Business IRS notices and letters explained
Businesses receive their own family of IRS notices — about payroll deposits, employment tax returns, business balances, levies and personal liability for trust fund taxes. Find your notice code below to see what it means, the deadline that matters and the options that may be worth exploring. Individual notices are in our IRS notices section.
Read the notice code first
Business notices print their code in the top or bottom right corner — CP136, CP207, CP504B and so on. The code tells you which return and tax period the IRS is talking about, and whether the letter is informational, a proposed penalty, a balance due, or a step toward levy. Payroll notices usually relate to Form 941 or 940; others relate to the business's income tax return. Personal-liability letters such as Letter 1153 are addressed to individuals, not the business.
Verify, then respond before the deadline
Confirm a notice is real through your IRS business tax account, a transcript or the phone number listed on IRS.gov — never a number printed only on a letter you're unsure about. Response windows matter: Letter 1153 gives 60 days to appeal (75 if addressed outside the U.S.), and a final notice of intent to levy gives 30 days to request a Collection Due Process hearing. Individual notices are covered in IRS notices.
IRS Letter 1153: proposed Trust Fund Recovery Penalty
Letter 1153 means the IRS proposes to hold you personally liable for a business's unpaid payroll taxes — the withheld income tax and employee Social Security and Medicare — through the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty. You have 60 days to file a written appeal before the penalty is assessed against you personally.
IRS Notice CP504B: notice of intent to levy for a business
CP504B is the IRS's notice of intent to levy for business accounts, issued under IRC section 6331(d) because a balance remains unpaid. The IRS asks for payment or contact within 30 days. After that it may serve a disqualified employment tax levy or federal contractor levy, and file a federal tax lien. A payment plan or appeal may help.
IRS Notice CP136: your federal tax deposit schedule for next year
CP136 tells an employer that its Form 941 deposit requirement for next year may be different from last year. The IRS bases it on total tax reported for the four quarters in the lookback period: $50,000 or less means monthly deposits; more than $50,000 means semiweekly. It's informational, but following the wrong schedule triggers deposit penalties.
IRS Notice CP207: missing or incorrect deposit schedule (ROFTL)
CP207 says the Record of Federal Tax Liability (ROFTL) filed with your employment tax return is missing or incorrect, and the IRS needs a corrected one. The IRS asks you to mail a new ROFTL within 45 days. If you don't, it averages your liability across the period and charges failure-to-deposit penalties on that basis.
IRS Notice CP276B: incorrect deposits, penalty waived this time
CP276B tells a business that the IRS didn't receive the correct amount of timely tax deposits, which normally triggers a Federal Tax Deposit penalty, but the IRS decided not to charge it this time. No reply is required. It's a warning: review your deposit schedule and amounts so the next period doesn't draw a penalty.
IRS Notice CP134B: deposits don't match your return
CP134B is a balance-due notice telling a business that federal tax deposits credited to its account differ from the amount reported on its return, and asking for payment by the date shown. Often the cause is a missing or misapplied deposit. Compare EFTPS records with the notice; pay if it's right, or call if payments are missing.
IRS Notice CP259: your business return wasn't filed
CP259 says the IRS shows your business is required to file a return for the periods listed but hasn't. File the return immediately, or, if you weren't required to file, complete the enclosed response form. A notice is sent for each form and period, so several can arrive at once. Ignoring it can lead to IRS-prepared returns.
Frequently asked questions
Do businesses get CP14?
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Business balance-due notices use their own codes — for example CP161 for some balance-due accounts and CP504B as a notice of intent to levy for business accounts.
Which business notice means personal liability?
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Letter 1153 proposes the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty against an individual responsible person. It is the main notice that reaches owners and officers personally.
Can a business request a Collection Due Process hearing?
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Yes. A final notice of intent to levy issued to a business carries the same CDP rights, with a 30-day window to file Form 12153.
Should I call the number on the notice?
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Only after confirming the number matches the one listed on IRS.gov for that notice. Scam letters copy IRS formatting.
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