IRS forms and letters, decoded

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Tax talk is mostly numbers standing in for things. Clients bring in a stack of forms they cannot tell apart, the IRS sends a letter with “CP” and three digits in the corner, we hand back a return with a dozen schedules attached, and in between we say things like “your MAGI is over the IRMAA line.” This page is the decoder. Search it, or open a section below and pick the number. Where we have written about the thing, the entry is a link; the IRS letters link to IRS Collections or to the page that covers them.

Forms You Receive

These arrive in January and February (the 5498 in May). Every one is matched by computer against your return, which is why a forgotten 1099 produces a CP2000 notice eighteen months later. Bring all of them, including the ones that say “this is not a bill” and the ones for $11.

Form	What it is	Plain English
W-2	Wage and Tax Statement	Your pay and withholding for the year, from each employer. Box 1 is taxable wages; box 2 is federal tax already paid.
W-2G	Certain Gambling Winnings	Casino, lottery and sports-book wins over the reporting thresholds. The IRS gets a copy.
1099-NEC	Nonemployee Compensation	Pay for work you did as a contractor, not an employee. No tax was withheld; self-employment tax is on you.
1099-MISC	Miscellaneous Information	Rents, prizes, royalties, legal settlements and other payments that are not wages or contractor pay.
1099-K	Payment Card and Third-Party Network Transactions	What Venmo, PayPal, Etsy, eBay and card processors paid out to you. The threshold is back to $20,000 and 200 transactions.
1099-INT / 1099-DIV	Interest and Dividends	Bank interest and stock or fund dividends. Box 1b on the DIV is the part taxed at the lower qualified rate.
1099-B	Proceeds From Broker Transactions	Every sale in a brokerage account, with cost basis if the broker has it. Flows to Form 8949 and Schedule D.
1099-OID	Original Issue Discount	Interest on bonds bought at a discount, taxed as it accrues even though you have not been paid yet.
1099-R	Distributions From Pensions, IRAs, Annuities	Any money that came out of a retirement account, including rollovers and conversions. The code in box 7 tells the story.
1099-G	Certain Government Payments	Unemployment benefits and last year’s state refund, if you itemized.
1099-S	Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions	The sale price of real estate you sold. The title company files it; you report the sale even if the gain is excluded.
1099-C	Cancellation of Debt	A lender wrote off $600 or more of what you owed. It is income unless an exclusion applies — most often insolvency, claimed on Form 982.
982	Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness	The form that excludes canceled debt from income for bankruptcy or insolvency, and reduces carryovers and basis in exchange. Filed with the return for the year of the 1099-C.
1099-Q	Payments From Qualified Education Programs	Money taken out of a 529 plan or Coverdell account.
1099-SA / 5498-SA	HSA Distributions and Contributions	What came out of, and what went into, a health savings account.
SSA-1099	Social Security Benefit Statement	The year’s Social Security benefits and the Medicare premiums withheld from them.
1098	Mortgage Interest Statement	Interest, points and mortgage insurance you paid to the lender. Box 2 is the loan balance, which matters for the $750,000 limit.
1098-T	Tuition Statement	What the college billed and what scholarships paid; the starting point for the education credits.
1098-E	Student Loan Interest Statement	Interest paid on a student loan; up to $2,500 is deductible, income permitting.
1095-A	Health Insurance Marketplace Statement	Marketplace coverage and the advance premium credit you received. Required to reconcile on Form 8962.
5498	IRA Contribution Information	What went into your IRA for the year, including rollovers, and the year-end value. Arrives in May, after the return is filed.
Schedule K-1	Partner’s, Shareholder’s or Beneficiary’s Share	Your share of a partnership, S corporation, estate or trust’s income and deductions. Comes from Forms 1065, 1120-S and 1041. Box by box.

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Forms That Make Up Your Return

The 1040 is two pages. Everything else is a schedule or form that feeds a line on it. A simple return has three or four; a return with a rental, a brokerage account and a business can run to twenty.

