A day after Representative Neal sent a letter asking the IRS to delay sending out notices to taxpayers regarding balances due until they cleared the mail backlog, the IRS addressed this issue, posting an announcement regarding a delay in the sending of notices due to the mail handling issues. The agency announcement provides:

The IRS has suspended the mailing of three notices – the CP501, the CP503 and the CP504 – that go to taxpayers who have a balance due on their taxes. Although the IRS continues to make significant reductions in the backlog of unopened mail that developed while most IRS operations were closed due to COVID-19, this temporary adjustment to processing is intended to lessen any possible confusion that might be associated with delays in processing correspondence received from taxpayers.

The IRS is taking the step to avoid confusion for taxpayers who previously received a balance due notice (CP14) and mailed a payment to the IRS; however, that payment may still be unopened. The CP501, the CP503 and the CP504 are follow-up notices are typically automatically sent to taxpayers who do not respond to the CP14. These automatic follow-up notices will be temporarily stopped until the backlog of mail is reduced. The IRS will continue to assess the mail inventory to determine the appropriate time to resume the follow-up notices.

Note that the IRS does suggest that taxpayers should respond (apparently by mail since the agency continues to suggest not calling the agency) to a CP14 balance due notice.

However, taxpayers who have received but not yet responded to a CP14 balance due notice are encouraged to promptly respond.

However, the announced delay in sending follow-up notices doesn’t mean taxpayers and advisers won’t continue to see follow-up notices for a while. The agency warns.

As the IRS works to stop these mailings at our processing centers, some taxpayers and tax professionals may still receive these notices during the next few weeks due to delivery of existing mailings.

The agency reminds taxpayers to attempt to ensure these checks will process when the IRS finally gets them processed, but also notes their previous announcement to waive fees normally imposed on dishonored checks:

In addition, the IRS has previously announced that these payments in the unopened mail will be posted and credited on the date the IRS received them – rather than the date the agency opened and processed them. The IRS reminds taxpayers in this situation they should not cancel their checks and should ensure funds continue to be available so the IRS can process them to avoid potential penalties and interest. To provide fair and equitable treatment, the IRS is also providing relief from bad check penalties for dishonored checks the agency received between March 1 and July 15 due to delays in this IRS processing.

The IRS also asks taxpayers to delay calling the agency regarding pending unprocessed payments, stating that “[d]ue to high call volumes, the IRS suggests waiting to contact the agency about any unprocessed paper payments still pending.”

Finally, the IRS closes out by suggesting taxpayers looking into using alternative electronic payment methods, asking taxpayers to visit https://irs.gov/payments to look into other payment options that will avoid the mail processing backlog.