IRS NOTICE REFERENCE
Understanding your CP39 notice
We used a refund from you, your spouse, or a former spouse to pay your past due tax. You might still owe money.
General information only. Not legal or tax advice.
Notice details
- Notice code
- CP39
- Category
- Refund and adjustment
- Severity tier
- Tier 1 — Routine. Informational or administrative notice; no response typically required.
- Governing law
- §6213(b); §6402 (Internal Revenue Code sections)
- Source
- IRS.gov — Understanding Your IRS Notice
What this notice is
We used a refund from you, your spouse, or a former spouse to pay your past due tax. You might still owe money.
Source: IRS.gov. Reproduced for reference. General information — not legal or tax advice.
What the IRS says to do
Read the notice carefully. It will explain how we used your refund and what you still owe, if anything. If you owe, pay your balance now to avoid more penalties and interest. If you’re on a payment plan, keep making your payments. If you don’t owe, you don’t need to do anything.
This is the IRS’s own guidance reproduced from the IRS notice page. It describes the IRS’s process — it is not legal or tax advice from TaxRiskOS.
Official IRS reference
Read the official notice page on IRS.gov: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/understanding-your-cp39-notice
Related tools
TaxRiskOS is workflow software for practitioners — it captures the notice, computes the deadline, surfaces the escalation tier, and builds a document checklist. It documents process; it does not give advice or draft responses.
Check this notice’s deadline (free tool)