What will the IRS do if I file taxes that may be incomplete?

October 15, 2023 7:03 AM

I feel embarrassed asking this, but here we go. I'm usually very responsible, but we've had a hell of a year. In the spring, I filed an extension for our 2022 taxes, and they're now due tomorrow if I want to file on time. For reasons that I won't go into, I'm not sure whether I have all the relevant forms to complete the taxes. I believe I have all the W2s, but I might be missing a 1099-INT or two (or similar forms). 

Basically, there may be a few bank bonuses or something similar that I'm forgetting about.  We usually get a refund of several thousand dollars, so I believe that we'll still be owed a refund, in spite of this. Help?

My question is: is it better to file by tomorrow, the deadline, even if it's potentially a bit incomplete? What will happen if I do so and we're missing, say, 2-3 forms that total a thousand dollars or two of interest/bank bonus income (at the maximum)? The IRS presumably received those forms already, so will they just adjust our refund to include them? Or will we have to refile? Will they tell me which forms I missed? Will all this be done electronically, or will I get a letter in the mail?

Thanks for the help!

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (12 answers total)

When this has happened to me, I got a letter that I'd filed incorrectly and they'd adjusted my taxes accordingly.
posted by shadygrove at 7:07 AM on October 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Call them and ask.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:22 AM on October 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

File now and expect to get a letter in the mail with corrections. It may not be any time soon, but it will probably happen eventually. If you have the 2021 return, you should check for all the same forms. Unless you know the account was closed, you should have the same form for 2022 and might be able to log onto the account and print it out.
posted by soelo at 7:40 AM on October 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Some of my online banking have the option to download the 1099-INT again. Also, if it's something like savings account interest, your last statement of the year (which you almost surely can download) will probably show "YTD interest" which will match what's on the 1099-INT. That's the only number you need from that form - you can just put the bank name and that number.
posted by fritley at 8:18 AM on October 15, 2023

If you bank/invest with any of the major players, you should be able to download all your 2022 tax forms from the websites of your bank, investment companies, etc.
posted by slkinsey at 8:36 AM on October 15, 2023

You can pull a transcript online from the IRS which will show you everything they have received. You’ll want the Wage and Income Transcript.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript
posted by dngrangl at 9:15 AM on October 15, 2023 [6 favorites]

File now, file an amended return later.
posted by Dashy at 9:17 AM on October 15, 2023 [4 favorites]

I routinely get letters from the IRS with adjustments they’ve made to prior years’ returns. I recently got one telling me that I owe $82 for 2017. They’re never in my favor … thanks for nothing, TurboTax.
posted by ellenaim at 9:23 AM on October 15, 2023

If you're really still owed a refund then you can simply not file as far as the financial consequences are concerned -- all the late penalties and interest apply only in instances when you owe them. But I'd try to get it done by downloading your transcript from them (best option if you have ID.me set up already or can get it set up) or by going to your bank websites. Also banks won't send you a form if the interest is some minimal amount so you might really not be missing anything.
posted by slidell at 9:32 AM on October 15, 2023

Note that if your interest income in any given account was below a certain threshold, the bank was not required to issue a 1099-INT.

I went through a point in my life where I filed several overdue years at once. For those years I owed money, there were additional fees for late filing and for late payment, both assessed as a percentage of the amount I owed. The advice I received was not to bother trying to calculate those fees myself, because I would just get it wrong (the fees, tho really quite small comparatively, involve Byzantine calculations). I ignored that advice and tried anyway...and got it wrong. IRS sent me a very straightforward message with the small remaining balance and how to pay it.

For the years IRS owed me, there were no late penalty fees. Though past a certain amount of time, 3 or 4 years, they will consider your unclaimed refund forfeit.

Other than the communications with the IRS and payment, this had virtually no impact on my life, until I was going through a background check for a security clearance, which is what prompted me to get my filing in order. I had to write a note promising never to be delinquent again to the officer running my background check.

I'm not advising to be delinquent, because as everyone says above, the IRS will let you know if their records disagree, and if you later independently discover an error, you can file an amended return. But if you do end up being late filing, now you know how that panned out for one random internet stranger.
posted by solotoro at 9:48 AM on October 15, 2023

Agreed with folks above that it's better to file on time and expect the IRS to reach out. I also had an extension til tomorrow (CA wildfires) and I just did my taxes last night. I spent part of that time turning my office inside out looking for that one weird little tax form that I think I saw? Months ago? That I swore I put in a smart place I'd easily find later? It happens – and I am a pretty responsible person too...generally.

I have oh so many opinions about our tax system, but I digress. Safe to say that I wouldn't be embarrassed by this type of question – I'm willing to bet 90+% of US adults have had similar frustrations. And thank you for asking it, as some of the answers hit on things I've been wondering about too!
posted by Molasses808 at 10:13 AM on October 15, 2023

TIL about the IRS transcript, that's awesome!

Anyways, back to your question. Do the best you can, and file. It'll be OK.

The way I look at it is, so long as you've made a best effort to file accurate forms and pay what you owe, the system is set up to deal with innocent mistakes. It has to be -- people are going to get things wrong without any bad intent. Mistakes happen, so there's a process for them, and it's not excessively punitive or a big deal. The IRS will send you a letter if it catches something wrong, and you'll be able to fix it.

Of course, in a properly set up system, the IRS would just send you a bill/refund 'cuz for most people it knows exactly what you owe. Blame TurboTax's lobbyists for the fact that you have unnecessary homework.
posted by Metasyntactic at 1:58 PM on October 15, 2023 [2 favorites]