It can be extremely stressful to get a notice from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that they’re missing your 1040 – or any other important tax form. You’re likely to assume that you or your tax preparer made a serious mistake and you’re going to have to pay penalties and interest. Right now, that panic is widespread, but not because of a taxpayer mistake, because of an IRS computer error that resulted in erroneous notices going out across the country.

The specific notice you might be seeing is one of two types: the CP59 or the CP216F.

The CP59 is used to inform taxpayers of a missing 1040 for a specific tax year. According to the IRS, when you receive a CP59 for a return that you have already filed, you must submit Form 15103 (which is included with the notice) and enclose for verification a signed and dated copy of your Form 1040 for that year.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has informed the IRS of this error and is working to determine whether submission of the Form 15103 is necessary for these erroneously sent CP59s. As soon as AICPA receives guidance from the IRS, we will let our clients know how to proceed. In the meantime, we recommend that you follow the instructions on the CP59 and submit a Form 15103 along with your signed and dated 1040. Geffen Mesher can also do this for you upon request.

The CP216F seems less dire since it indicates an approval by the IRS, not a delinquency, however, receiving one is potentially confusing because a CP216F notice can make it appear as though you filed for an extension on a retirement plan Form 5500 or 5500EZ when, in fact, you submitted your form on time.