CP05: Your refund is being reviewed
Prepared by TaxRZR editorial team · IRS sources checked 2026-10-29 (ET) · professional review pending · This page’s Source Notes
CP05 says the IRS is holding your refund while it verifies items such as income, income tax withholding, tax credits or business income. A review is not by itself an accusation of wrongdoing or a bill for an assessed balance. CP05 is different from CP88 (a missing-return hold), CP05A (a request for documentation), and Letter 5071C (identity and return verification).
Separately sourced refund education
- When a tax refund pays a debt other than federal income tax
Understand Treasury Offset Program notices, identify the creditor agency, dispute a debt through the right office and distinguish an offset from a refund review.
What the IRS can do next
The IRS may finish its review, release a refund if appropriate, or contact you with further instructions. A review can take longer than the initial waiting interval; CP05 does not promise a payment date.
Filed this return? Allow 60 days from the CP05 notice date
For a return you filed, the IRS CP05 page says no action is needed and not to call until 60 days after the notice date. If you have not received your refund or heard from the IRS after that interval, call the number on the notice. This is a follow-up interval, not a Tax Court petition deadline or a guaranteed completion date. Follow any later request or different printed instructions. If you did not file, use the identity-theft instructions instead of passively waiting.
Match the notice to your return and keep it. If you filed, allow the stated review period without sending unsolicited documents. If you did not file the return, the current CP05 instructions direct you to complete, sign and mail a paper Form 14039 to the address at the top of the notice.
Steps to work through
- 01Check the notice code and tax year. Do not apply CP05 rules to CP05A, CP88 or a 5071C letter.
- 02If you filed, compare your copy of the return with income and withholding records and keep those records ready; do not submit duplicate returns or unsolicited documents merely because CP05 arrived.
- 03If you have neither a refund nor further IRS contact after 60 days from the notice date, call the notice number using a verified IRS channel.
- 04If you did not file, follow CP05’s paper Form 14039 identity-theft instructions. Do not substitute the different verification process for a 5071C letter.
- 05Keep later correspondence and follow its own response instructions. If the delay causes immediate hardship, ask IRS or TAS about possible assistance without assuming acceptance or expedited release.
Common misreadings
- Do not confuse the initial 60-day interval with a guaranteed refund date.
- A review hold is not an offset to another debt and does not itself create a collection-ladder rung.
- TaxRZR does not collect returns, identity documents or Form 14039.