Have you lost your past tax return information in a move, a disaster, or… simply lost track of it? The good news is that the IRS has all your tax records available, and all you have to do is ask!
However, if you prepared your tax return with a tax preparer, the best way to get prior year tax returns is to give your tax preparer a call. They can print out your tax information and get it to you quickly. This is a great way to ensure that you always have a backup. You can also avoid the delays associated with requesting tax return information from the IRS.
Didn’t prepare your tax return with a tax preparer? Contact the IRS at 800.829.1040 and follow the voice instructions to get your tax transcript over the phone. This will get you a transcript of you tax account that shows all of your basic data like type of return, filing status, adjusted gross income, and taxable income. It will also show any adjustments you or the IRS made to your tax return after you filed.
If you need a paper copy of the transcript and filed with a 1040 form, fill out IRS Form 4506T-EZ, Short Form Request for Individual Tax Return Transcript. It takes about 10 working days to get a copy of your transcript after the IRS receives your request. If you need a whole tax account transcript, that will take up to 30 days to deliver. But the best part is… getting your past tax return information this way is free!
If you need an actual copy of the full tax return exactly as you filed and processed it, however, there is a rather steep $57 fee per tax return. You can get copies for the current year and up to six past tax years, and it generally takes about 60 days.
There are a few different tax return forms out there used for making this request, so check the IRS website to find out which one is best for your situation.
If you prepared your taxes at Instant Tax Service, we’ll be happy to print out a copy of your tax return. Just call 888.684.1040 to get connected to the store that processed your tax return last year.
Tags: Tax Tips
This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 9:33 AM and is filed under Tax News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
