, and confirm whether the return on file is yours.

The irs.gov material on this letter lists no fixed deadline. Call soon anyway. The IRS Letter 4883C page says: "Until we hear from you, we won't be able to process your tax return, issue refunds, or credit any overpayments to your account."

Nothing moves. A real return of yours stays unprocessed, and a fake one is never reported as fake. The letter's steps are the only way out.

1. Confirm the letter is real. IRS.gov says to call 800-829-1040 if a notice looks suspicious.
2. Lay out the letter, the return for the year it names, a prior-year return, and the W-2s, 1099s and schedules for each.
3. Call the number on the letter during its listed hours.
4. If you didn't file, use the Taxpayer Protection Program hotline number on the letter. IRS.gov says not to file Form 14039 for this letter.

The difference is the channel. Both letters flag a return as possible identity theft and both put it on hold. Letter 5071C sends you to an online tool; Letter 4883C, per the IRS, tells you to call and verify your identity and tax return information by phone.

That means you need to be ready to answer questions on the spot. IRS.gov lists what to have: the letter, the Form 1040 return it refers to (a W-2 or 1099 is not a return), a prior-year return if you filed one, and the W-2s, 1099s and schedules behind each. If you can't verify by phone, you'll be asked to visit a local IRS office with those papers. Make the call somewhere quiet, with a pen, and write down the date, the name or ID of the person you spoke with, and what they told you to do next.

First, Blaga checks that the letter really came from the IRS and walks you through its steps. Then she helps you prepare for the call by gathering the letter and the return it refers to. If the return wasn't yours, she tells you what the identity theft process looks like from there.

You make the verification call yourself, since it is about your identity. Blaga is based on FM 1960 W in Houston and also helps by secure portal. If the return was fake, unfiled years or missing returns may need attention; see unfiled returns help.

Once you verify, the IRS can resume processing your return. Per the irs.gov Letter 4883C page, it may take up to 9 weeks to receive your refund, and other problems found along the way can mean another letter. If the return was fraudulent, follow the instructions you get on the call. Any later letter can be checked in the IRS notice decoder.