What the IRS says: “Your business owes unpaid tax, penalties and interest — this is a request for payment, not a math-error correction.” Here’s what it actually means, your deadline, and exactly how to respond.
The business CP14: a filed return (941, 1120, 1065-related assessments) with an unpaid balance. Business balances escalate faster than individual ones and pyramiding payroll balances draw revenue-officer attention — early resolution is disproportionately valuable.
Notice family: Business Notices — Payroll deposits, information returns and business balance dues. Same escalation logic as individual notices, tighter timelines, and penalties that compound per form — worth responding to precisely.
21 days — pay-by date on the notice.
Counted in calendar days from the notice date. The exact respond-by date printed on your notice always controls — check page 1.
Verify by period: pull the business account transcript and match deposits to quarters
Misapplied deposits are rampant — respond with your deposit records if the ledger's wrong
Can't pay: in-business IAs exist; deposit compliance going forward is the price of admission
Payroll balances: fix the deposit process THIS quarter — pyramiding is what triggers TFRP exposure
A deposit-reconciliation letter (period-by-period table, EFTPS confirmations attached) resolves the misapplication cases. For real balances, the written IA proposal with a compliance statement is the move.
Describe the notice and your side of it — use placeholders, never your SSN or account numbers (the letter keeps [YOUR NAME]-style fields so you fill in the real details privately before mailing). A mail-ready draft with an enclosure checklist comes back in ~20 seconds.
Your IRS response letter draft will appear here.
Your business owes unpaid tax, penalties and interest — this is a request for payment, not a math-error correction. In practice: The business CP14: a filed return (941, 1120, 1065-related assessments) with an unpaid balance. Business balances escalate faster than individual ones and pyramiding payroll balances draw revenue-officer attention — early resolution is disproportionately valuable.
You generally have 21 days — pay-by date on the notice. The respond-by date printed on your own notice always controls.
A deposit-reconciliation letter (period-by-period table, EFTPS confirmations attached) resolves the misapplication cases. For real balances, the written IA proposal with a compliance statement is the move.