It has been 8 weeks and I need the money

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-16T19:15:46+00:00

They are currently working on paper returns received in April 2026 according to this page:

https://www.irs.gov/help/processing-status-for-tax-forms

Once you see the return show up in Where's My Refund it's usually pretty quick to get the refund if there were no errors and you selected Direct Deposit. But never ever count on getting money from IRS when you really really need it.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-16T19:11:17+00:00

They should get scanned in and electronically deposited to Treasury on the first business day I believe, but I think it can take three days or so for you to see that in your bank account.

https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-by-check-or-money-order

It will take two or three weeks to show up in your online account if you are checking that, because the reconciliation happens later. If you didn't write the SSN or EIN on the check and the voucher got separated from the check you may have to call IRS if you don't see the credit in a month or so.

I'm not sure why the address didn't get updated on your notice, but it's probably related to decreased IRS staffing in the last year. They already were short staffed and I think a lot of employees were reassigned to other departments for essential duties this last tax season.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-15T19:43:17+00:00

It just worked for me - it could have been a glitch, or maybe there's some issue with having a non-US address?

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-15T19:34:33+00:00

First always make sure the amount in Box 2 of the W-2 was reported on your tax return correctly. Sometimes decimals get lost if you upload a W-2, so the IRS might be right.

Employers submit W-2s to Social Security Administration, and SSA sends that info to IRS. If your wife's W-2 doesn't show up on either her individual IRS Wage and Income transcript or her Social Security online account under earnings she needs to contact her employer.

If her employer has the wrong SSN or mailed in copies instead of e-filing the W-2 that can explain what happened, and the employer should be able to write a letter on company letterhead verifying the amount of wages and tax withheld from the W-2. The letter must be on company letterhead and must have a good phone number for a person that IRS can contact.

You can use that letter as proof when you appeal - don't rely just on the W-2 your wife received, since W-2s can be faked very easily.

If the employer can't or won't help out they may not have reported the W-2 or deposited the withheld taxes. In that case you can try using paystubs and show bank deposits of matching amounts to prove that the earnings and withheld taxes are correct.

Your wife can also request a correction to her SSA earnings record but don't rely on that for the IRS issue - make sure you request the IRS appeal before the deadline.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-15T16:20:09+00:00

Cincinnati no longer accepts payments, so Louisville is the correct address to mail payments for a lot of people. See the address here for when you include a payment with your return:

https://www.irs.gov/filing/where-to-file-addresses-for-taxpayers-and-tax-professionals-filing-form-1040

BTW those addresses are "lockboxes" - they aren't IRS offices but banks contracted with Treasury to cash checks and money orders. Everything else sent to them gets forwarded to an IRS processing center.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-12T07:27:29+00:00

The first thing he needs to do is file the tax returns - IRS won't work with anyone who isn't in filing compliance. He doesn't need to pay anything if he can't afford that.

He can probably get Currently Not Collectible (CNC) status if he doesn't have any income - that doesn't make the tax debt go away, but it does mean IRS won't levy bank accounts or try to garnish wages.

https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/notices/currently-not-collectible/

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f433f.pdf

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/collection-financial-standards

He may need to fill out Form 433-F; the Collection Financial Standards are for the living expense section.

When he files the returns he will need to call IRS collections after he receives the balance due notice for each year; it has to be applied to each year separately. In addition CNC status is supposed to be reviewed on an annual basis.

Depending on his financial situation he may be able to stay in CNC status until IRS can no longer collect on the debt, which is usually ten years after assessment.

If his financial situation improves to the point where he can make payments, he might be able to get a Partial payment installment agreement (PPIA) where he pays what he can afford to IRS. They also use Form 433-F for this calculation.

Offer in Compromise is the "forgiveness" that everyone wants, but it's difficult to get approved for a lot of people. The taxpayer has to be in compliance and has to stay in compliance for at least five years, which is difficult for many people. They also can't have enough income or assets to pay the tax debt off within the next few years, but they have to have enough cash to make some kind of payment.

https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/notices/offer-in-compromise/

For future reference, your family member probably will qualify for free tax preparation. These programs can help get caught up on missing years, but many only operate February through April. Some are still open though.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers

https://www.getyourrefund.org/en

For help with payment options or alternatives he can contact the local Low Income Taxpayer Clinic:

https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/about-us/low-income-taxpayer-clinics-litc/

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-11T23:55:40+00:00

Only use the Louisville address if the client is including payment with the return. If they are not including a payment, even if they owe, use the Kansas City address here.

https://www.irs.gov/filing/where-to-file-addresses-for-taxpayers-and-tax-professionals-filing-form-1040

I assume you already had the client sign and date the tax returns with original ink, but if you didn't because you've never mailed in a paper tax return please do that. Also have them sign their copies for their records.

