Connecticut DRS notices: the common types and their deadlines
Some Connecticut tax notices give you 60 days to protest, one gives you 10, and a refund identity notice carries no published deadline. Total BizSolutions in Trumbull, Connecticut goes through DRS notices with small business owners, starting with the date.
What should I do with a notice from the Connecticut DRS?
Find the date on the notice first, because the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS) counts its protest deadlines from that date. A written protest of a notice of assessment, or of a notice of proposed disallowance of a refund claim, must be received or postmarked within 60 days after it. A jeopardy assessment allows 10 days. Then check the figures against your own returns and payment records before you pay or protest. Total BizSolutions, a bookkeeping, payroll and tax firm in Trumbull, Connecticut, reads DRS notices with small business owners and rebuilds the figures from their books. Call (267) 710-6742, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Why the type of notice matters
DRS writes to taxpayers for different reasons: tax it has assessed, a refund claim it proposes to turn down, the result of a protest, or a refund it wants to confirm belongs to you. What you can do, and how long you have, depends on which notice you are holding.
Every deadline on this page comes from a current DRS page, linked beside the claim and listed again under Sources at the foot of the page. Those pages do not describe audit or collection letters, so this page does not cover them: go by the date and instructions printed on the letter, or call DRS.
These are state notices. Federal tax belongs to the IRS, a separate agency with its own letters and dates, such as the CP14, the CP501 and the CP2000. If both agencies have written to you about the same year, answer each one by its own date.
Common Connecticut DRS notices and the deadline for each
Every deadline below is one DRS publishes on a current page. Where it publishes no fixed period, the table says so.
| Notice | What it tells you | Deadline DRS gives | DRS source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notice of assessment | DRS has assessed tax for a tax type and period. If you protest and have not paid the assessment, DRS says interest continues to accrue on the tax assessed while the protest is considered. | A written protest must be received, or carry a U.S. postmark, within 60 days after the date of the notice. | DRS protest page |
| Jeopardy assessment notice | A separate kind of assessment with a much shorter protest window. The DRS protest page gives the deadline without defining the term. | A written protest must be received, or carry a U.S. postmark, within 10 days after the date of the notice. | DRS protest page |
| Notice of proposed disallowance of a claim for refund | DRS proposes to disallow a refund you claimed. | A written protest must be received, or carry a U.S. postmark, within 60 days after the date of the notice. | DRS protest page |
| Protest acknowledgment letter | The Appellate Division has received your timely protest. DRS says the protest is then assigned to an appellate officer or appellate specialist. | No fixed period published. | DRS protest page |
| Appellate Division final determination letter | The Appellate Division's decision on your protest. | An appeal to the Superior Court for the Judicial District of New Britain may be taken within one month from the date of the letter. | DRS protest page |
| Refund Protection Program notice | DRS's refund protection program has indicated possible identity theft and a fraudulent claim on a state income tax refund. The notice asks you to visit the DRS website and answer identity questions. | No fixed period published. DRS says to have the notice in hand before you start. | DRS Refund Protection Program page |
What DRS says happens at each step
A notice of assessment opens the 60-day protest window
The DRS protest page says state law requires a protest to be in writing, and DRS must receive it, or it must be postmarked, within 60 days after the notice date. Our page on the Connecticut DRS notice of assessment covers the protest, the payment plan terms and the offer of compromise in detail.
A refund denial follows the same route
If DRS sends a notice of proposed disallowance of a claim for refund and you disagree, the protest goes to the same Appellate Division, in writing, within 60 days after the date of that notice. DRS asks that any protest state your name and address, your Connecticut Tax Registration Number or Social Security Number, the case identification number, the tax type, the period or periods, a statement that you are protesting, and the facts and law you rely on for each disputed issue.
A penalty from an audit goes to protest, not waiver
DRS considers a penalty waiver request, made on Form DRS-PW, only after all tax and interest due has been paid. A penalty imposed in connection with an audit is different: DRS says it cannot be waived that way and may be protested to the Appellate Division by completing and timely filing Form APL-002.
Interest keeps running on an unpaid assessment while you protest
DRS says that if you have not paid the assessment, interest continues to accrue on the tax while the Appellate Division considers your protest. To minimize it, DRS points to Form APL-004, Deposit in the Nature of a Cash Bond.
