Fax Form 8962 to the IRS and Get Your Refund Moving

Why the IRS Sent You Letter 12C

Letter 12C (printed as Letter 0012C) means the IRS needs more information before it can finish processing your individual tax return. The most common version involves Marketplace health coverage: the Health Insurance Marketplace told the IRS that advance payments of the premium tax credit went to your insurer during the year, and your return arrived without the Form 8962 that reconciles those payments.

The IRS also sends a 12C when the Form 8962 you did include is incomplete, or when entries on it raise questions your Form 1095-A can answer. Whatever the trigger, the effect is the same: your return, and any refund on it, waits until the IRS receives your response.

What to Send Back

For the Premium Tax Credit version of the letter, the IRS asks for:

• A completed Form 8962 (Premium Tax Credit), filled out using the figures on your Form 1095-A
• A copy of your Form 1095-A (Health Insurance Marketplace Statement)
• Anything else your letter's checklist asks for

Form 1095-A comes from the Marketplace, not the IRS. If you cannot find yours, download a copy from your HealthCare.gov account, or from your state Marketplace account if your state runs its own exchange. If you never received one, contact your Marketplace; the IRS cannot reissue or correct it.

Do not file an amended return. The IRS instructs 12C recipients not to file Form 1040-X: it uses what you send to process the return you already filed.

Fax It to the Number Printed on Your Letter

There is no single public fax number for Letter 12C responses. The letters are issued by different IRS processing sites, and each letter prints the fax number that routes to the team holding your return. Use exactly that number.

Skip any "12C fax number" you find in a forum or an old article. A response faxed to the wrong site is not matched to your file, and your return keeps waiting.

You do not need a fax machine. The IRS instructions for these letters say to fax your information to the number in the notice "using either a fax machine or an online fax service." FaxTerra is the second kind: you upload the documents in your browser or on your phone, and the fax arrives at the IRS the same way a machine's would.

How to Fax Your 12C Response with FaxTerra

1. Complete Form 8962. Download the current form from irs.gov and fill it out using your Form 1095-A, or export the copy your tax software prepared.
2. Gather the rest: a copy of your Form 1095-A and any other item your letter asks for.
3. Upload everything to FaxTerra as PDFs or clear photos.
4. Enter the fax number exactly as printed on your Letter 12C.
5. Add a cover page with your name, Social Security number, tax year, and "Response to Letter 12C" so the IRS can match the fax to your file.
6. Preview and send. Save the delivery confirmation; the IRS does not acknowledge receipt, so the confirmation is your record that the response went through.

A typical 12C response runs a few pages, within the 10 free pages every FaxTerra account includes each month. See free faxing for exactly what every account includes.

Deadlines and What Happens Next

Letter 12C asks for your response within 20 days of the date on the letter. If that window has already passed, send the response anyway: the IRS processes the return only after it receives the information it asked for.

Once the IRS has everything, it finishes processing your original return and sends any refund due about 6-8 weeks later. If you disagree with the letter, respond within the same window with a clear explanation of what you disagree with.

For whether a fax confirmation counts as proof you responded on time, see Is a Fax Confirmation Proof of IRS Filing?. For the wider picture of what the IRS does and does not accept by fax, see How to Fax the IRS and Can I Fax My Tax Return?.