To check the status of an IRS audit, call the examiner whose name and phone number appear on your most recent IRS letter. If your audit is being conducted entirely by mail, you can also track it in your IRS Online Account under the “Records and Status” tab, which the IRS added for correspondence audits in late 2024.1Internal Revenue Service. Online Account for Individuals – Frequently Asked Questions Account transcripts, an authorized representative, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service give you additional ways in when the direct routes aren’t producing answers.
One quick boundary before anything else: a CP2000 notice is not an audit. It comes from the IRS’s Automated Underreporter program and proposes an adjustment based on third-party data mismatches, not a formal examination of your records.2Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 652, Notice of Underreported Income – CP2000 If a CP2000 is what you received, the methods below won’t apply to your situation.
Start With the Type of Audit You’re In
The IRS runs audits in three formats, and the right way to check your status depends on which one you’re in.
- A correspondence audit is handled entirely by mail. The IRS sends a letter identifying specific items on your return and asks for supporting documents. Most finish within three to six months, though mailing delays can stretch that out. These are the audits that now show up in the Online Account.
- An office audit asks you to bring records to a local IRS office for an in-person meeting on a limited set of issues, like itemized deductions or Schedule C expenses. Scheduling and document review make them slower than correspondence audits.
- A field audit brings a revenue agent to your home, business, or representative’s office. These involve complex finances or extensive records and can run a year or longer.
For office and field audits, the Online Account won’t help. Your status lives with the assigned examiner or revenue agent.
Ways to Check Your Status
There is no single tracker that covers every audit, so plan on using more than one of the methods below.
Your IRS Online Account
Sign in and open the “Records and Status” tab. For correspondence audits, you’ll see when the audit started, when letters were issued, and when your next response is due. The information updates as both sides take action, but allow at least two weeks after you mail documents before expecting the system to reflect them.1Internal Revenue Service. Online Account for Individuals – Frequently Asked Questions Office and field audits don’t appear here.
Call the Assigned Examiner
For office and field audits, a direct call to the examiner or revenue agent is the most reliable status check. The agent can tell you whether submitted documents are still under review, whether more information is needed, or whether the case is sitting with a supervisor for approval. Keep a written log of every call: the date, who you spoke with, and what they said. That record matters if deadlines are later disputed.
Pull Your Account Transcript
Your IRS account transcript carries transaction codes that reveal audit activity even when nobody has told you anything directly. Transaction code 420 means your return has been referred to the Examination division. Code 421 reverses it, signaling the audit has closed. Code 300 reflects additional tax assessed from the examination, and code 301 is an abatement of previously assessed tax.3Internal Revenue Service. Section 8A – Master File Codes Request transcripts through your Online Account, by calling the IRS, or by mailing Form 4506-T. A 420 code with no letter yet is a signal to start gathering your records.
Practitioner Priority Service
If you work with an enrolled agent, CPA, or tax attorney, they can call the Practitioner Priority Service line. PPS representatives can pull transcripts and check accounts in examination status. For cases assigned to Correspondence Examination, they can look up the Audit Information Management System to determine status and transfer the call directly to the examination unit handling your case.4Internal Revenue Service. Internal Revenue Manual 21.3.10 – Practitioner Priority Service
Taxpayer Advocate Service
When an audit has genuinely stalled, the Taxpayer Advocate Service may step in. TAS considers a case eligible when there’s been a delay of more than 30 days beyond normal processing time, when the IRS has sent multiple interim letters without taking action, or when the IRS has missed a specific deadline to respond or resolve your issue.5Taxpayer Advocate Service. Submit a Request for Assistance TAS won’t take on routine cases, but when the file is clearly sitting, they can push for movement.
Reading Your IRS Letters as Status Markers
Every letter the IRS sends tells you where you are. Keep them in date order and you have a running timeline of the case.
The initial notification letter opens the audit. For correspondence audits this is typically Letter 2202, which lists the specific items under review, requests supporting documentation, gives a response deadline (usually 30 days), and includes the examiner’s phone number.6Taxpayer Advocate Service. Letter 2202 B After you respond, you’re in the examination phase. The examiner may send additional Information Document Requests on Form 4564 asking for more specific records. If you can’t meet a deadline, call and ask for more time rather than going silent; ignored IDRs can escalate to a formal summons and tend to draw scrutiny to issues the examiner might otherwise have passed over.
A 30-day letter (typically Letter 525 or Letter 950) means the examiner has finished and proposed changes to your tax liability.7Taxpayer Advocate Service. Letter 525 Audit Report/Letter Giving Taxpayer 30 Days to Respond You have 30 days to agree, submit more documentation, or request a conference with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals.8Internal Revenue Service. Letters and Notices Offering an Appeal Opportunity For proposed deficiencies of $25,000 or less, Appeals accepts a simplified Small Case Request. Above $25,000 you need a formal written protest.9Internal Revenue Service. Preparing a Request for Appeals
A 90-day letter, formally the Statutory Notice of Deficiency, is the final stage. It starts a 90-day clock (150 days if you’re outside the United States) during which you can petition the U.S. Tax Court without paying first.10Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP3219N Notice Miss that deadline and the IRS can assess the deficiency and begin collection, and you lose the ability to challenge the amount in Tax Court.
Having Someone Else Check for You
You don’t have to make these calls yourself. Filing Form 2848 (Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative) authorizes an enrolled agent, CPA, or tax attorney to represent you before the IRS. That person can receive your confidential tax information, communicate with examiners, and make status inquiries on your behalf.11Internal Revenue Service. About Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative Once the IRS processes the form and assigns a Centralized Authorization File number, your representative’s authority is linked to your account and recognized across IRS divisions.12Internal Revenue Service. The Centralized Authorization File (CAF) – Authorization Rules
If paying a representative isn’t realistic, qualified Low Income Taxpayer Clinics and Student Tax Clinic Programs can represent eligible taxpayers under a special appearance authorization from the Taxpayer Advocate Service. There’s no fee, but eligibility is income-based.
When the Status Is “Stalled”
Two signals tell you an audit has been sitting too long. The first is a TAS-level delay: more than 30 days past normal processing time, repeated interim letters with no real activity, or a missed IRS deadline. The second is a request to sign Form 872, which extends the statute of limitations on assessment by mutual consent. The IRS has three years from your filing date to begin an audit, six if you omitted more than 25 percent of your gross income, and no limit at all for a fraudulent or unfiled return.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 6501 – Limitations on Assessment and Collection When the deadline is approaching and the examiner isn’t finished, you’ll be asked to extend it.
IRS policy says the agency should only request these extensions when there genuinely isn’t enough time to finish, and the extension should be no longer than necessary.14Internal Revenue Service. Internal Revenue Manual 25.6.22 – Extension of Assessment Statute of Limitations by Consent You’re not legally required to sign, but refusing usually means the examiner issues findings based on whatever information is in the file at that point, which rarely helps you. If you do sign, ask for a specific end date rather than an open-ended extension. Either way, a Form 872 request is a clear status marker: the examiner is not done, and the clock would otherwise run out.