CP75

A CP75 says the IRS is auditing the refundable credits on a return — Earned Income Credit, Additional Child Tax Credit, Recovery Rebate Credit, sometimes the Premium Tax Credit — and is holding those portions of the refund until documentation proves them up. It is an audit by mail, and it is winnable with paperwork.

“Send copies of the documents listed in the enclosed forms — proof of relationship, age, and residency for the children claimed, and whatever else the notice specifies. Send everything at once, legibly, by upload, fax, or mail. The held part of your refund waits on the outcome.”

The refund stays held until the documentation arrives and the audit closes, so the printed date is both a deadline and the shortest path to the money. Sending everything together in one legible package is the IRS's own advice for avoiding delay.

• The notice and its enclosed forms, which list exactly what to prove
• School, medical, or lease records showing the child lived with you — the residency test is where most cases are won or lost
• Birth certificates or other relationship documents
• Copies only — never originals

• Matching the right documents to each test (relationship, age, residency) so the credit is allowed on the first pass
• Responding when records are imperfect — alternate documentation strategies exist
• Escalating through appeals if the credit is wrongly disallowed
• Preventing the same audit next year with cleaner filing positions