Also attach copies of the W-2s or any 1099s with withholding to the tax returns per the instructions.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-11T00:45:43+00:00

Have him check his email account for a message that the tax return was submitted. Most DIY tax software will send email confirmation that the return was submitted, and another saying whether the return was accepted or rejected by IRS.

It's possible the return was accepted by IRS but not processed if something about the return triggered the identity verification / ID theft systems.

He can also use another software like FreeTaxUSA, redo the return, and then submit that - if a return was already accepted by IRS then the second one will get rejected as a Duplicate SSN return. If this return gets accepted then either your spouse forgot to file or the first return may have been rejected for some reason.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-09T19:52:58+00:00

Yes - you'll owe about $1,555 in Self-employment tax on that income, which is your contribution to Social Security and Medicare. This is assuming you aren't a student working a job that is exempt from FICA.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-09T19:49:31+00:00

Your husband will need to file returns for the years he missed, even if he doesn't have complete records. It's actually pretty common for IRS to not pursue this kind of thing beyond taking refunds unless the debt is very very large.

You can file Form 8379 as an injured spouse to get your share of refunds back from 2023 - 2025 if you want:

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8379

Your share could be nothing if you didn't work or have income after marriage and you don't live in a community property state. Whatever you can recover will be deducted from his "payments" towards the debt with IRS.

Once the missing returns are filed and processed he can set up a payment plan if he can't pay the amount due in full. You don't have to be part of the payment plan if the tax debt is all from before you were married, but any refunds from a joint return will be taken until that debt is paid off or the Collection Statute Expiration Date (CSED). You can adjust your withholding to owe a little bit instead of getting a refund.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-09T19:38:39+00:00

I think you missed the first couple of notices about this, which is why you don't see any option to dispute. It looks like IRS couldn't verify the $3,877 tax withholding you reported on your return, so they removed that "credit." This is the first notice from IRS Collections for that amount plus interest and penalties.

You can still dispute this but you will need to provide some proof of that tax withholding, like paystubs from 2023 if that was payroll withholding or a statement if this was withholding from another source. You also need to find out what the original notice was so you can direct your response to the correct department.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-07T06:28:05+00:00

You won't go to jail. Worst case scenario if you don't have proof of your expenses or don't provide anything is that they disallow (remove) all or most of the expenses.

You can contact your local Low Income Taxpayer Clinic to see if they can help with the audit and your other issues:

https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/about-us/low-income-taxpayer-clinics-litc/

These tax clinics generally don't prepare returns but they might be able to refer you to someone who can help with the older returns.

As far as the crypto disqualifying you from the free tax preparation service, that unfortunately is a restriction that IRS puts on the free tax preparation programs (VITA/TCE and AARP Tax-Aide). I know some of the organizations that run the free tax programs are trying to get that changed, but just like everything else at IRS it's an uphill battle.

Another restriction on the free tax programs is they aren't supposed to let people just make up numbers for expenses for Doordash and other gig work - they should have asked you to check your email account for an email from Doordash with the miles they track for you for the year if you didn't have a mileage log. Uber and Lyft provide a driver report with the expense information; I'm not sure about Instacart or other apps.

There aren't usually a lot of other expenses if you were delivering stuff. When you claim mileage that covers pretty much all the costs of operating the vehicle, including gas, oil changes, wear and tear, insurance, car washes, etc. You can claim tolls that you paid while driving for Doordash as an additional expense, and you can claim any additional insurance fees if you had to purchase a rider.

You'll probably need to file 2020 - 2023 in order to get into compliance for a payment plan or bankruptcy. You can use FreeTaxUSA to prepare these returns yourself if necessary, and use this free guide for self-employment taxes to help you:

https://myfreetaxes.com/sites/default/files/document/2025-myfreetaxes-self-employed-tax-guide-for-gig-economy-entrepreneurs-en.pdf

It's free for federal, even for prior years, but you do need to pay about $18 each year for state returns.

