You opened the envelope, saw the IRS letterhead, and your stomach dropped before you finished reading. The number at the bottom looked less like a proposal and more like a verdict, one you didn’t see coming and don’t know how to answer.
Here’s what matters right now.
A Notice of Deficiency, the one people call the 90-day letter, is not a bill. It’s a proposal, and the law gives you 90 days to challenge it in Tax Court before the IRS can collect a dime. A Tax Attorney can help you understand your options and respond before the deadline. Miss that window, and the number becomes final, accurate or not.
Evan L. Smith, Attorney at Law has spent over four decades untangling notices like this one for business owners across Temecula, including a Tax Court case where a family’s livelihood rode on getting a deficiency thrown out. If a deadline is ticking, reach out today.
What Is a Notice of Deficiency, and Why Is It Called a 90-Day Letter?
A Notice of Deficiency, sent as Letter 3219 or as Notice CP3219A, is the Internal Revenue Service’s formal claim that you owe more tax than you reported.
Congress built this process into the tax code itself: 26 U.S.C. § 6212 authorizes the IRS to send the notice, and 26 U.S.C. § 6213 starts the 90-day clock, giving a taxpayer one guaranteed shot at court review before the government can touch their bank account.
The letter arrives by certified mail, addressed to whatever address the IRS has on file, whether or not that address is current. That detail alone has cost people their entire 90 days before they even opened the envelope.
Why You Received This Notice
Most of these letters start with a mismatch. Your employer or bank reported one number to the IRS, you reported a different one, or you didn’t file a return at all and the agency built one for you using third-party wage and income records, a version the IRS labels Notice CP3219N.
That version is called a substitute for return, and it almost never includes deductions or credits you’d actually claim, which is why the proposed balance often looks inflated.
For business owners here in Temecula, a second notice sometimes shows up close behind the first.
California runs its own income tax system through the Franchise Tax Board, and a federal adjustment often triggers a matching state notice a few months later. Ignore one and the other tends to follow.
None of this means the number is right. It means the IRS built its case with whatever data it had, and nobody has checked your side yet.
Your Three Options Once the Clock Starts
- Agree and pay. Sign and return Form 5564, the Notice of Deficiency waiver, and arrange payment or a payment plan. This is the fastest path, and it’s only the right one when the assessment is actually correct.
- Disagree and respond directly. Send the IRS documentation showing where the notice is wrong. This can resolve smaller errors without ever reaching a courtroom, though it does not pause your 90-day clock.
- Petition the U.S. Tax Court. File within the window and the IRS cannot assess or collect the disputed amount until the case is resolved, through settlement negotiations with the IRS long before trial.
Whichever path fits your notice, walking through it with our Temecula tax attorney before you sign anything costs far less than guessing wrong.
What Happens If You Miss the 90 Days
The deadline is set by statute and the IRS cannot extend it, no matter how reasonable your excuse sounds on the phone.
If the Deadline Has Already Passed
Once 90 days lapse without a petition, the IRS assesses the tax and the case moves into collections. You can still request an audit reconsideration if you have new information that would change the outcome, but the agency isn’t required to grant it, and it carries none of the guaranteed protections of a Tax Court petition.
If Collection Notices Follow
Once the IRS sends a Notice of Federal Tax Lien or a Final Notice of Intent to Levy, you generally have 30 days to request a Collection Due Process hearing, which can pause enforcement while an independent appeals officer looks at your case, including whether an offer in compromise or installment plan makes more sense than fighting the balance itself. Miss that window, and you can still request an equivalent hearing, but it won’t pause collection and you can’t take the result to Tax Court.
Call Evan today if any of these letters have already started arriving. Earlier action almost always means more options.
Filing a Petition With the U.S. Tax Court
A petition has to be filed within the window set by 26 U.S.C. § 6213, either on paper or electronically through the Tax Court’s DAWSON system, and it needs to say clearly which parts of the notice you dispute and why. The Taxpayer Advocate Service confirms the deadline cannot be extended for any reason, including an ongoing conversation with an IRS employee about the same issue.
Tax Court doesn’t sit in Temecula. For California petitioners, the court holds trial sessions in Los Angeles and several other California cities, and most cases resolve through settlement negotiations with the IRS long before a judge ever hears testimony.
Evan Smith, our IRS Notice of Deficiency attorney who has argued these cases in Tax Court himself, can draft the petition, handle the appeals conversation, and keep you from having to explain your own tax return to a government attorney alone.
The Case That Shows What’s Possible
Evan Smith’s first reported Tax Court decision, Cato v. Commissioner, involved a family running a licensed home for developmentally disabled children who faced a six-figure IRS assessment for excluding their foster-care income from taxable income. Losing would have shut down the home and displaced the residents living there.
The case went to trial, and the family won, a reminder that a proposed deficiency is an opening position, not a final word, although past results depend on each case’s own facts and don’t guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any other matter.
If your notice landed on your desk this week, Evan can review it and map out which of the three paths actually fits your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Received an IRS Notice
Can I get more time to respond to a Notice of Deficiency?
No, the 90-day window is set by federal statute and the IRS has no authority to extend it. Even the Taxpayer Advocate Service confirms this in writing, deadline included. If you need more time to gather documents, file the Tax Court petition first and keep working the details afterward.
Does the IRS start collecting money the moment the 90 days end?
Not instantly, but the agency can assess the tax and begin the collection process shortly after, since your right to court review before assessment has expired. You’ll typically see a balance-due notice next, not a knock on the door.
If you haven’t done so yet, that is precisely when you should contact our IRS Notice of Deficiency attorney.
What is Form 5564, and should I sign it?
Form 5564 is the Notice of Deficiency waiver, and signing it tells the IRS you agree with the proposed amount. Once it’s signed, you’ve given up your right to petition Tax Court on that assessment. Don’t sign it until someone has actually checked the IRS’s math against your return.
What if I already missed my 90-day deadline?
You can request an audit reconsideration if new information would change the outcome, though the IRS isn’t required to grant one. A Collection Due Process hearing may also be available once collection notices start arriving. Either route is harder than a timely petition, so call as soon as you realize the date has passed.
Do I need an attorney to file a Tax Court petition myself?
No, taxpayers can file a petition on their own through the court’s electronic system. Most people who try it alone still end up outmatched once an IRS attorney gets involved in settlement talks. A short consultation before filing usually costs far less than what a mishandled response can trigger down the line.
Evan L. Smith, Attorney at Law: Your Temecula Tax Law Firm
A Notice of Deficiency lands in the mail and every other deadline in your life suddenly feels smaller by comparison.
Evan Smith spent years reading balance sheets as a tax professional before he ever argued a case, and that background shapes how he reads an IRS notice, looking for the number that doesn’t add up before deciding what to do next.
Whether the right move is a documented response, a Tax Court petition, or confirming the assessment is correct, he can map the path that fits your timeline.
Contact our firm today, and let’s figure out your timeline together.
