IRS Letter 2645C Notice: We Need More Time (Interim Letter)
A Letter 2645C is an IRS stall letter: it acknowledges they received your correspondence, return, or response and says they need more time — usually 60 days — to work on it. It asks nothing of you and requires no response.
Deadline calculator
The Letter 2645C clock runs from the date printed on the notice — not the day you opened it.
Estimate only, based on the standard 60-day Letter 2645C window. Your notice controls — always use the specific date printed on it.
What a Letter 2645C actually means
This is the letter that confuses people precisely because it asks for nothing. You (or your preparer) sent the IRS something — an audit response, an amended return, a penalty-abatement request, identity verification — and the 2645C is the receipt plus a request for patience. Some taxpayers receive two or three in a row on the same issue as the IRS re-ups its own deadline.
The one real use it has: confirmation that your correspondence arrived and is in a queue. What it doesn't tell you is where in the queue. If the underlying issue is time-sensitive — a levy pending, a refund you need, a deadline the IRS itself set — the 2645C doesn't pause any of that, and following up through your online account, transcripts, or the Taxpayer Advocate Service remains fair game.
What to do, step by step
- 1Match the letter to what you sent — the tax year and topic on the 2645C tell you which of your submissions it's acknowledging.
- 2Calendar the 60 days, then check status through your IRS online account or transcripts rather than waiting passively.
- 3Keep every copy of what you originally sent; if the response window lapses with no action, you'll resend with proof.
- 4If real harm is accruing while you wait — a levy, a frozen refund causing hardship — contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service; interim letters don't block TAS involvement.
- 5If a second or third 2645C arrives, escalate rather than re-waiting: a call to the number on the letter with your dates and documents at hand often shakes a file loose.
Common questions
Do I need to respond to Letter 2645C?+
No. It's an acknowledgment and a delay notice, not a request. The only action worth taking is tracking: note the 60-day window and check your IRS account or transcripts for movement rather than assuming the IRS will write again on time.
Why did I get a 2645C when I never sent the IRS anything?+
Usually because something went in under your account anyway: a preparer or representative responded for you, a state agency or the IRS itself generated an inquiry, or your e-filed return got routed into a review stream that triggers correspondence handling. If you genuinely can't match it to anything, pull your account transcript — it shows what the IRS logged — and call the number on the letter if it still doesn't add up.
The 60 days passed and nothing happened. Now what?+
Common, unfortunately — some issues collect multiple interim letters. Check transcripts for activity first, then call the number on the letter with your submission dates. If the delay is causing financial hardship or you're past normal processing times, the Taxpayer Advocate Service exists for exactly this.
Checked against IRS primary sources — see how we source these guides. You can verify any notice directly at IRS.gov. The dates and instructions printed on your specific notice always control.
Go deeper
Received a Letter 2645C? Get it handled.
Talk to a tax specialist about your notice — free, no pressure, no judgment.