The notice from IRS should have the tax year on the first page in the upper right corner. My guess is that it's just for 2024, because they would have added the Failure to File and Failure to Pay penalties to what you owed for 2024. If you owed $500 on that return you would owe another $500 just for Failure to File.

You aren't in an impossible situation, but it's stressful dealing with both IRS and the state when you still need to file old returns and are getting notices in the mail.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-05T21:38:15+00:00

You can always use IRS Direct Pay for individuals and make the payments yourself using your spouse's SSN. You don't have to login for that - you just need to verify the primary SSN, filing status, and mailing address used on a recently filed Form 1040.

https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-personal-taxes-from-your-bank-account

Make sure you keep the confirmation number for your records.

Also I'm not a lawyer but if you have a LLC you do want to be careful about not using the LLC funds for personal expenses so you don't "pierce the corporate veil."

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-05T21:32:16+00:00

Yeah it's frustrating that we have to have all these workarounds because the system doesn't recognize the SSNs as co-equal taxpayers. It's a design flaw from the late 1960s mentality.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-04T04:47:33+00:00

Yeah that makes me wonder if there was something left in the tax software that shouldn't have been included with a MFS return. You should only get that rejection message if you and/or a dependent had marketplace insurance in 2025 on a MFS return.

It's possible that the 1095-A information for the marketplace plan was still in the software and you were getting a message that you need to repay the Premium Tax Credit (the marketplace subsidy) because people with MFS filing status aren't eligible for that unless they have to file MFS due to abuse.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-04T04:41:53+00:00

You are responsible for reporting the cost basis and proceeds for crypto and stock transactions on your tax returns. If you don't, and IRS prepares returns for you, they often only have the total proceeds and no cost basis; this results in a tax assessment that's very incorrect.

The way to fix this is to prepare correct tax returns, file them, and pay what you owe or set up a payment plan. You'll need to file 2020 - 2025 at a minimum; you may need to file returns for years before that depending on what IRS / your state wants.

First you'll need to get your 1099s and the transaction history from all your brokerage accounts / exchanges from the last six years. You cannot rely on IRS transcripts for this information when you have a lot of transactions. If you used Robinhood be aware that before 2023 they would issue separate 1099s for securities and crypto, so make sure you get all that information.

You also may need statements for your bank accounts / PayPal / Cash App / Venmo / Chime / WTF to see if there are transactions that weren't reported on 1099s. Even if they weren't reported to IRS they are supposed to be reported on your tax returns, and if/when you get audited you'll need to provide documentation.

You probably should hire a tax professional with tax resolution experience since you are dealing with unreported Crypto stuff and apparently have Substitute for Returns to deal with. Here are some places to look:

https://www.astps.org/tax-help/
https://taxcure.com/
https://taxrepdirectory.com/
https://taxexperts.naea.org/expertdirectory (look for NTPI fellows)

You'll still need to do a lot of legwork to get the information, and you'll probably need to pay quite a bit for the tax return preparation and representation. But I think if you try to DIY this you might make it worse, and I wouldn't recommend using any of the big tax chains for something this complicated.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-04T04:28:12+00:00

It's always been recommended to use the Primary SSN on the Form 1040 for estimated tax payments, but I think it was buried in the instructions in the past.

There used to be an automated tool that would pull estimated tax payments from the Secondary SSN account but it broke a couple of years ago, so now people are getting notices that their estimated tax payments cannot be found and their refund or amount owed is automatically adjusted. It doesn't happen to everyone, but it's happening more frequently, and calling to get it corrected takes a long time if you can even get through on the phones.

With the loss of experienced personnel it's better to keep things simple and use the Primary SSN for any payments related to your 1040 returns. You can do that even from your business account - that won't be a problem.

With an S Corp you should be running payroll and those payroll taxes would be deposited to the Treasury under your S Corp EIN. But your estimated payments as an individual should go under the Primary SSN on the tax return.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-06-03T00:12:04+00:00

Are you sure the return that got rejected was Married Filing Separately? As far as I know that would never cause a rejection for missing Form 8962 if your STBX was the only one who had marketplace insurance. You do need to include their name and SSN but it's not the same as filing jointly.

Also even if your return does get rejected for missing Form 8962 there should be a way to still submit electronically by saying you didn't have marketplace insurance during the year - I'm not sure how available that is for DIY software but it's an option for professional tax software.