Form	What it is	Plain English
1040	U.S. Individual Income Tax Return	The return itself: two pages that collect everything from the schedules. The 1040-SR is the same form in larger type for people 65 and over.
Schedules 1, 2 and 3	Additional Income, Taxes, Credits	Overflow pages for the 1040: other income and adjustments (1), other taxes (2), nonrefundable credits and payments (3).
Schedule A	Itemized Deductions	Medical, taxes, mortgage interest, charity. Only used when the total beats the standard deduction.
Schedule B	Interest and Ordinary Dividends	Lists each payer when interest or dividends top $1,500, and asks the foreign-account question.
Schedule C	Profit or Loss From Business	Income and expenses of a sole proprietor or single-member LLC.
Schedule D / 8949	Capital Gains and Losses	Every sale of stock, property and other capital assets, matched to the 1099-B and netted into gain or loss.
Schedule E	Supplemental Income and Loss	Rental property, royalties, and the K-1 income from partnerships, S corporations and trusts.
Schedule F	Profit or Loss From Farming	The Schedule C for farms and ranches.
Schedule SE	Self-Employment Tax	The 15.3% Social Security and Medicare tax on self-employment profit.
Schedule 8812	Credits for Qualifying Children	The child tax credit and the credit for other dependents.
Schedule EIC	Earned Income Credit	Identifies the qualifying children for the earned income credit.
2441	Child and Dependent Care Expenses	Day care, summer day camp and after-school care for children under 13, so a parent can work.
8863	Education Credits	The American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits from the 1098-T.
8889	Health Savings Accounts	HSA contributions in, distributions out, and the deduction.
8962	Premium Tax Credit	Reconciles the Marketplace subsidy on the 1095-A with your actual income. Where the surprise bill comes from.
8606	Nondeductible IRAs	Tracks after-tax money in a traditional IRA and reports Roth conversions and the backdoor Roth. Lose it and you pay tax twice.
5329	Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans	The 10% early-withdrawal penalty and its exceptions, excess IRA contributions, and missed RMDs.
8880	Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contributions	The saver’s credit for lower-income people who put money in a retirement plan.
8995 / 8995-A	Qualified Business Income Deduction	The 20% deduction for pass-through business income.
8829	Expenses for Business Use of Your Home	The home office deduction, actual-expense method.
4562	Depreciation and Amortization	Depreciation on business and rental property, Section 179 and bonus depreciation.
4797	Sales of Business Property	Sale of a rental or business asset, with depreciation recapture.
6252	Installment Sale Income	A sale paid over more than one year, taxed as the payments come in.
8582	Passive Activity Loss Limitations	Limits rental and other passive losses, carries the suspended losses forward, and releases them when the property is sold.
8824	Like-Kind Exchanges	The 1031 exchange of one investment property for another.
4684	Casualties and Thefts	Losses from a federally declared disaster.
8283	Noncash Charitable Contributions	Donated property over $500; an appraisal is attached over $5,000.
6251	Alternative Minimum Tax	The parallel tax system that catches large deductions and incentive stock options.
8960	Net Investment Income Tax	The 3.8% surtax on investment income above $200,000 single / $250,000 joint.
8959	Additional Medicare Tax	The 0.9% on wages and self-employment income above the same thresholds.
8615	Tax for Certain Children With Unearned Income	The kiddie tax.
Schedule H	Household Employment Taxes	The nanny tax, for a household employee paid $2,800 or more.
2555	Foreign Earned Income	Excludes foreign wages for Americans living and working abroad.
1116	Foreign Tax Credit	Credit for income tax paid to another country.
8938	Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets	Foreign accounts and investments above the reporting threshold, filed with the return. Separate from the FBAR.
FinCEN 114 (FBAR)	Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts	Foreign accounts totaling over $10,000 at any time in the year. Filed online with Treasury, not with the return.
8854	Initial and Annual Expatriation Statement	Filed by anyone who gives up U.S. citizenship or a long-term green card.
709	Gift Tax Return	Filed by the giver, not the recipient, for gifts of more than $19,000 to any one person in a year (2025 and 2026), for any gift in trust, and to split gifts with a spouse ($38,000 per person). Tuition and medical bills paid directly, and gifts to a spouse or to charity, need no return. Almost never any tax: the return records how much of the $15 million lifetime exemption (2026) has been used. Due April 15 with your 1040; a copy of every one you file belongs in the permanent file.
706	Estate Tax Return	For estates over the $15 million exemption, or to elect portability of a spouse’s unused exemption.
1041	Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts	The income tax return of an estate or trust after someone dies, and of irrevocable trusts.

