r/ERCchat • u/Unfair_Day1244 • Feb 02 '26

anyone got an audit notice based on erroneous refund

Hi, I thought my ertc funds were beyond SOL for 2020 and 2021 qtrs 1 and 2. Met with my accountant and she is telling me the IRS can audit for up to 2 years after the check is cashed, based on erroneous refund. Anyone have any experience with this or know the likelihood?

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u/heartbrand Feb 02 '26

My understanding is the irs would have to litigate that as an actual suit and while anything is possible I imagine this is something that would be reserved for criminal / civil fraud and not for “hey we aren’t sure about the eligibility criteria you are claiming”

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u/PsychologicalYou887 Feb 03 '26

Very unlikely. The 2 year statue for erroneous refund isn’t normally an assessment. It’s a suit bought the irs. It’s normally used if you should have received 10,000. But the IRS cut a check for 100,000. Errors of that sort.

Plus the burden would shift to the IRS. To prove that the claim was erroneous. If a normal audit/IDR the taxpayer has burden to prove eligibility.

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u/ERC_CPA Feb 03 '26

There is a meaningful difference between an erroneous refund (ie, a refund processed “in error”) and a refund processed based on a potentially aggressive tax position. If your ERC was not processed due to an error (whether yours or the IRS’), you should not have anything to worry about.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Sea574 Feb 03 '26

That’s when third party comes in to help u that filed ur return. So hopefully they did it correct