Internal Revenue Code 6020 – File Old Tax Returns

April 15th is the annual deadline for most people to file their federal income tax return and pay any taxes they owe. But what happens if you can’t file on time? What happens if you file your return after the due date? If you were owed a refund, can you still receive it? This post will answer all of the above questions and then some.

Annual Due Date For Filing Return. Everyone is pretty familiar with the date of April 15th here in the US. This is “Tax Day” or the date that most people are required to file their Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. While this date may move slightly from year to year (due to local holidays) note that it is actually mandated by law. 26 U.S. Code § 6072 actually stipulates the due dates for individual and corporate tax returns.

Can’t File By Due Date? By law, the IRS may assess penalties to taxpayers for both failing to file a tax return and for failing to pay taxes they owe by the deadline. Now, one way to avoid the late filing penalties is to file an extension. Filing Form 4868 Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, will give you an extra 6 months for you to file your return and have it be considered on time. Now, if you owe money, that is still due on April 15th. If you fail to make a payment by then, you will still be subject to the late payment penalties noted above.

Filing After Extension Due Date? If you file after the extended due date, then one of two scenarios occurs:

You had a balance due and are now subject to the late filing and late payment penalties
You have a refund and are NOT subject to any penalties, but the clock is now ticking for you to claim your refund or lose it.

3 Year Deadline To Claim Refund 26 U.S. Code § 6511 outlines that a taxpayer basically has 3 years from the time the return was filed or 2 years from the time the tax was paid, whichever of such periods expires the later, to claim their refund. So while you won’t pay any penalties for late filing a return in which you were owed a refund, know that you generally only have 3 years to claim it. What happens if you don’t file by then? Well, that refund becomes the property of the US Government and you lose it forever!

What If You Don’t File Voluntarily If you fail to file file a tax return, the IRS may file a substitute return for you. This return might not give you credit for deductions and exemptions you may be entitled to receive. The return the IRS prepares for you will lead to a tax bill, which if unpaid, will trigger the collection process. This can include such actions as a levy on your wages or bank account or the filing of a notice of federal tax lien.

Need Help Filing Your Past Due Return? For filing help, you can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 They can help you obtain wage and income information to help prepare a past due return. If you don’t want to speak to anyone at the IRS, you can obtain your transcripts electronically by using the IRS’ Get Transcript tool to request a return or account transcript. You can also get tax forms and instructions to file your past due return by calling 1-800-Tax-Form (1-800-829-3676).

Now, if you would rather avoid all of the above and have a service file your tax returns for you, we’d be more than happy to help. Just go to this page to get started and you can be filed in as little as 24 hours!

What Is An IRS Substitute For Return (SFR)?

Sometimes, when a person does not file a tax return on their own, the IRS will prepare one based on the information they have available. This is called a substitute for a tax return or SFR. The IRS does this so they can assess tax and begin collection activities. But just how does a SFR get filed and what are the ramifications? Read on to find out.

Situations where the IRS will file a SFR
A SFR is typically filed when the IRS notices that a person hasn’t filed for a few years, but that person has income documents on file with them (e.g. W-2, 1099-MISC). The IRS will then file SFRs for all the unfiled years based on the information on those tax documents.

How does the IRS calculate the tax on a SFR?
The SFR is always prepared in the best interest of the government. What this means is that they will use the filing status of Single and they will not include any deductions or credits. Typically this can result in the taxpayer having a balance owed. Now let’s think about that for a second. If a tax return is prepared without any deductions, without any tax credits, it’s quite likely that the IRS’s calculation of tax is much higher than it should be. Thus, in most cases, that’s just what happens. There are even instances that had the taxpayer filed the return themselves, the IRS would owe them a refund.

Does the IRS have the authority to file a return on your behalf?
The short answer is yes. Congress authorizes the IRS to prepare tax returns based on information available to it in situations where a person has not filed a return (Internal Revenue Code 6020).

What happens after the SFR is filed?
The IRS will send you a Notice of Deficiency CP3219N (90-day letter) proposing a tax assessment. You then will have 90 days to file your past due tax return or file a petition in Tax Court. If you do neither, the IRS will proceed with their proposed assessment.

Technical implications of having a SFR filed on your behalf
It’s important to know that a SFR is not an “original” return (i.e. filed by the taxpayer). As such, the IRS treats them differently when it comes to several things. A SFR that is not signed by the taxpayer:

Does not start the collections statute of limitations
Does not start the audit statute of limitations
Has no effect on the refund statute of limitations

Per the Internal Revenue Manual 25.6.1.9.4.5, “the assessment date will start the period for the statute of limitations for collection per IRC Section 6502(a)(1), but does not start the period of limitations for assessment.” However, if a person agrees with the SFR, then signing it does start the audit statute of limitations. From the same section of the Internal Revenue Manual, “If the taxpayer signs a SFR return prepared from income information received from the taxpayer, it becomes the taxpayer’s return per IRC Section 6020(a) and starts the assessment period of limitations.”

Should a person file an original return after the IRS files a SFR?
If a taxpayer didn’t file an original return, they always have the opportunity to do so. Filing the original return after an SFR has been filed allows the taxpayer to possibly choose a more advantageous filing status if applicable (e.g. Head of Household, Married Filing Jointly, etc.) as well as include any deductions and credits they are entitled to. This may reduce or eliminate the tax that the IRS says the taxpayer owes.

The IRS has temporarily suspended the ASFR case selection
In September of 2018, a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) official announced suspension of the automated substitute for return (ASFR) program. As such, selection of new cases (i.e. the IRS filing SFRs on a taxpayers behalf) is not occurring at the moment. This is due to “resource limitations” which can be construed as the series of IRS budget reductions that have taken place in recent years. Furthermore, the IRS has stated that they remain committed to taking many actions in 2018 to improve methods of allocating nonfiler cases across their potential compliance treatment streams, and this includes the ASFR program.

So while the IRS is not “currently” filing SFR returns for taxpayers, don’t expect it to last forever. It’s also important to note that the IRS said it is continuing to work on active ASFR cases and ASFR reconsiderations.

How Late Can You File A Tax Return?

What Is An IRS Substitute For Return (SFR)?