CP303 Notice: IRS Online Service Access, What to Do

What the CP303 notice says

The IRS page gives one reason: someone used your personal information to access an IRS online service. The CP303 concerns online access to an IRS service, not a tax bill or a tax return.

The IRS page does not say which online service, and it does not give a date or time of the access. Your own notice may carry more detail than the IRS page does.

What to do

The IRS gives you two branches, and you pick one. If you accessed the service, you do not need to do anything. If you did not, call the number on your notice immediately.

The IRS page sets no deadline, but it says to call immediately, so act the day you read the notice. Your own answer decides the branch.

Did you sign in to an IRS online service, or did you not? The notice itself says only that someone used your personal information. The IRS Notice Library lists other notices if your letter looks different.

What happens when you call

The IRS answers this in its FAQ. If someone else used your personal information to access IRS online services, call the number on your notice right away. Once the IRS verifies your identity, it disables your online account.

The IRS page lists no phone number, so use the one printed on your notice. The page also points to the IRS’s guidance on registering for its online self-help tools.

IRS online services that use the same sign-in

The IRS page does not name the service, so it helps to know what exists. The IRS’s account-creation page says one ID.me account lets you sign in to most IRS accounts and services. Those include the Individual Account, the Business Tax Account, and the Tax Pro Account, plus services such as Secure Messages and digital Forms 2848 and 8821.

The IRS page does not say which of these the notice concerns. If you used none of them on the date shown, treat it as access you did not make.

Keep a record

The IRS’s general guidance on notices, Tax Topic 651, says to keep a copy of all IRS correspondence for your tax records. It also says all notices should tell you where to send your response. Save the CP303 and write down the date and time you call, and note what the IRS tells you.

One reminder the IRS prints on the page

The IRS page includes a standing reminder: the IRS will never ask you for your username, password, or security code by phone, notice, email, or text message. If a call or message claims to come from the IRS and asks for one of those, you know it did not.

The CP303 steps on the IRS page ask you to call the number on your notice. They do not ask you to send a code or a password.

What people mistake the CP303 for

The IRS page for CP303 does not ask you to prove your identity so the IRS can process a return. Identity-verification letters work differently, and the Letter 5071C page covers one of them.

Some websites describe CP303 as a different kind of notice. The IRS page for CP303 says the notice concerns access to an IRS online service, and this page follows the IRS page.

Common Questions