{"id":35117,"date":"2018-02-23T13:48:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T19:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?p=35117"},"modified":"2020-06-08T16:45:12","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T21:45:12","slug":"irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/","title":{"rendered":"IRS Letter 531 &#8211; Notice of Deficiency"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The IRS audited your tax return and the changes resulted in additional taxes owed. If you want to contest this determination you may petition the U.S. Tax Court.<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_35120\" style=\"width: 242px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Letter-531.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35120\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-35120\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Letter-531-232x300.png\" alt=\"IRS Letter 531, Notice of Deficiency\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Letter-531-232x300.png 232w, https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Letter-531-768x994.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Letter-531-791x1024.png 791w, https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Letter-531.png 1700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-35120\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a style=\"float: right;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Letter-531.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click to enlarge<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Type of notice: <\/strong>Return accuracy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Likely next step:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-audits\/\">Handle an IRS audit<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Also see: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-penalties\/\">IRS penalties<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/bill-for-unpaid-taxes\/\">IRS bill for unpaid taxes<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Why you received IRS Letter 531<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>You filed a tax return that was selected for an audit.<\/li>\n<li>The auditor proposed changes to the tax return which resulted in an increase in taxes due.<\/li>\n<li>You received a notice giving you 30 days to appeal the proposed increase in taxes.<\/li>\n<li>You either did not appeal the auditor&#8217;s changes, or the Appeals Officer agreed with some or all of the auditor&#8217;s changes.<\/li>\n<li>The IRS sent Letter 531 to notify you of the tax deficiency and advise you of your right to file a petition in U.S. Tax Court. The petition must be filed within 90 days of the date on the notice. If you do not want to petition the Tax Court, you can sign the waiver which may limit the accumulation of interest.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Notice deadline:<\/strong> 90 days<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you miss the deadline: <\/strong>The IRS will send you a bill for the unpaid balance due.<\/p>\n<h2>Want more help?<\/h2>\n<p>Your tax professional can deal with the IRS for you. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-offices\/extended-tax-services\/tax-audit\/audit-support.html\">H&amp;R Block\u2019s Tax Audit &amp; Notice Services<\/a>. Or make an appointment for a free consultation with a local tax professional by calling <strong>855-536-6504<\/strong> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-offices\/local-offices\/#!\/en\/office-locator\/\">finding a local tax pro<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The IRS audited your tax return and the changes resulted in additional taxes owed. If you want to contest this determination you may petition the U.S. Tax Court. Type of notice: Return accuracy Likely next step: Handle an IRS audit Also see: IRS penalties, IRS bill for unpaid taxes Why you received IRS Letter 531 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":26222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irs","category-audits-and-tax-notices"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>IRS Letter 531 - Notice of Deficiency | H&amp;R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The IRS audited your tax return and the changes resulted in additional taxes owed. Learn more about IRS letter 531 from the tax experts at H&amp;R Block.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IRS Letter 531 - Notice of Deficiency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The IRS audited your tax return and the changes resulted in additional taxes owed. Learn more about IRS letter 531 from the tax experts at H&amp;R Block.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-23T19:48:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-08T21:45:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elyce Luegers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elyce Luegers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elyce Luegers\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449\"},\"headline\":\"IRS Letter 531 &#8211; Notice of Deficiency\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-23T19:48:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-08T21:45:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":265,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"IRS\",\"Audits and tax notices\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/\",\"name\":\"IRS Letter 531 - Notice of Deficiency | H&R Block\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-23T19:48:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-08T21:45:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449\"},\"description\":\"The IRS audited your tax return and the changes resulted in additional taxes owed. Learn more about IRS letter 531 from the tax experts at H&R Block.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg\",\"width\":940,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/irs\\\/audits-and-tax-notices\\\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"IRS Letter 531 &#8211; Notice of Deficiency\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449\",\"name\":\"Elyce Luegers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elyce Luegers\"}}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"IRS Letter 531 - Notice of Deficiency | H&R Block","description":"The IRS audited your tax return and the changes resulted in additional taxes owed. Learn more about IRS letter 531 from the tax experts at H&R Block.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"IRS Letter 531 - Notice of Deficiency","og_description":"The IRS audited your tax return and the changes resulted in additional taxes owed. Learn more about IRS letter 531 from the tax experts at H&R Block.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/","og_site_name":"H&amp;R Block","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","article_published_time":"2018-02-23T19:48:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-06-08T21:45:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg","width":940,"height":350,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elyce Luegers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hrblock","twitter_site":"@hrblock","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elyce Luegers","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/"},"author":{"name":"Elyce Luegers","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449"},"headline":"IRS Letter 531 &#8211; Notice of Deficiency","datePublished":"2018-02-23T19:48:40+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-08T21:45:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/"},"wordCount":265,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg","articleSection":["IRS","Audits and tax notices"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/","name":"IRS Letter 531 - Notice of Deficiency | H&R Block","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-23T19:48:40+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-08T21:45:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449"},"description":"The IRS audited your tax return and the changes resulted in additional taxes owed. Learn more about IRS letter 531 from the tax experts at H&R Block.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/PayingBackTaxes-featured2-940x350-1.jpg","width":940,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/audits-and-tax-notices\/irs-letter-531-notice-deficiency\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"IRS Letter 531 &#8211; Notice of Deficiency"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/","name":"H&amp;R Block","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/91512e91ae00a37478a4f91b90022449","name":"Elyce Luegers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f00afad2c139e11049696685997b274ab85ac39af90c8f8bc5497183b023f35c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elyce Luegers"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/605"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}