Woman Baffled After Finding Strange Note From IRS With Grandpa's Letter

A woman on Reddit has described how she was surprised to discover a note from the IRS along with a letter and check sent to her by her grandfather.

In the modern era of electronic communication, letters from friends, family or other acquaintances are considered something of a rarity. In 2021, a CBS survey conducted by YouGov found 35 percent of Americans had received a personal letter over the previous 12 months, while an equal percentage had gone five years or more without receiving one.

But while it's rare to receive a personal letter of some significance, it's even rarer still to be sent one along with a note from the IRS. Communications from the IRS tend to fall into one of two categories: either good or bad news.

However, in the case of a Reddit user called Rachel from Kansas City, it was something altogether different. In a post shared under the handle Hurricat, which has been upvoted over 49,000 times, she shared a picture of the note from the IRS she found alongside the letter her grandpa sent her.

Letters have been known to spark controversy and discussion. In this instance, much of the focus was on how the note could have ended up with the IRS.

"My grandpa sent me a letter and a check in an envelope, addressed to me," Rachel told Newsweek. "We both thought the mail got completely lost because it had been about two weeks since he mailed it out."

Two weeks after her grandfather sent the letter and the check, Rachel received a note from the Post Office informing her that some mail would be delivered to her soon.

"When I got it, his envelope was Scotch-taped around the edges," she said. "Inside his envelope was his letter, his check and that note from the IRS. My grandpa didn't make any errors in addressing the envelope to me, so it's a mystery how it ended up with the IRS."

The IRS note said that the letter had been "misdirected" to the IRS by the Post Office. It went on to explain that because of the "large volume" of mail the agency receives daily, it opens all correspondence using a machine.

"Your enclosed envelope was opened before we discovered that it was not addressed to the Internal Revenue Service," the note read.

Given the unusual nature of the note, Rachael canvassed other Reddit users, with some suggesting there could be more to the note and the letter than meets the eye. But she reckons there's probably a logical explanation behind it.

"The most likely theory I've seen is that it got stuck to another piece of mail," she said. "Some other people seemed to think it was a scammer opening mail looking for cash, but considering it ended up in my mailbox somewhat intact eventually makes me think it was just a genuine accident."

Although Rachel isn't planning on contacting the IRS about the mix-up, she has done her homework, taking the time to look up the notice number on the letter, 1256, and confirming that it matches the one associated with IRS protocol for misdirected mail.

The main thing is that she has her grandfather's letter and check safely in her possession.