My USPS "Informed Delivery" this morning showed an incoming letter from the US Dept of Treasury.
Always a nerve-racking occurrence.
I logged into the IRS.gov website to view the 2018 transcript of my account. It looks they're mailing me an (unsolicited) check for about $175.
Apparently, when the IRS does this, they don't include an explanation along with the check. Per some online forums, they send a SEPARATE notification in the postal mail (often weeks later) to explain.
2018 was the most complicated tax year of my life thus far -- many moving parts, sale of multiple rental properties, depreciation schedules, IRA re-characterizations, 1099-B's and amended 1099-B with dozens of pages of transactions, and more and more and more....
I really want to know where the discrepancy is! I've been warned (by blog posts) to hold off from cashing the check. If it turns out the IRS is in error, I'll owe interest and penalties if I cash the check. MPP: Soooo, now I get to hold onto the check from today's mail -- and I get to wonder what happened for a few weeks. And I have to waste more time to try to reconcile what happened.
Edit: And an open question I have -- that I can't seem to find an answer for online: The check from the IRS is supposedly including "interest" on the amount that they owed me. Will I then owe income tax on this interest income??? :D