Prior Tax Return SNAFU

[jimbohoward69]

I've been doing my sister's federal/state taxes for the past five years. She always gets money back on federal and has to pay state. I've told her to get with her HR/fiscal folks to check her withholdings but that's another subject for another day. The way it's worked is that I submit her federal/state return (via whatever tax SW I'm using at the time) and then find out how much her state tax bill will be. I then log onto the state's Dept of Revenue website and pay the amount due. Note: Her federal overpayment has always went to her checking since I put in her routing/acct number.

Well, I was looking over her past returns recently, since tax season is upon us, and realized that for tax year 2020, I screwed up. I submitted her federal/state return under MY social security number instead of hers. We have the same exact number except for one digit...maybe I was in a hurry, was used to typing in my own SSN, who knows?

At any rate, the state's Dept of Revenue's website currently shows a "credit" in 2020 that equals the amount due. And when you look at the list of actual returns submitted going back to 2017, 2020 is skipped (it goes from 2019 to 2021...so obviously, the state is showing no return submitted).

I'm certain that a state 1040X will need to be submitted regardless. But I guess the bigger question is: Even though payment was submitted and received by the state for tax due AT THAT TIME, could penalties be incurred due to no return being "technically" submitted? I guess that's more of a question for the the DOR but I'm sick knowing I screwed up my sister's return and hope there won't be any long term ramifications. And since I entered my SSN instead of hers for both returns, I ponder if/how that would affect my 2020 return.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[GrayHare]

Technically, you need not even file a return as long as you pay the tax you owe. I suspect if the taxes were timely paid, a letter that clearly describes what happened will get this matter solved at no extra cost, but it'll probably take some back and forth. I'm not a tax pro, so that's just a guess.

 

[Montecfo]

I would amend the federal and state, just to correct the ID number. The return was filed and tax paid timely.

It is rather clean assuming you have not cashed any refund checks.

Keep it as simple as possible.

 

[jimbohoward69]

Technically, you need not even file a return as long as you pay the tax you owe. I suspect if the taxes were timely paid, a letter that clearly describes what happened will get this matter solved at no extra cost, but it'll probably take some back and forth. I'm not a tax pro, so that's just a guess.

I get what you're saying but am not sure a letter will suffice in this matter (I think). Her state DOR account still shows a 2020 state return not being filed and that "credit" is a payment that was made that hasn't been "attached' to anything as of yet.

I would amend the federal and state, just to correct the ID number. The return was filed and tax paid timely.

It is rather clean assuming you have not cashed any refund checks.

Keep it as simple as possible.

That's what I want to do...keep it as simple as possible. Yes, both returns were submitted prior to the 2020 deadline and the state tax due was paid promptly. However, like I mentioned, it was also my SSN on her federal return, but the overpayment/refund went to her account, not mine. Just want to ensure both the IRS and state understand there was no malice on my end.

 

[GrayHare]

Errors are typically fixed via an amended return, and that's where you'd include the explanatory letter. Correcting this without filing an amendment would be an uphill battle IMO.

 

[38Chevy454]

You will have to do amended returns. Add an explanation letter. Call it an innocent typographical error. Is your sister in same state as you? If same why didn't your return or hers, whichever was submitted second, cause a problem?

 

[cathy63]

... for tax year 2020, I screwed up. I submitted her federal/state return under MY social security number instead of hers...

Something is wrong here. It's impossible to electronically submit two returns to the IRS with the same SSN. The second one gets an e-file reject with an error code that says an SSN was already used.

Is it possible that you only messed up the State return and the Federal return was ok? Or maybe one of the two Federal returns was never accepted and you just didn't notice the reject email?

You and your sister should both create online accounts with the IRS and look at your tax records to see which return was processed for each of you and who was credited with any tax you paid. If there is a problem on the Federal side, amend that one first before you work on the state.

 

[jimbohoward69]

Something is wrong here. It's impossible to electronically submit two returns to the IRS with the same SSN. The second one gets an e-file reject with an error code that says an SSN was already used.

Is it possible that you only messed up the State return and the Federal return was ok? Or maybe one of the two Federal returns was never accepted and you just didn't notice the reject email?

You and your sister should both create online accounts with the IRS and look at your tax records to see which return was processed for each of you and who was credited with any tax you paid. If there is a problem on the Federal side, amend that one first before you work on the state.

Well, I think I've gotten to the bottom of it. I used Tax Slayer for her 2020 return, and luckily, I was able to find the log-in. When I clicked on "Federal Return Status" for 2020, there were, in fact, two status entries. The first was a rejection due to the same SSN being used previously (as you stated). Then, the next status was accepted...so I clicked on the link and the pdf that came up did have her correct SSN. So, I must've corrected the return/re-submitted, and forgot to download the updated pdf.

What I don't understand now is that both federal & state were submitted & resubmitted together through Tax Slayer...and the federal was accepted, yet the state's website doesn't show a return for 2020. Maybe there was a glitch and the updated state return never reached it's destination.

So, now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just call the state DOR and tell them I have a pdf of her 2020 return, with the correct SSN, and ask why it's not showing in their system. I'd hate to start the whole 1040X process w/o knowing why the return isn't showing.