There are some ways to work around a missing tax document and file your Form 1040. Or you could give them plenty of time to arrive by asking the Internal Revenue Service for more time to submit your return.
Tax Day is fast approaching, but you’re still waiting for a key tax statement.
Most of these documents — notably Form W-2 and myriad other third-party tax statements — were required to be issued by Jan. 31.
Since it’s well past time for the material to have arrived, what now?
Call the statement’s issuer: Yes, time is running out, but if you haven’t already, contact your employer about your W-2 or the company that issued the 1099.
If you have already reached out, contact them again.
Even if they say they resent it, have them do so again. And make sure they have your correct mailing address.
This year a missing 1099-MISC held up the hubby’s and my filing, so we nagged the issuer. It worked! They emailed and snail mailed us the document.
Get the IRS involved: If you don’t have as good luck in seeking a duplicate, it’s time for a reality check. It’s probably a long shot that you’ll get your missing tax statements.
That means it’s time to get some help from Uncle Sam.
Specifically, call the Internal Revenue Service toll-free (800) 829-1040 to get help in obtaining the documentation.
If you’re seeking a missing W-2, before you call the IRS have on hand —
- Your name, address, phone number and Social Security number.
- Your employer’s name, address, and phone number.
- The dates you worked for the employer.
- An estimate of your wages and federal income tax withheld last year. Your last pay stub of the tax year should have these amounts.
Once you give that information to the IRS, the agency will contact your workplace about the missing tax document. Under this official W-2 complaint process, the IRS will send your employer a letter requesting it furnish you a corrected Form W-2 within 10 days.
Depending on the time of year, the IRS may have your federal wage information in the form of a wage transcript. It shows the data reported to the Social Security Administration and IRS on information returns such as W-2, 1099 series, 1098 series, and 5498 series forms.
These transcripts are available for the past ten tax years, but information for the currently-processing tax year may not be complete until the earnings are reported.
While you can file Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return to get a wage and income transcript, your best move is to use your online taxpayer account to request the information.
File using the IRS’ replacement form: Reality check redux. Getting or tracking down your missing income statements is going to take some time.
So, with Tax Day fast approaching, filing your tax return using a substitute wage statement, also known as IRS Form 4852, probably is your best option.
Form 4852, as its long title tells us, is the official substitute for W-2 wage statements, as well as for Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc.
In fact, when you call the IRS to report your missing W-2, the agency also will send you a letter with instructions on the next steps, including filing Form 4852 in case your company doesn’t provide you with the missing statement in time to file your tax return.
On the form, you estimate your wages and the taxes that were withheld last year. You can find this on your final pay stub. You also should be able to find the other information needed to complete Form 4852 on your payment documents.
The form’s line 9 is where you tell the IRS how you arrived at the amounts you entered on the form. This is as simple as telling the tax agency that you estimated the amounts, used your pay stubs or, in the case of retirement funds, used a statement reporting your distributions.
Form 4852’s last entry, line 10, is where you detail the steps you took to get your missing earnings statements from your employer or payer.
Use year-end statements: As for missing 1099s, such as those issued by financial institutions about interest or capital gains earnings, report the amounts shown on those accounts’ year-end statements.
One problem here for investors is qualified dividends. These are special earnings that are treated for tax purposes like capital gains, meaning they are taxed a usually lower rate than that for ordinary income.
Your financial account’s year-end statement will show all your dividends, but it might not show the amount considered qualified for lower tax computation purposes.
Again, reach out to those financial account companies to get replacement 1099s that have all the relevant tax details.
Amend if forms finally arrive: You went to all the trouble to file your tax return using Form 4852 and other sources for 1099 data, then your dang missing forms showed up!
If amounts on the very late arriving official forms are different than what you entered, and are correct, then you’ll need to amend your tax return by filing Form 1040-X using the official document’s amounts since they are copied to the IRS.
Don’t, however, file that 1040-X too soon. You need to let the IRS process your original filing before you send it the corrected version.
Get more filing time: This whole delayed and/or missing tax statement mess might be enough to make you want to say to heck with it. I totally understand.
But instead of tossing in the towel, take a breath and get more time to file. Simply send the IRS the very short Form 4868. That’s it in its entirety below.
This Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return will get you a six-month filing extension. That will push your filing due date to Oct. 15
All you have to do is submit Form 4868 by April 15 and pay a good estimate of any tax you owe.
That’s right. As the form’s title says, it is an automatic extension to file your tax return, not extend payment of any tax due. So pay what you expect to owe when you send in the extension request.
And hopefully, by the time your new mid-October filing deadline arrives, you’ll have your missing tax statements, too.
Advertisements
🌟 Search Amazon Tax Products 🌟
The text link above is an affiliate ad. If you click through and then buy a product, I receive a commission.
