Representation before the IRS · Representing a taxpayer in the collection process
Requesting an audit reconsideration (e.g., documents and forms)
tax year · reviewed 2026-08-18 · I. Ohu
Audit reconsideration is the informal route back into an examination that has already closed, and it is the answer for the client who never engaged with the audit in the first place — who moved, never got the letters, or simply did not open them. It costs nothing, it is not a formal claim, and it has one hard precondition that decides whether it is available at all: the assessment must still be unpaid.
The rule
What it is. The process the IRS uses to reevaluate the results of a prior audit where additional tax was assessed and remains unpaid, or a tax credit was reversed. It is also the process used when a taxpayer contests a substitute for return determination by filing an original delinquent return, or where there was an IRS computational or processing error in assessing the tax (IRM 4.13.1.2).
The criteria, all of them. a return was filed; the assessment is unpaid or credits were reversed; the disputed adjustments are identified; and either new information not previously considered is supplied, or the IRS made a computational or processing errorTY2026 (IRM 4.13.1.2.1). The requirement for new information is doing real work: material already considered in the original examination does not qualify.
Full payment closes the route. Where the amount has been paid in full, the taxpayer must file a formal claim instead — Form 1040-X for an individual income tax return (Pub. 3598). A request on a fully paid prior audit is treated as a claim for refund, not as a reconsideration (IRM 4.13.1.4.9).
Four things can never be reconsidered. An assessment made as the result of a closing agreement under § 7121 (including Forms 906 and 866); an assessment made as the result of a compromise under § 7122, identifiable on IDRS by a TC 788; an assessment from final TEFRA administrative proceedings; and — per Pub. 3598 — a liability on which the Tax Court or another court has issued a final determination. Pub. 3598 adds an agreement on Form 870-AD with Appeals. Cases previously closed by the Independent Office of Appeals follow their own restrictions (IRM 4.13.1.4.6).
Nor is it the route for these. A math error protest goes through math error procedures, not reconsideration; ASFR and AUR assessments are routed to their own functions; and requests for an account balance explanation or refund inquiries are neither (IRM 4.13.1.4.9).
What to send. Pub. 3598 asks the taxpayer to review the examination report, identify the incorrect items, and gather documentation that is new and for the tax year in question. Attach it to a letter explaining the request, being clear which changes are to be considered. Form 12661, Disputed Issue Verification, is recommended for setting out the disputed issues, and a copy of the examination report, Form 4549, should be attached if available. Send photocopies — originals are not returned. Where documents are faxed, put the identifying information and tax year on each page.
Collection during the process. collection may be delayed on receipt, but may resume if the documentation does not support the position and the taxpayer does not answer a request for more information within 30 calendar daysTY2026 (Pub. 3598). An existing installment agreement must continue to be paid throughout.
The three outcomes, and what follows. The IRS accepts the information and abates the tax; accepts it in part and partially reduces the tax; or finds it unsupported and eliminates nothing. On disagreement the taxpayer may request an Appeals conference, pay in full and file a formal claim, or do nothing and receive a bill (Pub. 3598).
Current figures
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Criteria for reconsideration | a return was filed; the assessment is unpaid or credits were reversed; the disputed adjustments are identified; and either new information not previously considered is supplied, or the IRS made a computational or processing errorTY2026 |
| Collection during the request | collection may be delayed on receipt, but may resume if the documentation does not support the position and the taxpayer does not answer a request for more information within 30 calendar daysTY2026 |
How it works in practice
Check whether the balance is paid before anything else. This is the gate. An unpaid assessment goes to reconsideration, which is free and informal. A paid one goes to a refund claim, which is a different instrument with the § 6511 deadlines attached. A client who scrapes together the money to “clear it up” and then wants to argue has closed the cheaper door, and it is worth saying so before they pay.
“New information” is the second gate, and it is not a formality. The IRM requires information not considered during the original examination. A client who sends the same receipts the examiner already rejected has not met the criterion. Where the client never responded to the original audit at all, everything is new — which is why reconsideration works so well for the non-responder and so poorly for the person who fought and lost.
Substitute for return cases are the classic use. Where the IRS prepared a return under § 6020(b) and assessed on it, filing the actual return is itself the reconsideration request. The assessment is almost always far higher than the real liability, because a substitute return gives no dependants, no itemised deductions and no basis, so the correction is usually large and mechanical.
The finality bars are absolute and worth checking first. A closing agreement, an accepted offer, a final TEFRA proceeding or a court determination ends the matter — the IRM directs a Letter 916-C stating exactly that. A representative who promises reconsideration on a file carrying a TC 788 is promising something that cannot happen.
