What This Letter Means
Letter 3164-A is advance notice that the IRS intends to contact people other than you about your tax matter. Collection revenue officers use several versions of Letter 3164. The "A" version is used for trust fund recovery penalty (TFRP) investigations. Other versions cover balance due, unfiled return, and transferee cases.
The TFRP lets the IRS assess unpaid withheld employment taxes personally against people who were responsible for collecting and paying them and willfully failed to do so. Before contacting third parties, such as a bank by summons, to look into who was responsible and willful, the revenue officer must send this letter to every potentially responsible person. If you got it, the IRS sees you as someone who may be responsible.
Revenue officers also use Letter 3164-A before contacting an employer about a payroll deduction agreement.
Timing and Your Rights
- Third-party contacts can't begin until the 46th day after the letter date.
- The notice covers a stated period of no more than one year.
- You can ask the IRS for a record of the third parties it contacted.
- You can sign Form 12180 to authorize contact with specific third parties sooner. That waives the waiting period only for the parties listed.
What to Do
- Don't ignore it. The revenue officer may ask to interview you using Form 4180. Get representation before that interview.
- Use the 45 days to gather records showing your actual role in the business's finances.
- Keep the letter with any other letters about the business's employment taxes.
What Comes Next
If the revenue officer decides to recommend the penalty against you, you'll receive Letter 1153 proposing the assessment. That letter has its own appeal deadline. The time to build your defense is now, before that letter arrives.
If you received Letter 3164-A in a trust fund recovery penalty investigation, call us at (813) 229-7100.