<prompt> Human: I hope folks dont mind the throwaway. Im a long-time lurker on my main account, and I didnt want to disclose tax info that could be linked to me. Alright, with that out of the way, :rubs hands together: here we go. My husband worked for a big corporation in for a couple of years. His employment ended in 2012 when we moved to a different city. He had stock in the company as part of his benefits, but did nothing with them, so far as I know, when he left. I dont think he even consciously knew they were there, though he did tell me at one point about them; I just didnt think to ask about them when he left. Yesterday, I got a letter from the IRS. This letter claimed that my husband and I had earned income that we hadnt claimed in 2014. From what I can tell from the itemized list, this is money is from the stocks that he had while at that company, for a total of about 8,000. Heres the thing: we havent seen this money, and now we owe Uncle Sam about 2,000.We have the 2K THANK YOU EMERGENCY FUND, but heres what Im wondering: Where the heck did the money go, and how do we go about finding it? Why were the stocks cashed out to begin with? From what I can tell, the company wasnt bought it was CGI Group. Could someone have gotten his identity and sold them, then taken the money? Or even cashed a check that we might have gotten at our old address? If so, how do we go about fraud claims or whatever it is we need to do. Can we defer paying the IRS till this all gets sorted out without having to pay the interest? Or would you suggest paying it off now and then trying to find the money?In general, Im wondering what our next steps are. Our tax bill is due on June 8, and Im not worried about that, but it sure would be nice to have that money if we can get itespecially so we dont have to pay taxes on money we didnt get. Any thoughts on this? Id really appreciate your help!  <response>: If you disagree, and are still in the audit phase you need to protest ASAP. If the IRS has already cimpleted the audit and you have a bill, call them to work something out, either payment plan, or how to continue to fight it. 