CP134B Notice: Your Business’s Tax Deposits Do Not Match Its Return

What the CP134B notice says

The IRS page calls the CP134B a balance due notice. It says the notice alerts you to “a discrepancy in the amount of federal tax deposits credited to your account from the amount reported on your tax return,” and asks you to pay by the pay-by date on the notice.

The Internal Revenue Manual (IRM), the IRS’s staff rulebook, describes it the same way in IRM 21.3.1.7.9. The amount of deposits or estimated tax payments the IRS credited differs from the amount the business reported, and the result is a balance due.

A federal tax deposit is a tax payment a business sends in before it files the return, such as the employment tax deposits the IRS covers in its Notice 931.

Find the gap before you pay

The IRS page says, “Compare your records against the notice figures to ensure the notice is correct.” That step matters most here, because the notice can come from either side of the match: a deposit the IRS never credited, or a return that reported more deposits than the business made.

Pull your deposit confirmations for the tax period on the notice.

If you find a deposit the notice leaves out, call the number on the notice. When a taxpayer says the IRS missed a payment, the IRM sends phone staff to its payment tracer procedures, a search for where that payment went.

If you have the business’s account transcript, our transcript analyzer explains each deposit line in plain words.

What to do by the date on your notice

If you agree with the notice, pay the amount it asks for by the pay-by date. The IRS page lists three ways. If you can log in to your IRS business tax account or you use the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), pay that way. If not, use Direct Pay for business. You can also mail a check or money order made out to the United States Treasury, with your taxpayer identification number, the tax form number and the tax period written on it, along with the payment stub.

If you disagree, call the number on the notice.

If the business cannot pay in full, the IRS page lists Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request, among its helpful information. Our collection alternatives router compares a payment plan with the other options for a business.

The penalty that can follow

The IRS page says that if you cannot pay the full amount, you will receive a late payment penalty or a failure-to-deposit penalty, depending on what you owe.

The failure-to-deposit penalty comes from IRC 6656(a). It applies when a business does not deposit a tax on the date the law requires. The statute excuses the penalty when the business shows the failure came from reasonable cause and not from willful neglect. If a deposit was late for a reason outside your control, keep the records that show it; that statutory exception is the basis for asking the IRS to remove the penalty.

What people mistake the CP134B for

Some owners read a CP134B as proof that a deposit never reached the IRS. It may mean that, or it may mean the return reported the wrong deposit total. The IRS page describes a mismatch; it does not say which side caused it.

Others confuse it with the CP134R. The IRM defines both notices with the same words: credited deposits differ from the amount reported. The difference is the result. A CP134B leaves a balance due; a CP134R leaves an overpayment.

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