Someone Filed Taxes in My Name: What to Do Now

An IRS letter asks about a tax return you never filed, or your e-filed return was rejected because someone already filed one with your Social Security number. The FTC’s advice: don’t panic, but act quickly. Answer the IRS only through official channels, file your own return (on paper if needed), and get an Identity Protection PIN so no one else can file with your number.

How do you find out someone filed taxes with your SSN?

Often it’s a letter. The IRS mails one when it suspects identity theft on a return, and it won’t process that return until you respond. Other warning signs the IRS lists:

• your e-filed return is rejected;
• a W-2 or 1099 from an employer you never worked for;
• an IRS notice about income you didn’t report, such as a CP2000;
• wages you didn’t earn in your Social Security record.

These don’t always mean identity theft. A rejection can be a simple typo: if you mistyped a Social Security number, fix it and e-file again (IRS).

1. Got IRS letter 5071C, 4883C or 5747C? Follow its instructions

First, check that it’s real: look up the CP or LTR number from the letter’s right corner in the IRS notice search. Not there, or suspicious? Call 800-829-1040.

Letter	What it means	What to do
Notice CP5071 or CP5071F, or letter 5071C	A return was filed with your SSN or ITIN, and the IRS needs you to verify your identity and that return (IRS).	Use the Identity and Tax Return Verification Service at IRS.gov/verifyreturn, or call the number on the notice. If you didn’t file, say so.
Letter 4883C	Same, but you verify by phone (IRS).	Call the Taxpayer Protection Program hotline in the letter. Have the letter, the return it names, a prior-year return and your W-2s or 1099s ready.
Letter 5747C	Same, but you may have to verify in person (IRS).	Didn’t file? Call the hotline on the letter. Did file? Call the number on the letter to book a Taxpayer Assistance Center visit. Bring photo ID plus a second ID.
Notice CP01E	Someone may have used your SSN to work. It doesn’t affect your tax account (IRS).	See the W-2 section below.
Notice CP2000 listing wages you didn’t earn	The IRS thinks you left income off your return (IRS).	Don’t add that income. Contact the IRS right away at the number on the notice.

The IRS handles pilot letters 6331C and 6330C like the 5071C and 4883C, its internal manual says. Letter 5447C, for returns with an address outside the U.S. (IRS manual), also works with the online service.

Type IRS.gov/verifyreturn yourself instead of following a link; the IRS emails and texts only if you opt in. After you verify a return you did file, processing can take up to 9 weeks (IRS). If you verify, you don’t need Form 14039 unless the IRS says so (IRS).

Helping a parent? Someone with a Form 2848 power of attorney on file can call for them. Otherwise, call together, with them on the line (IRS).

2. E-file rejected because a return was already filed? File on paper

The IRS says to keep filing returns and paying tax as usual. If your e-file was rejected because you or your spouse “already filed,” call 800-829-1040 (IRS). If you can’t e-file, file on paper (IRS).

A paper return counts as on time if it’s postmarked by the later of the due date (including extensions) or 10 calendar days after the IRS told you it rejected your e-file. Include a copy of the rejection notice, write “Rejected Electronic Return - (Date)” in red at the top of page 1, explain any late filing, sign it (IRS) and mail it to the IRS address for your state.

If the IRS hasn’t sent you a letter about the fake return, also send Form 14039. Attach it to the back of your paper return, or submit it separately and mail the return on its own (IRS).

3. Should you file Form 14039?

Form 14039 is the IRS Identity Theft Affidavit, and most people don’t need to file it. The IRS says not to file it if:

• the IRS already sent you a letter or notice;
• you used, or were told to use, the verification service;
• you already sent it, including through IdentityTheft.gov;
• the identity theft isn’t tax-related.

File it only if the IRS tells you to, you can’t use the verification service, or you want to flag possible tax identity theft the IRS doesn’t know about yet, for example after a data breach. That includes a rejected e-file with no IRS letter (Form 14039).

Send it once, by one method: the online form (the IRS’s preferred route), mail or fax (Form 14039). Duplicates and status calls cause delays (IRS). IdentityTheft.gov can also send it to the IRS for you, if you choose (FTC); then don’t send another.

4. Get an Identity Protection PIN

An IP PIN is a six-digit number, known only to you and the IRS, that prevents someone else from filing a tax return with your SSN or ITIN. Anyone with either number who can verify their identity can get one. The IRS enrolls confirmed victims and issues them a new IP PIN every year (IRS), but you don’t have to wait:

• Online (fastest): use the IP PIN section of your IRS online account profile. You can generally view your IP PIN there from mid-January through mid-November (IRS).
• Can’t verify online? File Form 15227 if your income is under the IRS limit; the PIN comes by mail, usually in four to six weeks. Or verify in person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center, usually within three weeks (IRS).
• Use it every time. It changes every year. A missing or wrong IP PIN gets an e-filed return rejected. It isn’t used on state returns (IRS FAQ).

