When reconsideration applies
You qualify if you didn't receive or respond to the original audit notice, you have new documentation, or there's an error in the assessed tax. Available even after the 90-day window for Tax Court has closed. The typical candidate is a default assessment: the audit letters went to an old address, no one answered, and the IRS disallowed everything and assessed the maximum.
What to submit
Form 12661 with supporting documents explaining why the assessment is wrong. The IRS sends the file back to the examination team or a new examiner to review. Organize the package by adjustment: for each disallowed item, a short explanation plus the records that prove it (receipts, bank statements, mileage logs, birth certificates and school records for dependent issues). A clean, indexed package gets worked; a shoebox gets set aside.
What counts as new information
Anything the examiner never saw: records you've since located, third-party statements, corrected forms from payers. What doesn't work is disagreement alone. Reconsideration is not an appeal of judgment calls; it's a re-examination based on evidence that wasn't in the file the first time.
Collection while the request is pending
Reconsideration doesn't automatically stop collection, but the IRS will generally hold enforcement on request while a legitimate reconsideration is being worked, especially if you're otherwise in filing compliance. If levies are already active, pairing the reconsideration with a collection hold request is standard practice.
If reconsideration is denied
You can request an Appeals conference on the denial, pay the tax and file a refund claim, or raise doubt-as-to-liability in an Offer in Compromise. Which path makes sense depends on the strength of the documents and the size of the balance; they escalate in effort roughly in that order.
Common questions
- How long does reconsideration take?
- 6-12 months typically. Collection may continue during the process unless we negotiate a hold.
- Can I request reconsideration after paying in full?
- No. Once the assessment is fully paid, the remedy is a refund claim instead. Reconsideration is specifically for unpaid or partially paid assessments.
- I never got the audit letters. Does that alone qualify me?
- It gets the door open, but the request still needs the documentation the original audit never saw. Not receiving mail excuses the silence; the evidence still has to carry the case.
- Can I use reconsideration for a CP2000 assessment?
- Yes. Underreporter assessments that closed by default are handled the same way: new documentation, organized by item, with Form 12661 or an equivalent written request.
Related
IRS Audit Representation
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