IRS Notice CP75

What a CP75 notice is

A CP75 is the IRS’s first letter in a correspondence (mail) audit of refundable credits, most often the Earned Income Credit (EIC, also called the EITC). It opens with “We’re auditing your tax return” and lists the items you must document. The IRS’s CP75 page says it is holding “the EIC, the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), and/or the Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC) portions” of your refund until the audit is complete, and that a Premium Tax Credit portion may also be held.

The IRS manual describes the CP75 as the notice “used for pre-refund cases” (IRM 4.19.14.5, revised November 21, 2025). Pre-refund means the IRS caught the question before paying you, which is why part of the refund is frozen. The Taxpayer Advocate Service calls the CP75 series a set of letters “commonly used for correspondence audits involving tax credits.”

The notice is not a bill and not an accusation. The IRS says returns are selected through random sampling, computer screening and comparisons with Forms W-2 and 1099, and that selection does not mean you made an error or were dishonest. It is, however, an audit: the items you can’t support will be disallowed. For the bigger picture, see our EITC audit guide.

CP75 vs CP75A vs CP75D

The letter after “CP75” changes what happens to your money. The notice number is in the top right corner of the first page.

Two related notices are worth knowing. A CP06 is another request for supporting documents in a refundable credit exam, listed on the IRS’s EITC audit page next to the CP75 and CP75A. A CP75C is not an audit start: the IRS manual says it tells you a two- or ten-year EITC ban is still in effect, and the next letter is a notice of deficiency. Bans are explained in EITC bans and Form 8862.

If your refund is late but you have no CP75, you may be looking at a different hold, such as the PATH Act rule that keeps EITC and ACTC refunds until mid-February. See refund held: PATH Act or audit?

What comes with the notice

The notice lists each audited item and encloses a form for each one explaining what to send. Tax Topic 654 and IRM 4.19.14.5 name these forms:

The packet also includes Publication 3498-A (your audit and appeal rights), Publication 1 (your rights as a taxpayer) and Publication 4134 (the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic list). Older notices referred to a Form 886-H-HOH for head of household status; current IRS materials use Form 14824. Our EITC documents guide goes through the qualifying child form line by line.

Your deadline, and asking for more time

The response date is printed on the notice, and it controls. The IRS’s published sample CP75 tells the taxpayer to respond “within 30 days from the date of this notice” or the IRS will disallow the items being audited. The IRS’s CP75 web pages don’t state a number of days, so read yours.

If you need more time to collect records, Tax Topic 654 says to call the number on your notice before the date passes. Make a note of the date, the person you spoke with and the new date you were given. If you move or change phone numbers during the audit, tell the IRS through the number, fax or upload option on the notice.

How to respond to a CP75

1. Check the tax year and each item. The year under audit is at the top right of the notice. Every document you send must cover that year, not the current one.
2. Read each enclosed form. Use the form for each item to decide what to send. The IRS’s Form 886-H-EIC Toolkit can help you pick documents for up to three children.
3. Collect copies for each child and each item. School, medical, child care, landlord and social service records with your name, the child’s name and your shared address prove residency; birth certificates prove relationship.
4. Complete the response form. Check the items your documents support. If you realize you did not qualify for any listed item, Tax Topic 654 says not to send anything; the IRS sends a report after the deadline.
5. Send everything together. Upload through the Campus Correspondence Exam Document Upload Tool or the QR code where your notice offers it, fax to the number on the notice, or mail to the address on the notice. Send legible copies, never originals, and put your name and taxpayer ID on each faxed page.
6. Keep proof. Keep a full copy of what you sent and the fax confirmation, upload confirmation or mailing receipt. A cover letter listing your enclosures helps; see our audit response cover letter.

If someone used your name and SSN without your knowledge, the IRS says to call the number on the notice and follow its identity theft steps rather than sending documents for a return you didn’t file.

What happens after you respond

Tax Topic 654 says the IRS needs at least 30 days to review what you send, and you don’t need to do anything until you hear back. There are three outcomes:

• Your documents prove the items. The IRS sends a notice closing the audit. If it held your refund, the refund should arrive within eight weeks, unless it is used to pay other amounts the IRS must collect (see refund offsets).
• The IRS needs more. It writes and asks for specific additional documents.
• Your documents don’t support some or all items. The IRS sends an audit report. In campus EITC exams this is usually Letter 525 with Form 4549, giving you another chance to send documents, agree, or request an Appeals conference within 30 days. See Letter 525.

If the case is still unresolved after that, the IRS issues Letter 3219, a notice of deficiency. It gives you 90 days (150 days if addressed outside the United States) to petition the U.S. Tax Court, and that deadline can’t be extended. See the notice of deficiency and disagreeing with an EITC denial. If the credit is denied, you will generally need Form 8862 the next time you claim it.

Mistakes that sink CP75 responses

• Documents from the wrong year. A current school letter doesn’t prove where the child lived during the year under audit.
• Records that don’t connect you, the child and the address. Form 886-H-EIC says a residency document needs your U.S. address, your name and the child’s name; if it has the child’s name and address but not yours, send a second document with your name at the same address.
• Too short a period. The records must cover more than half the year. One semester of school records may not be enough.
• Statements from relatives. The IRS can’t accept documents signed by someone related to you, for example your sister acting as the child’s babysitter.
• Claiming a partner’s child. The IRS says you can’t claim the EIC for your fiancé’s child; you must be married to the child’s parent during the tax year.
• Sending originals, or sending documents in pieces. Send copies, and send everything at the same time with the response form.

A CP75 is often answerable without paid help. The Low Income Taxpayer Clinics listed in your packet help eligible taxpayers for free or a small fee, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service (877-777-4778 (IRS.gov, 2026)) can help if a held refund is causing hardship. If several years or a proposed ban are involved, Global Gate Tax Relief offers a free consultation and quotes a flat fee upfront if it takes the case: request a review or call 1-877-800-8180.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading in the IRS Audit Guide

• EITC auditsHow EITC exams work, start to finish.
• EITC documents (Form 886-H-EIC)What proves residency, relationship and age.
• Refund heldPATH Act hold vs an audit hold.
• Letter 525The 30-day letter that follows an unresolved CP75.
• Disagree with an EITC denialAppeals, Tax Court and reconsideration.