Customers gets IRS letter

[RWG1950]

Customers (MFJ) have given me a recently received IRS letter. It is in CP2000-like format.
I had e-filed customer's 2020 federal & state returns as usual. Both had small refunds scheduled to be direct deposited.
The state direct deposited the refund without incident. IRS has not paid it's refund.
The IRS letter begins by acknowledging receipt of their e-return but later in the letter asks if they had filed the return.
They ask for faxed pages 1 & 2 of the 1040 as well as certain other supporting documents.
Has anyone else seen this. Could this be some kind of random review to prevent a fraudulent refund ?
I've tried calling the number on the letter 800 829-8374 but cannot get through.
Thanks for replies.

[Lion]

Did you look up the letter # to see if it's underreporting (CP2000) or ID verification or...?

[RWG1950]

After more than an hour on hold I was able to reach the IRS. They I.D.'d the letter as a CP12-C.
Hard to make this out with all the numbers and codes at the top of the letter.
After several decades of preparing returns, I'd never seen one of these.
They asked to receive by fax, pages 1 & 2 of the 1040 and copies of the 1099-R docs
that support the withholding claimed on the return. This must be part of a fraud detection random check.
Otherwise what would the point be to provide the same info as was provided in the original e-file.

[Lion]

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/understanding-your-cp12-notice

[FEDUKE404]

Sounds as if there is / may be a conflict between "their" numbers and "your" numbers re federal tax withholding. I will assume you have already compared the numbers on the file copies of the 1099-Rs which you are required to keep and have available for IRS review.
Was there any OTHER federal tax withholding you reported, such as from Soc Sec or Form 1099-DIV? Were there any corrected tax documents involved?
Are you sure they are not questioning something OTHER than the withholding on the 1099-R forms (coding / taxable amount / rollover / etc)??
FWIW, I think they routinely request the first two pages of the Form 1040 be provided.

[HeidiDetail]

A few years back, an individual brought in a letter from the IRS stating they owed federal income tax on W-2 wages and to remit payment immediately. The amount included P&I. We eventually were able to determine the letter was fraudulent. It indeed looked official. I cannot remember the exact details since it was a few years back. However, the letter was fraudulent, and the originally filed tax return was correct.

I cannot remember for certain how we were able to determine this; possibly an incorrect remittance address on the IRS letter . . .

I know we reviewed the tax return, the W-2, and compared it to the letter. The amount reported on the tax return matched the W-2 amount.

[RWG1950]

In this instance, they are not seeking payment - just clarification ( at least for now). As to it being a possible fraudulent
notice, the taxpayer's social security number appeared on it and the IRS rep that I (eventually) spoke with also verified the
fax number that appeared on the letter - which is what I used.
How do I know it was really the IRS that answered my call ? Who else would keep you on hold for more than an hour.
Thanks for your comment.