Collection does not stop automatically. Pub. 3598 says the IRS may delay collection and may resume it if the documentation is insufficient and the taxpayer does not respond within 30 calendar days. That is weaker than the statutory stays elsewhere in collection, so an urgent case may need a separate hold — and an installment agreement in force must keep being paid regardless.
The audit that happened without him
A client moved in 2023 without updating his address. An examination of his 2022 return proceeded on correspondence he never saw and closed with a $22,000 assessment disallowing his Schedule C expenses. He has every receipt. The balance is unpaid.
Analysis. This is what reconsideration is for. All the criteria are met: a return was filed, the assessment is unpaid, the disputed adjustments can be identified, and every document is new because none was considered in the original examination. Pub. 3598 names not receiving correspondence after a move as a reason for a request. Form 12661 to set out the issues, photocopies of the substantiation, and the Form 4549 examination report if he can obtain it.
Paid, and therefore too late for this route
A client borrowed from a relative and paid a $9,000 examination assessment in full to stop the interest. Two months later she finds the documents that would have answered the adjustment and asks to reopen the audit.
Analysis. Reconsideration requires that the assessment remain unpaid. With the balance cleared, the instrument is a formal claim — Form 1040-X for an individual income tax return — and the § 6511 periods and look-back now govern. The claim is likely to be timely on these facts, so nothing is lost substantively, but the route is more formal and the deadline is real where reconsideration had none.
The offer that closed the door
A client settled a disputed liability by an offer in compromise accepted two years ago. He has since found documents suggesting the underlying assessment was overstated and wants the audit reconsidered.
Analysis. Not available. An assessment made as the result of a compromise under § 7122 is outside reconsideration, and the IRM directs Letter 916-C saying that tax assessed as the result of a closing agreement, an accepted offer or TEFRA proceedings cannot be reconsidered. The compromise is final and conclusive by its own terms; that finality is what the taxpayer bought. Advising a client to settle should include saying so.
Traps
The assessment must be unpaid. Full payment converts the route into a formal refund claim.
The information must be new. Documents already considered do not qualify.
Four finality bars. Closing agreement, accepted offer, final TEFRA proceedings, court determination — plus Form 870-AD with Appeals.
A math error protest is not a reconsideration. Different procedure entirely.
Collection is not automatically stayed, and an installment agreement must keep being paid.
Send photocopies. Originals are not returned.
How this has changed
IRM 4.13.1 was revised on 10 December 2025, which is the version this page is written from, and its criteria subsection at 4.13.1.2.1 carries that date. The substance of the process is long-standing and rests on Policy Statement 3-15, on reconsideration of an unpaid assessment, rather than on any statute — which is why the route is informal, free, and without a filing deadline, and equally why it has none of the statutory collection protections that attach to a collection due process request or a pending offer. The routing distinctions in the current IRM — separating ASFR and AUR reconsiderations from examination reconsiderations — reflect how much of the assessment volume now comes from automated functions rather than from examiners.
Exam focus
The criteria as a list, and in particular that the assessment must be unpaid and the information must be new. That full payment moves the taxpayer to a formal claim on Form 1040-X. The four assessments that cannot be reconsidered. That a substitute for return is contested by filing the actual return. Form 12661 and Form 4549 by name. That collection is not automatically suspended and an installment agreement continues. Expect a question distinguishing reconsideration from an amended return and from a math error protest.
Check yourself
1. Audit reconsideration is available where: (A) The assessment has been paid in full (B) The assessment remains unpaid or credits were reversed, and the taxpayer supplies new information (C) A closing agreement was signed (D) The Tax Court has ruled Answer: B. IRM 4.13.1.2.1.
2. A taxpayer has paid the examination assessment in full and now has supporting documents. The correct route is: (A) Audit reconsideration (B) A formal claim, on Form 1040-X for an individual income tax return (C) A collection due process hearing (D) Form 12661 alone Answer: B. Pub. 3598.
3. Which assessment can never be reconsidered? (A) One arising from a correspondence examination the taxpayer ignored (B) One made as the result of an accepted offer in compromise under § 7122 (C) One arising from a substitute for return (D) One where the IRS made a computational error Answer: B.
4. The IRS prepared a substitute return for a non-filer and assessed on it. The taxpayer contests it by: (A) Filing Form 843 (B) Filing the original delinquent return, which is itself the reconsideration request (C) Requesting a collection due process hearing (D) Filing Form 12661 with no return Answer: B. IRM 4.13.1.2.
5. While an audit reconsideration request is pending, an existing installment agreement: (A) Is suspended (B) Must continue to be paid (C) Is automatically terminated (D) Is renegotiated Answer: B. Pub. 3598.
Change log
- Initial publication from IRM 4.13.1 as revised 10 December 2025 and IRS Pub. 3598.