IRS Letter 6475: What Is It For and Why You Need to Save It
Written by Josephine Nesbit
Edited by Nicholas Morine
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IRS Letter 6475 is the official tax record of your 2021 economic impact payment (EIP). Letter 6475 will show your personal information, such as your name and address, and your total EIP amount issued by the IRS.
The EIP isn’t considered taxable income; however, people who are missing a stimulus payment — or received less than the full amount — may be eligible to claim a recovery rebate credit (RRC) on their 2020 or 2021 federal tax return. This tax credit can reduce your tax bill, or you may receive it as part of your tax refund.
According to the IRS, more than 175 million EIPs and plus-up payments totaling over $400 billion were sent to individuals and families through Dec. 31, 2021. Plus-up payments were sent to those who initially received an EIP based on information contained within their 2019 tax return and were later eligible for a larger amount based on information provided within their 2020 tax return. The IRS is no longer issuing payments, and any amount owed may only be claimed through the recovery rebate credit on your tax return.
You can also access your IRS Online Account to view your total EIP amount. For married couples filing jointly, each spouse will need to log into their own account — or review their own Letter 6475 — to discern their portion of their total payment.
When filing your tax return, you have two options: use the amount on the Letter 6475 or your IRS Online Account to calculate the recovery rebate credit amount on line 30, or use the amount of EIP you believe you received to calculate the RRC amount. However, if your calculation does not match IRS records, then your tax return will be delayed. In this situation, an amended return is unnecessary as the IRS will correct the amount of the 2021 RRC and send a notice with the changes made.
If you never received a payment and your IRS account shows a payment amount greater than $0 (or you received Notice 1444-C or Letter 6475 indicating that a payment was issued), the IRS says to contact them as soon as possible to get a payment trace.
