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TaxRZR
Letter 950

Letter 950: 30-day letter for unagreed examination adjustments

Prepared by TaxRZR editorial team · IRS sources checked October 30, 2026 (ET) · professional review pending · This page’s Source Notes

Letter 950 is an IRS 30-day letter used for unagreed straight deficiency, straight overassessment or mixed deficiency and overassessment cases. It can involve different types of tax. The enclosed report and instructions—not the label alone—identify what is proposed in your case.

Notice-specific source status. IRS sources checked October 30, 2026 (US Eastern time). Professional review pending. Follow your actual notice and current IRS instructions.

What the IRS can do next

Unresolved proposed adjustments may move to the next applicable assessment or review stage. Procedures differ by tax type; do not assume every Letter 950 case leads to the same Tax Court process. The letter itself is not a final levy notice or a universal statutory notice of deficiency.

The IRS describes a protest within 30 days from Letter 950’s date. Follow the response date and instructions on your actual letter.

This is an administrative Appeals opportunity, not an automatic 90-day Tax Court petition window. Ask the issuing office promptly about additional time if needed, and do not assume a request extends the deadline. A later statutory notice or refund-claim disallowance has separate rules.

Next step

Identify the tax type, periods and disputed adjustments in the report. If disagreeing, prepare a written appeal request to the office that issued Letter 950 before its response date.

Steps to work through

  1. 01Read the letter together with its computation report and agreement forms. Separate proposed additional tax, penalties, overassessments and any periods treated differently.
  2. 02If you agree after understanding the effect, sign and return the appropriate agreement form as instructed.
  3. 03If you disagree, prepare a written protest or other permitted Appeals request that explains each disputed item and includes the required facts, supporting documents and declarations.
  4. 04Send the request to the office specified in the letter, keep proof of submission and track any later assessment, refund or court-related correspondence separately.

Deficiency, overassessment and mixed cases

A deficiency proposal generally seeks additional tax; an overassessment proposal generally reduces an assessed amount. A mixed case can contain both kinds of adjustments. Read the period-by-period computation rather than assuming every item increases your balance or that a favorable item cancels every disputed one.

The IRS Appeals notice index expressly says Letter 950 can be used for various tax types. That makes identifying the actual return and governing procedure especially important. Do not import an individual income-tax refund or deficiency remedy into an unrelated business or employment-tax case.

Write the protest around the disputed findings

For each issue, explain the examiner’s position, the facts you believe are incorrect or incomplete, the supporting records and your requested result. Use the current IRS Appeals instructions for whether a small-case request is allowed or a formal protest is required.

Speak with the issuing office if the instructions are unclear or documents are missing. Keep the response date visible during those discussions. A phone call, another copy of your original return or an unsigned statement should not be assumed to satisfy a written protest requirement.

Do not confuse audit appeals with collection hearings

These proceedings address different questions. An examination appeal disputes proposed tax adjustments; a collection hearing addresses qualifying lien or levy actions on assessed liabilities and has its own requirements. Letter 950 does not by itself create collection-hearing rights.

If a later notice of deficiency, formal refund-claim disallowance or collection notice arrives, read it immediately and identify its separate rights and deadlines. Seek qualified advice about the procedure that applies rather than assuming all “appeals” use the same form, court or limitation period.

Common misreadings

  • An overassessment is not necessarily an approved refund already scheduled for payment; read the report and resulting account action.
  • Do not assume Letter 950 is identical to Letter 525 in every case: Letter 950 covers a wider stated range of tax types and adjustment outcomes.
  • Do not use a CDP hearing form or wait for a supposed universal deficiency notice without checking the actual tax and procedure.

Read in the book

Official sources

Source status. IRS sources checked October 30, 2026 (US Eastern time). Professional review pending. Follow your actual notice and current IRS instructions.
Scope. These pages cover federal IRS notices, not state tax agency notices. A federal levy of a state refund is not state-specific tax guidance. The collection ladder is an illustration, not a required sequence or a promise that another warning will arrive.