The IRS Appeals Conference

How the conference gets scheduled

You don’t book an Appeals conference yourself. You send your small case request or formal protest to the office named on your 30-day letter. That office reviews it, tries to resolve what it can, and forwards the rest to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. How that office works is explained in our guide to IRS Appeals.

Once Appeals has the case:

• You get an acknowledgment. In a non-docketed case (no Tax Court petition yet), the IRS manual tells the Appeals officer to send Letter 5157, Non-docketed Acknowledgement and Conference, or to call you instead and cover the same points (IRM 8.6.1.2). In a Tax Court case it is Letter 3808.
• Timing. IRS Tax Tip 2024-47 says the Appeals officer contacts you “within 45 days by mail to schedule an informal conference.” The manual sets the same 45-day target from assignment.
• Enclosures. The letter usually comes with Publication 4227 (overview of Appeals), Publication 4167 (mediation options) and Notice 1016 (how to stop interest).
• Dates. Conferences are held “on dates that are reasonably convenient” for you and your representative (IRM 8.6.1.5.1).

If more than 120 days pass after your protest with no word, contact the office you last worked with, or the Appeals status line at 855-865-3401. If you have petitioned the Tax Court, an Appeals officer may phone you; the IRS says the caller will give a name, badge number and contact details, will know your docket number, and “will never ask for your credit card or banking information.”

Phone, video, in person or by mail

You choose the format. Publication 3498 says Appeals may hold conferences “by telephone, video, or in-person,” and the IRS adds correspondence as a fourth option. The manual says conferences are “generally held by phone,” but the officer must discuss the options with you first.

Recording. You may audio record an in-person conference if you give 10 calendar days’ notice and bring your own equipment; Appeals will record it too. Video recording is not allowed, and the recording rule does not cover phone conferences (IRM 8.6.1.6.2). For video calls, the IRS recommends joining from a private place, not a library or coffee shop.

Before the conference: four things to do

• Get the case file. If you are a “specified taxpayer” (an individual with adjusted gross income of $400,000 or less for the year in dispute, or another taxpayer with gross receipts of $5 million or less), IRC 7803(e)(7) entitles you to the nonprivileged case file on the disputed issues at least 10 days before the conference. Ask when Appeals first contacts you. The examiner’s workpapers show how each adjustment was built.
• Put all evidence in front of the examiner first. Publication 5 says new information or a new issue “requiring additional analysis” generally sends the case back to the examiner, and you then get to respond to the examiner’s comments. You can still present it, but the round trip adds time.
• Check the statute. If you bring new information and fewer than 210 days would be left on the assessment statute when the examiner gets it back, the manual tells Appeals to ask you to extend the statute; if you won’t, Appeals will not consider that information (IRM 8.6.1.7.5). Our page on Form 872 explains extensions.
• Sort out representation. Only an attorney, CPA or enrolled agent can represent you before Appeals; anyone else may come only as a witness (Publication 5). File a Form 2848 before the conference.

What to bring

Publication 4227 asks you to submit “a list of all IRS positions with which you disagree and how you understand the facts and law for each issue,” and to “tell us how you think your case should be resolved.” In practice, have these ready:

Copies, never originals. If documents go by fax or upload, the Appeals officer will tell you how; Appeals offers the IRS Document Upload Tool and Secure Messaging, using a link and code the officer gives you.

How to argue: facts, law and hazards

An Appeals conference is not a hearing with rules of evidence. The manual describes it as informal, “to promote frank discussion and mutual understanding” (IRM 8.6.1.5). Tax Tip 2023-80 says the officer “discusses with the taxpayer the law as it applies to the facts of the case, including court rulings on similar cases.” The question in the room is: if this went to court, who would likely win each issue, and how clearly? Our Appeals overview explains that settlement standard.

1. Lead with the facts you can prove. Walk through each disputed item with the exhibit that supports it. A document beats a description.
2. Then the law. Cite the rule and any court decisions on similar facts. Appeals “may consider new theories and/or alternative legal arguments,” but will not develop new evidence for them (IRM 8.6.1.7.2).
3. Then the hazards. Say candidly where the IRS position is weak: a thin examiner explanation, an issue courts have decided both ways, or a penalty the examiner did not support. In court the IRS bears the burden of production for penalties against individuals (IRC 7491(c), as described in IRM 8.6.4.2.6).
4. Treat penalties separately. Appeals settles each penalty on its own merits and does not trade penalties against tax issues (IRM 8.6.4.2). Bring your reasonable-cause facts.
5. Make a proposal. The officer can settle an issue for a percentage when the outcome in court is uncertain. A reasoned proposal (“we would accept 70% of this deduction, because…”) moves the case.

