Received an IRS Letter Living in the UK? What to Do First
An IRS letter can reach you in the UK months after it was sent. Here is how to read the notice number, what the common notices mean, the deadlines that matter for people abroad, and how a letter affects the Streamlined procedures.
IRS letters often reach the UK late, so the date printed on the notice matters more than the day it lands on your doormat.
Written by the US UK Tax Experts team, cross-border tax specialists
IRS letter living in the UK: an introduction
If you receive an IRS letter living in the UK, read the notice number, find the response date and act before it passes. Most IRS letters ask you to pay, explain or file something. Few are emergencies on the day they arrive. However, deadlines run from the date printed on the letter, not the date it reached your UK doormat.
This article explains the common notices, the deadlines and how a letter affects your options for catching up. If the letter is about years you never filed, read our guide to IRS Streamlined filing. That guide covers the main route for Americans abroad who have fallen behind.
Why an IRS letter living in the UK feels harder
Post from the US can take weeks to arrive, and letters often go to an old US address first. Furthermore, the IRS may not know you have moved. Consequently, you can have less time than the letter suggests. In our experience, the most common problem is not the letter itself but the delay in opening it.
How do you read an IRS notice?
Start with the notice or letter number, which the IRS prints in the right corner. Then find the due date and what the IRS is asking you to do.
The notice number and the IRS search
The IRS page on understanding your IRS notice or letter explains where to find the CP or LTR number. You can search that number on the same page for a plain explanation. If you cannot find it, or the letter looks suspicious, the page tells you how to check with the IRS.
The due date matters most
The IRS says that if it asks you to respond, you should act by the due date. It adds that replying by the due date protects your appeal rights. If you owe money and cannot pay it all, it suggests paying what you can by that date. Therefore, write the due date down before you do anything else.
Is the letter genuine?
The IRS usually makes first contact by post through the US Postal Service. Its page on how to know it is really the IRS explains how to check. Search the notice number on irs.gov, and use contact details printed on the letter or on irs.gov. Never use a number given by an unexpected caller or email.
Record when the letter arrived
Note the date the letter reached you and keep the envelope with its postmark. If it was forwarded from a US address, ask the sender when it arrived there. This record helps if you need to explain a late reply. Moreover, it shows how long post takes to reach you, which matters for the next IRS letter living in the UK.
What do the common IRS notices mean?
Most letters fall into three groups: balance due notices, notices about mismatched income, and notices about unfiled returns. A smaller group carries strict legal deadlines.
Balance due: CP14, CP501, CP503 and CP504
A CP14 notice says the IRS believes you owe tax. The IRS page on the CP14 notice asks you to pay by the due date or ask for a payment plan. CP501 and CP503 are reminders if you do not. CP504 is more serious. The IRS page on the CP504 notice describes it as a notice of intent to levy. It also mentions passport denial for seriously delinquent tax debt.
If you cannot pay in full
You do not have to pay a large bill in one go. The IRS page on payment plans and installment agreements sets out short-term and long-term options. However, a plan usually requires all your returns to be filed. Therefore, an IRS letter living in the UK about a balance can also expose years you still need to file.
Final notice: LT11 and Letter 1058
An LT11 or Letter 1058 is a final notice of intent to levy. The IRS page on the LT11 and Letter 1058 explains that you can request a collection due process hearing. Under section 6330 of the tax code, you request that hearing within a 30-day period. Missing that window loses an important right.
Mismatched income: CP2000
A CP2000 is a notice proposing changes because income reported by third parties does not match your return. The IRS page on the CP2000 notice says it is not a bill. You can agree or disagree with supporting documents. For Americans in the UK, it often concerns US brokerage income, a US pension or a property sale.
No return filed: CP59
A CP59 says the IRS has no record of your prior year return. The IRS page on the CP59 notice asks you to file now or explain why you do not need to. Moreover, penalties and interest keep growing while the return is missing. This letter is often the first sign that the IRS has noticed years of non-filing. If you were not required to file, for example because your income was below the filing threshold, you can say so. However, most Americans with a UK salary will need to file, even if the foreign tax credit means no US tax is due.
Which deadlines change for people abroad?
One important deadline is longer for people outside the US: the time to petition the Tax Court after a notice of deficiency. Most other notice deadlines are simply the date printed on the letter.
The notice of deficiency: 90 or 150 days
A notice of deficiency is the formal letter that lets you challenge proposed tax in the US Tax Court before you pay. The IRS page on the CP3219A notice explains this letter. Under section 6213(a), you have 90 days to petition. However, the period is 150 days if the notice is addressed to a person outside the United States.
Deadlines printed on the letter
For a CP2000, CP14 or CP59, the response date is printed on the letter. The IRS does not add time because you live abroad. Therefore, if a letter arrives late, reply as quickly as you can and keep proof of when it reached you. Additionally, update your address with the IRS so future letters come straight to the UK.
Interest and penalties keep running
The IRS page on the failure-to-pay penalty sets the base rate at 0.5% of unpaid tax per month, up to 25%. The rate rises if you do not pay within 10 days of a notice of intent to levy. Interest is charged on top until the balance is paid. Consequently, a delayed reply usually costs money even when the original amount was small.