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Forms for Dealing With the IRS

Form	What it is	Plain English
W-4	Employee’s Withholding Certificate	Tells your employer how much to withhold. The reason a refund changes.
W-4P / W-4R	Withholding From Pensions and IRA Distributions	The W-4 for retirement income.
W-9	Request for Taxpayer Identification Number	What a business asks you to sign before it pays you as a contractor; it produces the 1099-NEC.
W-7	Application for ITIN	A taxpayer number for someone who cannot get a Social Security number. Filed on paper with the first return, to Austin; a certifying acceptance agent keeps the passport out of the mail.
SS-4	Application for Employer Identification Number	The EIN for a business, trust or estate. Free, and online in ten minutes.
1040-ES	Estimated Tax for Individuals	Quarterly payments when there is no withholding: self-employed, retirees, investors.
2210	Underpayment of Estimated Tax	Figures the penalty for not paying enough during the year, and claims the exceptions.
4868	Extension of Time to File	Six more months to file. Not six more months to pay.
1040-X	Amended Return	Fixes a return already filed. Three years from the original due date to claim a refund.
8822	Change of Address	Tells the IRS where you live now, so notices reach you. See below.
8822-B	Change of Address or Responsible Party, Business	The same form for a business or an EIN.
9465	Installment Agreement Request	A monthly payment plan for a balance you cannot pay at once; can be filed with the return. Under $50,000, no financial statement.
656 / 433-A (OIC)	Offer in Compromise	Settling a tax debt for less than the full amount, with the financial statement that proves you cannot pay it.
433-F	Collection Information Statement	The shorter financial statement for a payment plan over $50,000 or hardship status.
433-A	Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-Employed Individuals	The full financial statement: every asset, debt, and the monthly budget against the IRS living-expense standards. Used by revenue officers, for partial-payment plans and uncollectible status, and (as 433-A (OIC)) with every offer in compromise.
2848	Power of Attorney	Lets us talk to the IRS for you and receive your notices.
8821	Tax Information Authorization	Lets us see your IRS account and transcripts without representing you.
56	Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship	Tells the IRS that you are the executor, trustee, guardian or receiver acting for someone else — a person who has died, an estate, a trust, or someone who cannot manage their own affairs — so that notices and refunds come to you and you can sign for them. It is not a power of attorney (that is Form 2848) and it does not make you liable for their tax; it makes you the person the IRS talks to. File it when the role begins (Part I) and again when it ends (Part II). The most common one we file is for the executor of a parent’s estate, along with the final return.
4506-T / 4506-C	Request for Transcript	A free copy of what the IRS has on file: income documents, account activity, prior returns.
843	Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement	Asks for a penalty to be removed, or a refund of tax other than income tax.
8379	Injured Spouse Allocation	Gets back your share of a joint refund that was taken for your spouse’s old debt.
8857	Request for Innocent Spouse Relief	Relief from tax on a joint return caused by a spouse’s error or fraud.
14039	Identity Theft Affidavit	Filed when someone else has used your Social Security number (or your child’s) on a tax return — usually discovered when your own e-filed return is rejected. It goes on paper with your real return, or by itself if you have not filed yet, and opens an IRS identity-theft case; when the case closes the IRS enrolls you in the IP PIN program. Not needed if the IRS has already written to you (answer Letter 5071C or 4883C instead), and not the fix when the “other return” turns out to be the other parent or a grandparent claiming the child — that is an amended return, not an affidavit. The full story, and how to get an IP PIN before it happens, is on the IP PIN and identity theft page.
15227	Application for an Identity Protection PIN	The paper way to get an IP PIN, for taxpayers who cannot pass the online identity check at IRS.gov/account; income limits apply and the IRS calls to verify. Most people should use the online account instead — it is immediate, and it is the only way to look up a lost PIN.
8332	Release of Claim to Exemption for Child	The custodial parent’s signed release that lets the other parent claim the child.
8888	Allocation of Refund	Splits a refund among accounts, or buys savings bonds with it.
12153	Request for a Collection Due Process Hearing	The appeal when the IRS sends a notice of intent to levy or files a lien.
CP2000	(a notice, not a form)	The IRS matched a 1099 or W-2 you left off the return and is proposing more tax. Answer it; do not ignore it.