What does not work: arguments based only on moral, religious, political or constitutional objections (Publication 5), or asking for a concession just to make the case go away. Policy Statement 8-47 bars settlements based on “nuisance value.”

During the conference: your rights

• You can stop to get advice. If you say you want to consult a representative, the conference “must be suspended” and rescheduled if necessary (IRM 8.6.1.5.3.2).
• Appeals stays in its lane. It will not raise new issues or reopen agreed ones, except for fraud, malfeasance or misrepresentation of a material fact (IRM 8.6.1.7). The examiner may attend only if you get the chance to be there too (Rev. Proc. 2012-18).
• Deadlines go both ways. The manual tells officers to set “realistic target dates” for your follow-up documents and for proposals and counterproposals. Meet them or ask for more time before they pass.
• Concerns about the officer. You generally have no right to a different Appeals officer, but you can raise impartiality concerns with the Appeals team manager, ideally before the officer has started substantive work (IRM 8.6.1.5.2).

If you settle: the agreement forms

A settlement isn’t final until you sign an agreement form and the IRS accepts it.

Signing gives up the Tax Court’s prepayment review for the amount you agree to. On a joint return, the Appeals manual requires both spouses’ signatures (or a representative’s) unless the tax is paid in full (IRM 8.6.4.4.2). The tax is then assessed and you get a bill, often a CP14. Our page on Form 870 and 870-AD covers the forms in detail, and can’t pay the result? covers payment options.

If you don't settle

Form 12203 says: “If you don’t reach an agreement in Appeals, the Appeals office will send you a Notice of Deficiency.” From its date you have 90 days (150 if it is addressed to you outside the United States) to petition the U.S. Tax Court, and Publication 5 says “the IRS or the U.S. Tax Court cannot change this time period.” See notice of deficiency; a CP3219A is one version.

• Mediation first, if it fits. Post-Appeals Mediation lets an Appeals mediator, independent of your officer, help when you have worked with the officer and a few issues remain. You ask in writing; the IRS goal is resolution within 60 to 90 days of acceptance. Docketed issues are not eligible.
• No second round in Appeals. Under Rev. Proc. 2016-22, IRS Counsel does not normally refer a Tax Court case back to Appeals when Appeals itself issued the notice of deficiency. Plan on going to trial or settling with Counsel. Our Tax Court guide covers what happens next.

Preparing for the conference, step by step

1. Ask for the case file. If you are an individual with adjusted gross income of $400,000 or less for the year (or a business with gross receipts of $5 million or less), ask Appeals for the nonprivileged case file. It must reach you at least 10 days before the conference.
2. Send missing documents to the examiner first. Anything the examiner never saw will usually be sent back to the examiner for comment, which delays the case. Send it before the case reaches Appeals if you can.
3. Pick the conference format. Tell the Appeals officer whether you want a phone, video, in-person or written conference. If you want to audio record an in-person conference, give 10 days’ notice.
4. Write a one-page position for each issue. For every disputed adjustment, state the IRS position, the facts and documents that support yours, the law, and what a court would likely do.
5. Decide your settlement range. Before the conference, decide the lowest result you would accept on each issue and the reasons, so you can respond to a proposal on the spot.
6. Confirm who is attending. If a representative is coming, make sure a Form 2848 is on file. Anyone else can attend only as a witness.

Many people handle a conference alone, especially by phone with a single factual issue. Help is worth considering when the dispute turns on the law, several years are open, penalties are large, or you are asked to extend the statute. Low Income Taxpayer Clinics represent eligible taxpayers in Appeals for free or a small fee, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service (877-777-4778 (IRS.gov, 2026)) helps when an IRS problem causes hardship. Global Gate Tax Relief’s team includes licensed tax attorneys, enrolled agents and CPAs; after a free consultation it can represent you at the conference under Form 2848. If it takes the case, it quotes a flat fee upfront and promises no outcome. Request a free case review or call 1-877-800-8180.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading in the IRS Audit Guide

• IRS Independent Office of AppealsIndependence, ex parte rules, docketed cases and timelines.
• Fast Track SettlementMediation with Appeals before the case leaves the examiner.
• Form 870 and Form 870-ADWhat signing an agreement form does.
• Formal protest letterThe document Appeals prepares from.
• Notice of deficiencyYour Tax Court deadline if there is no settlement.