Does an IRS letter stop you using the Streamlined procedures?
A civil examination or a criminal investigation makes you ineligible for the Streamlined procedures. The IRS does not say that an ordinary notice, such as a CP2000, has the same effect.
What the IRS says about examinations
The IRS Streamlined filing compliance procedures page is clear on one point. If the IRS has started a civil examination of your returns for any year, you are not eligible. That applies even if the examination has nothing to do with foreign assets. Similarly, anyone under criminal investigation is ineligible.
What the IRS does not say
The page does not mention balance due notices, CP2000s or CP59s. Some practitioners treat any IRS contact as a warning sign, but that is caution, not a published rule. Therefore, the right step is to identify exactly what the letter is. An examination letter is different from an automated notice about a mismatch.
Why acting early protects your options
If you have unfiled years or missing FBARs, an IRS letter living in the UK is a prompt to act. The longer you wait, the greater the chance of an examination. The IRS removed its Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures page in July 2026. Therefore, a late FBAR on its own is no longer a published penalty-free route, and Streamlined is usually the safer path. Our article on Form 14653 and the non-wilful certification explains the statement Streamlined requires.
How do you reply to the IRS from the UK?
Reply in the way the letter asks, usually by post or fax, and keep copies. You can also call the IRS international line or ask someone to act for you.
Replying by post or fax
Send your reply to the address or fax number on the letter, with a copy of the notice. Use a tracked international service for post, and keep proof of sending. Additionally, some notices let you respond through your IRS Online Account. Write your taxpayer identification number on every page.
What to include with your reply
Answer each point the letter raises, in the order it raises them. Attach copies of statements, not originals, and explain any figures in plain terms. For example, if the IRS has missed UK tax you paid, include your UK return and HMRC statement. Keep your reply short and factual. A clear reply to an IRS letter living in the UK is usually resolved faster than a long one.
Calling the IRS from abroad
The IRS page on contacting the IRS internationally lists the international taxpayer service line, its hours and a fax number. It also lists the international office of the Taxpayer Advocate Service. Calls from the UK are not free, so have the letter and your returns ready before you call.
Getting someone to act for you
A power of attorney lets someone speak to the IRS on your behalf. The IRS page on Form 2848 explains how to authorise a representative. Meanwhile, Form 8821 only lets a named person receive your tax information. If the IRS problem has become stuck, the Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent office within the IRS that can help.
A worked example of an IRS letter living in the UK
Consider a typical case. Claire is a US citizen who has lived in Bristol for six years. She filed US returns but left off dividends from a US brokerage account she rarely checks. She also never filed FBARs for her UK accounts. A CP2000 arrives in late spring, forwarded from her sister's address in Ohio. This is an illustrative example, not a real client.
The CP2000 proposes extra tax on the dividends. Claire checks the figures against her brokerage statements, agrees with them and replies by the date on the notice. The letter is not a civil examination, so it does not by its own terms close the Streamlined route. Therefore, she then deals with the missing FBARs and any other errors through the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, with a full non-wilful statement.
What Claire's case shows
Claire answered the letter first and on time. Next, she looked at her whole position rather than only the item the IRS had spotted. Finally, she updated her address with the IRS so the next IRS letter living in the UK reaches her directly. Our article on not filing US taxes while living in the UK covers the wider catch-up.
How US UK Tax Experts can help
US UK Tax Experts prepares your US and UK returns together, from one file. If an IRS letter shows a mismatch, we check it against your records and prepare any corrected return. If it reveals missed years, we prepare the catch-up through the right route, including the Streamlined procedures. Our Streamlined filing service and our US federal returns service explain what we prepare.
Conclusion
An IRS letter living in the UK is usually manageable if you act by the due date. Read the notice number, check the letter is genuine and gather the records it asks about. Remember the 150-day period for a notice of deficiency sent abroad, and the 30-day window after a final notice of intent to levy. If the letter points to missed years, deal with them before an examination begins.
Contact us
If you have an IRS letter living in the UK and are unsure what it means, email hello@usuktaxexperts.com or use our contact form. Tell us the notice number, the date on the letter and which years you have filed. We reply within one working day.
Frequently asked questions
Find the notice number and the due date, then check the letter is genuine on irs.gov. Gather the records it asks about and reply by the due date. If you cannot pay in full, pay what you can and ask about a payment plan.
Usually not, because most deadlines are the date printed on the letter. The main exception is a notice of deficiency, where you have 150 days instead of 90 to petition the Tax Court if the notice is addressed to you outside the US.
No. A CP2000 is an automated notice proposing changes because third-party information does not match your return. The IRS says it is not a bill, and you can agree or disagree with supporting documents.
It depends on the letter. The IRS says a civil examination or criminal investigation makes you ineligible. It does not say that an ordinary notice such as a CP2000 has that effect, so identify exactly what the letter is before deciding.
Reply by post or fax as the letter directs, or through your IRS Online Account where the notice allows. The IRS also lists an international taxpayer service line and the Taxpayer Advocate Service international office on its international contact page.
Interest and penalties keep growing, and the IRS can move on to a notice of intent to levy. Large unpaid debts can also lead to passport denial. Ignoring a letter also raises the risk of an examination, which closes the Streamlined route.