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Form 8822: The One Everyone Forgets

Change of address

The IRS writes to the address on your last return. Move, and every notice goes to the old house: the CP2000 proposing more tax, the letter asking for a missing form, the notice of deficiency that starts a 90-day clock, the final notice before a levy. The law treats a notice mailed to your “last known address” as delivered whether you saw it or not, and penalties and interest run while it sits in someone else’s mailbox. Filing the next year’s return with the new address fixes it, eventually, but there can be a year between the move and that return.

Form 8822 closes the gap. One page: old address, new address, Social Security numbers, signatures. If the last return was joint, both spouses sign, unless you are the one moving out and you check the box on line 1 that says so. A representative can sign with a copy of the power of attorney attached. Colorado residents mail it to the IRS in Ogden, Utah; it takes four to six weeks to process. There is no e-filing and no fee. For a business, or an EIN, the form is 8822-B. Tell Colorado separately: the Department of Revenue has its own address on file, changed in Revenue Online or on the next DR 0104.

We file one with every move a client tells us about, and we ask at every appointment. The cost of not doing it is a notice you never saw, with a deadline that has already passed.

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IRS Letters and Notices

Every IRS letter has a number in the upper right corner: “CP” for the computer-generated notices, “LTR” or “Letter” for the ones a person or a unit sends, “LT” for the automated collection system. The number tells you what the letter wants and how long you have, which is usually printed on it too. Three rules: open it, do not ignore it, and send it to us before you answer it. The balance-due notices come in a fixed order, CP14 → CP501 → CP503 → CP504 → LT11, and each rung is explained on the IRS Collections page. The IRS never calls, texts or emails first; a phone call about an “arrest warrant” is a scam.