5. Report it and protect your credit

• Report it at IdentityTheft.gov. You’ll get an FTC Identity Theft Report and a personal recovery plan (FTC).
• Add a fraud alert or a freeze. The IRS notes your number may have been used for other purposes as well. IdentityTheft.gov’s tax steps include a fraud alert: contact one credit bureau, and it must tell the other two (IdentityTheft.gov). It also suggests considering a credit freeze; see how to freeze your credit and the credit freeze tracker.
• Secure your IRS account. If you have one, give it a new, complex, unique password. Keep records of letters, calls and emails (IRS).

Found accounts you didn’t open? See someone opened a credit card in my name. If a scammer got your number, see I gave a scammer my Social Security number or a scammer has my personal information.

Someone filed taxes with my child’s SSN

Usually this means someone else claimed your child as a dependent. The IRS says that can be a misunderstanding, a mistake or a crime.

1. Check who can claim the child with the IRS dependent tool, and make sure your child’s details on your return are correct.
2. File anyway. If the primary taxpayer on your return has a current IP PIN, the IRS says you can still e-file this year’s return; earlier years go on paper (IRS FAQ). A paper return takes 6 to 8 weeks to process before the IRS looks into the duplicate claim, which delays any refund (IRS).
3. Watch your mail. If the IRS finds duplicate claims, it writes to you and may ask for proof you can claim the child. It then assesses any tax, penalties or interest on whoever claimed the child wrongly. Privacy laws keep it from telling you who that was (IRS).

Is it identity theft? If someone unknown claimed your child, the IRS says that may be identity theft; report it with Form 14039. If a parent or guardian used the child’s information, the form says that isn’t identity theft.

If someone filed a return as your child, IdentityTheft.gov says to send Form 14039 by mail or fax, then call the IRS at 1-800-908-4490 if that doesn’t fix it. Also ask each credit bureau for a manual search of your child’s SSN, and consider a free freeze (IdentityTheft.gov; see freezing a child’s credit).

Protect them next year. Parents and legal guardians can request an IP PIN for a dependent (IRS); for a child under 18, use Form 15227 online or an in-person appointment. Once your child has one, you must enter it on any e-filed return that claims them, or the return is rejected (IRS FAQ).

Got a W-2 from an employer you don’t know?

That points to employment-related identity theft: someone may have used your SSN to get a job, not to file a return. The IRS says:

• Don’t put that income on your return, and don’t amend a return you already filed (IRS).
• Contact the Social Security Administration, and allow several weeks for it to fix your record (IRS). You can review your earnings in a my Social Security account and report errors to SSA (SSA).
• Consider locking your SSN through the Department of Homeland Security so others can’t use it for work (IRS). Our Social Security number guide explains how.

What happens next, and how long it takes

• If you told the IRS you didn’t file the return, it removes it from your records. If you haven’t filed your own yet, it may recommend a paper return (IRS).
• Form 14039 cases: the IRS says it generally resolves them within 120 days, but its victim assistance page (updated August 5, 2026) says identity theft cases have been taking 580 days on average (IRS). Its processing status page, updated September 18, 2026, showed it working on affidavits received in July 2025.
• When it’s resolved, you’ll get a letter, and the IRS marks your account to help protect it (IRS).
• Still not fixed? IdentityTheft.gov says to call the IRS identity theft line, 800-908-4490 (IdentityTheft.gov, IRS). But don’t call just to check on your case: the IRS says that causes delays.

If it’s causing a hardship

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an independent organization within the IRS, and its help is free (Form 911). It generally steps in when a tax problem is causing financial difficulty, you face an immediate threat of adverse action, or the IRS hasn’t responded by the date it promised (IRS Publication 1546). Call TAS at 877-777-4778, or send Form 911.

Track every step with the scam recovery checklist.

Watch for fake IRS calls, texts and emails

Know how the real IRS works:

• It normally contacts you first by U.S. mail.
• A call, email or text isn’t from the IRS if it’s unexpected, rushes you, threatens you, asks for personal or financial information, or demands payment now. A direct message on social media is never from the IRS.
• It never calls to demand payment now, threaten arrest or tell you about a refund (IRS).
• It will never ask for your IP PIN (IRS).

As with a fake bank call, hang up and call the IRS yourself at 800-829-1040 (IRS).

Report fake IRS emails to phishing@irs.gov. For a text, email the sender’s number, the message and when you got it to the same address with the subject “Text,” then forward the text to 7726. Report a suspicious IRS call to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484 (IRS). For other scams, see where to report a scam.

What varies

• The tax year. E-filing past a duplicate dependent works only for this year’s return, and only with the primary taxpayer’s IP PIN (IRS FAQ).
• Your state. The IRS says to check with your state tax agency for other steps (IRS); find yours through USA.gov.
• Wait times. IRS backlogs change; check its processing status page.