What the IRS says: “Your return has been selected for examination and the IRS is asking for documents supporting specific items.” Here’s what it actually means, your deadline, and exactly how to respond.
Letter 566 (and its 566-B/E/S variants) opens a correspondence audit — the most common audit type, done entirely by mail. The scope is limited to the items listed (EITC, head-of-household status, Schedule C expenses are frequent). The audit is won or lost on how organized your document response is.
Notice family: Underreporter & Audit — The IRS thinks your return doesn't match its records — or wants to examine it. These notices carry hard response deadlines, and a written response with documentation is exactly how they get resolved.
30 days — to send the requested documents (extensions are routinely granted if requested in advance).
Counted in calendar days from the notice date. The exact respond-by date printed on your notice always controls — check page 1.
List exactly what's requested — send precisely that, indexed and labeled, nothing extra
Copies only, never originals; every page with your name and tax year
Respond by the deadline or the items are disallowed automatically
If you can't gather everything in time: request an extension in writing before the date
Send documents under a cover letter that maps each document to each questioned item — examiners work stacks of these, and the response that needs no detective work is the response that closes fast.
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 return has been selected for examination and the IRS is asking for documents supporting specific items. In practice: Letter 566 (and its 566-B/E/S variants) opens a correspondence audit — the most common audit type, done entirely by mail. The scope is limited to the items listed (EITC, head-of-household status, Schedule C expenses are frequent). The audit is won or lost on how organized your document response is.
You generally have 30 days — to send the requested documents (extensions are routinely granted if requested in advance). The respond-by date printed on your own notice always controls.
Send documents under a cover letter that maps each document to each questioned item — examiners work stacks of these, and the response that needs no detective work is the response that closes fast.