Notice	What it is	Plain English
CP14	Balance Due: Notice and Demand	The first bill after a return is processed with tax unpaid. Pay within 21 days or interest and penalties keep running. The start of the collection clock.
CP501	Reminder, Balance Due	First reminder after the CP14 went unanswered. Same balance, more interest.
CP503	Second Reminder, Balance Due	Second reminder; warns that a federal tax lien may be filed.
CP504	Notice of Intent to Levy (state refund)	The “urgent” notice. Lets the IRS take your state tax refund without further notice. It is not the final notice before a bank or wage levy, but it is the last one before that.
LT11 / Letter 1058 / CP90	Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing	The real final notice. Thirty days to request a Collection Due Process hearing on Form 12153; after that the IRS can levy wages, bank accounts and Social Security. Never put this one in a drawer.
CP91 / CP298	Final Notice, Levy on Social Security	Same as the LT11, specific to Social Security benefits (15% under the Federal Payment Levy Program).
Letter 3172	Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing and Your Right to a Hearing	The IRS has filed a lien at the county. Thirty days from the fifth business day after filing to request a hearing.
CP523	Installment Agreement Default	You missed a payment or a new balance appeared; the agreement will terminate in 30 days unless fixed.
CP71 / CP71C	Annual Reminder of Balance Due	A once-a-year statement of what is still owed, including on accounts in hardship status. Informational, but check the number.
LT38	Reminder, Collection Notices Resuming	Sent in 2024 when the IRS restarted automated notices after the pandemic pause; carried the balance and the penalty relief for 2020–2021.
LT16	Please Call Us About Your Overdue Taxes or Returns	A collection-unit letter asking for contact on an unpaid balance or unfiled return; a step before the LT11.
LT26 / CP59 / CP63	You Have Not Filed a Return	The IRS has income documents and no return. The CP63 adds that a refund is being held until the missing year is filed.
CP2566 / CP3219N	Substitute for Return	The IRS prepared a return for you from the 1099s and W-2s it has, with no deductions, and is proposing the tax. Ninety days to file the real return or petition.
CP49	Refund Applied to Other Taxes	Your refund was used to pay an older IRS balance.
Letter 3179C	Refund Offset	Your refund was taken by Treasury for another debt: child support, student loans, state tax. The IRS did not keep it; the Bureau of the Fiscal Service did.
CP11	Math Error, Balance Due	The IRS corrected an arithmetic or clerical error and you owe. Sixty days to ask for the change to be reversed; after that it stands.
CP12	Math Error, Refund Changed	Same correction, but your refund went up or down. Sixty days to dispute.
CP21 / CP22	Changes to Your Return	The IRS processed an amended return or a change you asked for (21), or made one itself (22), and this is the new balance or refund.
CP23	Estimated Payments Don’t Match	The estimated payments on the return differ from the IRS’s records; usually a payment credited to the wrong year or spouse.
CP24	Estimated Payment Discrepancy, Refund	Same as CP23 but produced a refund.
Letter 12C	Information Needed to Process Your Return	Something is missing: a signature, a Form 8962 for Marketplace coverage, a schedule. The return sits until you answer, usually within 20 days.
CP2000	Proposed Changes, Underreported Income	The IRS matched a W-2, 1099 or K-1 you did not report and is proposing additional tax. Not an audit and not a bill; 30 days to agree or explain.
CP2501	Income Doesn’t Match, Please Explain	The step before a CP2000: the IRS sees a discrepancy and asks you to explain before it proposes tax.
CP3219A / Letter 3219	Notice of Deficiency, the 90-Day Letter	The IRS has determined you owe more and this is your last chance to disagree before it is assessed. Ninety days to petition the Tax Court; no extensions.
Letter 525 / Letter 915	Examination Report, the 30-Day Letter	The audit is done and this is the result. Thirty days to agree, or to appeal to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals before the 90-day letter issues.
Letter 2205 / 2202	Your Return Has Been Selected for Examination	The opening letter of an audit, usually with a list of documents and a date. Call us before you call them.
Letter 566 / CP75 / CP75A	Correspondence Audit, Documents Requested	A mail audit of one item, most often the earned income credit, the child tax credit, head of household, or Schedule C expenses. Thirty days.
CP79	Credit Disallowed	The IRS denied the EITC, child tax credit or AOTC and may require Form 8862 before you claim it again.
Letter 105C / 106C	Claim Disallowed, in Full or in Part	Your refund claim or amended return was denied. Two years to sue; otherwise appeal within the letter’s window.
CP05 / CP05A	We’re Reviewing Your Return	Your refund is on hold while the IRS verifies income, withholding or credits. The CP05A asks for documents.
Letter 5071C / 4883C / 5747C / 6330C	Verify Your Identity	Someone, perhaps you, filed a return with your Social Security number and the IRS wants proof before it processes it. Verify online, by phone, or in person, depending on the letter. Your refund waits until you do.
CP01 / CP01A	Identity Theft Case Closed / Your New IP PIN	CP01 says the IRS has resolved the identity-theft case you reported and marked your account. CP01A arrives every December or January with the new six-digit Identity Protection PIN for the coming season; it is not a problem notice. The PIN goes on every federal return you file that year, for each person who has one, including dependents (whose PINs also go on Form 2441 and Schedule EIC). Keep the notice with your tax papers; last year’s number will not work.
Letter 4464C	Return Under Review, 60 Days	The IRS is reviewing wages and withholding before releasing the refund; no action unless asked.
CP53	Direct Deposit Rejected	The bank refused the deposit; a paper check follows, or did, before the 2025 end of paper refunds.
CP09 / CP27	You May Be Eligible for the EITC	The IRS thinks you qualified for the earned income credit and did not claim it; a worksheet is attached.
CP08	You May Be Eligible for the Additional Child Tax Credit	Same idea, for the refundable child credit.
CP60	Payment Removed From Your Account	A payment credited to you belonged to someone else and was moved; the balance is back.
Letter 2645C	We Need More Time	An interim letter: the IRS received your correspondence and will answer in 60 days. Often arrives twice.
Letter 2626C	Response to Your Correspondence	The IRS’s answer to a letter you sent, usually about a CP2000 or a penalty.
Letter 3503C / 854C	Penalty Abatement Approved / Denied	The answer to a first-time-abatement or reasonable-cause request.
Letter 5157 / Form 656 correspondence	Offer in Compromise Status	Receipt, processing, request for more information, and the acceptance or rejection letter on an offer.
CP508C	Passport Certification	Your tax debt is “seriously delinquent” and the State Department has been told not to issue or renew your passport. CP508R reverses it.
CP40 / Letter 4228	Account Assigned to a Private Collection Agency	The IRS has handed the balance to one of its contracted collectors, who will write next. Scammers imitate this one; the agency never asks for gift cards.
CP161	Balance Due, Business	The CP14 for a business return.
Letter 1153	Trust Fund Recovery Penalty Proposed	The IRS intends to assess the unpaid payroll taxes of a business against you personally as a responsible person. Sixty days to appeal.
CP136 / CP138	Deposit Requirements / Payroll Overpayment	Payroll deposit schedule for next year, and an overpayment applied to another period.
Letter 226-J	Employer Shared Responsibility Payment	The ACA penalty proposal for a large employer whose employees got Marketplace subsidies.
CP575	EIN Confirmation	The letter that assigned your EIN. Keep it forever; the IRS does not reissue it (a 147C letter substitutes).
Notice 1444 / 1462	Informational	The IRS’s own explanation of a payment it sent you (1444, the pandemic payments) or of your rights and relief options (1462). Keep for the return; no action.

