Letter 252C: Business name on a return needs verification

What Letter 252C is

Sent by the entity unit when the name on a filed return does not match the master file and the change cannot be verified with the Secretary of State. The master file name control is used until it is resolved (IRM 3.13.2.8). A payee that has received one is a likely source of TIN mismatches on your 1099s.

The deadline

Per the letter.

What to do

If a vendor mentions one, ask for the Letter 147C once the name is settled.

What the entity unit is comparing

The IRS does not match a return to an account by the full business name. It uses the name control, the four characters derived from the name under rules that differ for corporations, partnerships, trusts and individuals. When a return arrives with a name that produces a different name control from the one on the master file, the return does not post cleanly and the entity unit has to decide which name is right. Its first stop is the Secretary of State's record for the business. If the state record settles it, the master file is updated or the return is corrected without correspondence. Letter 252C goes out when it cannot: the name on the return and the name on file disagree, the state record does not resolve it, and the IRS needs the taxpayer to say which is correct and to document it.

Until the question is answered, the master file name stands. Every return filed under the EIN in the meantime, including information returns in which this entity appears as the payee, is matched against the old name control.

Answering it, and the payer's angle

A business answering a 252C should send what the letter asks for: the state filing that shows the current legal name (articles of amendment, a certificate of conversion, a merger filing) and a signed statement from an officer, partner or owner. A name change itself is reported by letter to the campus where the entity files, or by checking the name-change box on the next Form 1120, 1120-S or 1065. Form 8822-B changes an address or responsible party; it does not change a name.

For a payer, the 252C is a warning sign on the vendor's side. A vendor working through one will fail TIN matching under whichever name the IRS is not currently holding, and a W-9 taken during the dispute may carry the wrong one. Ask for a Letter 147C dated after the matter is settled; the vendor name change guide covers what to do with the 1099s already filed under the old pairing.

Questions about Letter 252C

Have a different notice? The IRS notice decoder lists all 77 in the order they tend to arrive.