The Appellate Division decides, then the court window opens
DRS says it acknowledges a timely protest by letter and assigns it to an appellate officer or appellate specialist, who considers the information you provide and sends a letter with the final determination. It also says the division cannot disregard Connecticut tax laws in order to settle a dispute. If you disagree with the final determination letter, you may appeal to the Superior Court for the Judicial District of New Britain within one month from its date.
If you agree but can't pay
DRS says that if you do not dispute an assessment but do not believe you have the financial ability to pay it, you can file an Offer of Compromise. It lists Form CT-656 for business taxes and Form CT-656a for personal taxes, including income tax.
Our four-step DRS notice review
- 1
Date it
Send us the notice. We find the notice date, work out which kind of notice it is and tell you the deadline DRS publishes for it, so you know how long you have before you decide anything else.
- 2
Rebuild the figures
We pull the return for the tax type and period the notice names, the payments made for it and, for sales tax or withholding, the reports behind the return. Then we rebuild the figures from your books.
- 3
Compare and decide
We show you where your figures agree with DRS and where they don't, so you can decide whether to pay or protest in writing.
- 4
Put the records in order
If the books for that period were never kept properly, putting them in order comes first. If you want someone to represent you before DRS, that is a separate role: DRS says Form LGL-001, Power of Attorney, authorizes one or more individuals to represent you before it. We will tell you if we think your notice calls for one.
This is part of our tax resolution and IRS help, and the records side is what monthly bookkeeping keeps current. Our office is in Trumbull, Connecticut, and we work with small businesses throughout the United States.
Talk it through
Total BizSolutions LLC is run by Dave Salerno from Trumbull, Connecticut. Read about the firm, call (267) 710-6742, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, or book a consultation.
Questions about Connecticut DRS notices
How long do I have to respond to a Connecticut DRS notice?
It depends on the notice. DRS gives 60 days after the notice date to protest a notice of assessment or a notice of proposed disallowance of a refund claim, 10 days to protest a jeopardy assessment, and one month from the date of a final determination letter to appeal to the Superior Court. Its Refund Protection Program page publishes no fixed period.
Does a protest postmarked on the last day count?
DRS says a protest must be received within the period or bear a United States postmark that is within it. Protests and supporting documents go to the Appellate Division by mail or by fax, and DRS lists 860-297-4775 for questions about filing a protest or the protest process.
Can a penalty on a DRS notice be waived?
Sometimes. DRS considers a penalty waiver request, made on Form DRS-PW, only after all tax and interest due has been paid. Interest cannot be waived. A penalty imposed in connection with an audit is outside the waiver process: DRS says it may be protested to the Appellate Division by a timely Form APL-002.
What if I agree with the notice but can't pay it all?
If you do not dispute an assessment but do not believe you can pay it, DRS says you can file an Offer of Compromise, on Form CT-656 for business taxes or Form CT-656a for personal taxes. For payment plans, the terms DRS publishes sit on its individual income tax pages and are not stated there for business taxes: filings current, current liabilities of $50,000 or less, a plan of no more than twelve months, and an account that is not in collection status with DRS or with a collection agency working on behalf of DRS, and is not under warrant, bankruptcy or criminal investigation by DRS. If you don't meet those terms, that page says to call a revenue agent at 860-297-4936.
What is a Refund Protection Program notice?
DRS says its refund protection program notifies some taxpayers who may be due a state income tax refund when the program indicates possible identity theft and a fraudulent claim. The notice asks you to visit the DRS website, select the verify identity link and answer a few questions only you should be able to answer. DRS says you must have the notice in hand first, and that the program may cause a brief delay for taxpayers entitled to refunds.
My Connecticut income tax refund hasn't arrived and I've had no notice. When do I contact DRS?
This applies to individual income tax returns, the only ones the DRS refund status page covers. DRS says paper income tax returns take 10 to 12 weeks to process during the filing season, and that it cannot check a return's status until it has been processed. If you mailed the return more than 12 weeks ago and have received neither the refund nor any other correspondence about it, DRS says to call 860-297-5962 during business hours, which it lists as Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Is a Connecticut DRS notice the same as an IRS notice?
No. DRS is the state agency and its notices cover Connecticut tax. IRS notices such as the CP14, the CP501 and the CP2000 are federal, carry their own dates and are answered separately.
Who can help me read a Connecticut DRS notice?
Total BizSolutions LLC in Trumbull, Connecticut goes through DRS notices with small business owners: the date first, then the figures rebuilt from the books and set beside what DRS says. Representing you before DRS is a separate role, and DRS says a representative is authorized on Form LGL-001, Power of Attorney.
Sources (checked November 11, 2026)