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Business Forms

Form	What it is	Plain English
1065	Partnership Return	Reports a partnership or multi-member LLC’s income; the partners pay the tax from their K-1s.
1120-S	S Corporation Return	Same idea for an S corporation. Due March 15.
1120	C Corporation Return	The corporation pays its own tax at 21%.
2553	Election by a Small Business Corporation	The S election. Due within two months and 15 days of the start of the year it is to take effect; late elections under Rev. Proc. 2013-30 for three years and 75 days.
8832	Entity Classification Election	Lets an LLC choose to be taxed as a corporation.
7004	Extension for Business Returns	Six months for the 1065, 1120-S and 1120.
941 / 940	Employer’s Quarterly and Annual Payroll Returns	Payroll tax deposits reported quarterly (941) and federal unemployment annually (940).
1099-NEC (as payer)		If your business paid a contractor $2,000 or more, you file this by January 31.
8594	Asset Acquisition Statement	Both buyer and seller file it when a business is sold, agreeing on how the price is split among the assets.
3115	Application for Change in Accounting Method	Catches up depreciation that was never taken, or changes the method; filed with the return and sent to Ogden.
4562		Depreciation and Section 179, for the business as well as the rental.
7203	S Corporation Shareholder Stock and Debt Basis	Tracks a shareholder’s basis so losses and distributions are reported correctly.

