August 2016: Client, a widow in her 80s, gets a CP01H notice from IRS that “we are unable to process your [2015] tax return as filed. Our records indicate that the person identified as the primary taxpayer or spouse on the tax return was deceased prior to the tax year shown on the tax form. Our records are based on information received from the Social Security Administration.”

Her filing status was single. Her husband died in 2014. The 2015 return had her correct SSN. It took until 2017 to convince IRS that she was still alive. They sent her to the Social Security office, which sent her back to IRS.

April 2021: Same client again receives a CP01H for 2019. (This was during Covid.) Same problem: They think she is deceased. It advises her to contact Social Security Administration to correct this situation. (SSA continues to send her monthly checks.) For 2019 IRS cashed her check, but did not send her rebate checks. A letter to the Service Center with copies of 2016 and 2017 correspondence eventually solved the problem.

July 2025: Client is now in her 90s and still very much alive. IRS once again sends a CP01H telling her that “we received information from the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Social Security number (SSN) of the primary or secondary taxpayer on the return belongs to someone deceased prior to the tax year of the return. As a result, we locked the account to prevent identity theft. If you believe this information is in error, you must contact the SSA first to correct the situation.” (She owed tax, sent a check with the return, they cashed it.)

Anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with this? Obvious solution to me is that IRS and SSA need to be punished by cutting their budgets so they don’t have anyone left to create these messes.

Do you think she is eligible to claim the senior deduction on her 2025 return?