What This Letter Means
Letter 288C, Interim Reply; Adjustment Request Considered, is the IRS's reply to something you asked it to change on your account. The IRS builds this letter from standard paragraphs plus an open paragraph where the employee explains your specific situation. Read that paragraph closely. It tells you what actually happened.
Most often, it says one of these things:
- Your adjustment was made or is pending. The IRS removed all or part of a tax, penalty, or interest charge. There may be a delay between the adjustment and the formal notice showing it. The letter tells you to ignore notices you get in the meantime that don't include the adjustment.
- Your request was partly allowed. The letter explains why only part was adjusted.
- Something was recorded. For example, the IRS recorded a credit carryforward amount you reported.
- Your request can't be processed yet. For example, the IRS can't work your inquiry until you complete identity verification it asked for earlier.
Employers can get this letter too. One example: the IRS refunded Social Security and Medicare tax wrongly withheld from a foreign employee and tells the employer to correct its own employment tax return and file Form W-2c.
What to Do
- Read the open paragraph. That's the part written about your case.
- If it confirms an adjustment, watch for the follow-up notice or check your account transcript to make sure it posted.
- If it tells you to file something, verify your identity, or correct a return, do it promptly.
- If only part of your request was allowed and you disagree, call the number on the letter and ask what support would change the result.
- Keep the letter. If a later bill doesn't match, this letter is your proof of what the IRS said.
If the IRS adjustment you were promised never shows up, call us at (813) 229-7100.