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Acronyms and Section Numbers

Acronym	What it is	Plain English
AGI	Adjusted gross income	Total income minus the adjustments on Schedule 1; the number most phase-outs key off.
MAGI	Modified adjusted gross income	AGI with certain items added back; defined differently for the IRA, Roth, Medicare and Marketplace rules.
AMT	Alternative minimum tax
NIIT	Net investment income tax	The 3.8% surtax.
EITC / EIC	Earned income tax credit
CTC / ACTC	Child tax credit / additional (refundable) child tax credit
AOTC / LLC	American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits
QBI	Qualified business income	The 20% pass-through deduction.
SSTB	Specified service trade or business	The professions that lose the QBI deduction at higher incomes.
HOH / MFJ / MFS / QSS	Head of household, married filing jointly, married filing separately, qualifying surviving spouse	The filing statuses.
HSA / FSA	Health savings account / flexible spending account
IRA / SEP / SIMPLE	Individual retirement account and the self-employed versions
RMD	Required minimum distribution	The yearly withdrawal from a retirement account that starts at 73.
QCD	Qualified charitable distribution	A gift to charity straight from an IRA; it counts toward the RMD and is never income.
IRMAA	Income-related monthly adjustment amount	The Medicare premium surcharge for higher incomes, based on the return from two years ago.
QDRO	Qualified domestic relations order	The court order that splits a retirement plan in a divorce without tax.
DAF	Donor-advised fund
SALT	State and local tax deduction	Capped at $40,000 for most filers.
PMI	Private mortgage insurance	Deductible again as mortgage interest.
OIC	Offer in compromise
CNC	Currently not collectible	IRS hardship status that pauses collection.
CSED	Collection statute expiration date	The ten-year limit on IRS collection.
CDP	Collection due process	The hearing you can request after a levy or lien notice.
POA	Power of attorney	Form 2848.
FBAR	Foreign bank account report	FinCEN Form 114.
FEIE	Foreign earned income exclusion	Form 2555.
FTC	Foreign tax credit	Form 1116.
IP PIN	Identity protection personal identification number	The six-digit code that locks your Social Security number against fraudulent returns.
ITIN / EIN / TIN / SSN	Individual taxpayer, employer, taxpayer and Social Security identification numbers
PTIN / EA / CPA	Preparer tax identification number; enrolled agent; certified public accountant	Every paid preparer must have a PTIN; an EA is licensed by the Treasury to represent taxpayers before the IRS.
NOL	Net operating loss	A business loss carried forward against future income.
PAL	Passive activity loss	Rental and other passive losses limited by Form 8582.
OID	Original issue discount
AFR	Applicable federal rate	The minimum interest the IRS expects on a family loan or seller-financed sale.
TCJA	Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
OBBBA	One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025	The 2025 law that made the 2017 rates permanent and added the tips, overtime and senior deductions.
QOF	Qualified opportunity fund
QSBS	Qualified small business stock	Section 1202; gain on founder stock excluded after five years.
ISO / NQSO / RSU / ESPP	Incentive stock options, nonqualified options, restricted stock units, employee stock purchase plan	The four kinds of equity pay, each taxed differently.
1031 / 121 / 179	Section numbers people use as nouns	The like-kind exchange, the home-sale exclusion, and the immediate write-off of equipment.
TABOR	Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights	Colorado’s revenue cap and the refund that comes with it.
PTE	Pass-through entity tax	Colorado’s SALT-cap workaround for S corporations and partnerships.
PERA	Public Employees’ Retirement Association	Colorado’s pension for teachers and state and local employees.
DOR	Colorado Department of Revenue
DR 0104	Colorado’s Form 1040	The Colorado individual return; the PN schedule is for part-year residents.

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Figures reflect the 2026 tax year as currently published. Items marked (verify) are to be confirmed against IRS or Colorado DOR sources before the figures freeze in December. Last updated October 25, 2026.