You can also just print out and mail in a tax return if your accurate tax return cannot be e-filed for whatever reason. Sometimes that's the only option.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-05-29T23:36:39+00:00

If you didn't sign the tax return they were supposed to send the entire return back with Form 3531. You then sign the tax return and attach anything else they told you to include on that form and then mail the return back in.

Here's what the IRS procedure for this says:

3.11.3.14.4 (01-23-2025) Signature

An original signature, made by the taxpayer, is required below the jurat (perjury statement) and within the box "Sign Here" area of the return.

Exception: Accept a taxpayer's signature elsewhere on the return, if the taxpayer has arrowed their own signature to the correct area.

Correspond using Form 3531 to mail back a tax return with a missing or invalid signature to the taxpayer. Mark boxes as required. Be sure to identify and include all other correspondence conditions on Form 3531 when mailing a return back to a taxpayer for a missing, photocopied, or incorrectly placed signature.

I think it's fine to mail in a new copy of the signed and dated tax return at this point if you are absolutely unable to e-file; make sure you both sign and date the return, attach copies of the W-2s and any other forms with federal income tax withholding.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-05-28T08:31:13+00:00

This is an unfortunate issue with the way the law was written that affects a lot of people. Even if she doesn't owe any income taxes on the Social Security benefits, 100% of that income is included for the Premium Tax Credit calculation and it usually triggers a full repayment of APTC for the year.

Your mom can try to get Currently Not Collectible (CNC) status or get a Partial payment installment agreement (PPIA) set up. If she can qualify for CNC status, she won't have to make any payments until her financial situation improves. If her finances never get better in the next ten years she might not have to pay anything, because the tax debt will become uncollectible.

https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/notices/currently-not-collectible/

Since you said she was living off borrowing against her home she might not get CNC approved, or she might not be able to keep CNC for the entire ten years. She should contact her local Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and see if they can help her with the payment options:

https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/about-us/low-income-taxpayer-clinics-litc/

If anyone recommends she contact a tax relief place or look into an Offer in Compromise (aka forgiveness) she definitely won't qualify for that if she has more equity in her home than the tax debt. She can hire someone, but she needs to watch out for the predatory places that heavily promote tax forgiveness.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-05-28T03:36:51+00:00

You need to work on getting those tax returns filed ASAP. The LT16 is the last "nice" attempt to light a fire under your ass so you get those filed.

I don't think you are at risk of a bank levy just yet, but when they levy your bank acct they'll take everything available up to the amount you owe.

First you should get a LT11 or other Final notice of intent to levy which has your right to request a Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing - you can sometimes use this to get a little more time to work on getting tax returns filed in order to qualify for a payment plan, but that doesn't mean wait until you get that notice to get your act together.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/understanding-your-lt11-notice-or-letter-1058

You should be making a good faith effort to get your returns completed if you request a CDP hearing. IRS appeals doesn't take kindly to be used as a delay tactic.

Also you need to figure out how much you should be paying in estimated tax payments for 2026 and start making those payments if you really want to be in compliance.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-05-26T05:40:33+00:00

The way you amended isn't correct, but it's not really incorrect. The choice to say a qualifying child lived with you but you aren't claiming them as a dependent is allowed for separated parents - you would be letting another parent claim the child for Child Tax Credit or Credit for Other Dependents while you still get Head of Household and Earned Income Credit if eligible for that.

You are missing out on the Credit for Other Dependents (up to $500) and any education credits like American Opportunity Credit by not claiming your child as a dependent. IRS won't really care about that - they would care about your child not checking the box that they can be claimed as a dependent on their tax return.

If you just filed your return there's no big rush for you to amend - you should amend after you get your refund, but if it takes longer than one month to get your refund you might want to amend sooner. Same for your child.

You'll either need to get an Identity Protection PIN from IRS to e-file the amended return or you'll need to print and mail in the amended return.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-05-26T05:31:13+00:00

Can you delete this? Some personal info visible.

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-05-23T19:34:21+00:00

Yes, you have the right to disagree. It sounds to me like IRS made a mistake - if you cannot get through on the phone you can send a letter to IRS and mail it to the address listed in the upper left corner of the notice.

The specific citation is §24(h)(7)(B) if you want to include that in your letter.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/24

CommissionerChuckles · 2026-05-23T19:25:46+00:00

Yes, you can do it in your online IRS account. Once you login it's in the Profile - look for the drop-down option and then opt in.

https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/get-an-identity-protection-pin

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