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Can a person file the first day possible even though they may not have all the documents they actually need to file for the year?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 6, 2019
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Best answer by Opus 17

The first day that the IRS accepts electronic filing is usually around January 20.

You can file without your documents, the computer doesn't know the difference. Although technically, you are certifying that your return is true and correct, when you know it isn't.

But, then after you receive your documents, you will have to file an amended return. Amended returns take 5 months to process, assuming that the load stays the same. If more people try your plan, amended returns will get delayed even more. If the amended return results in you owing additional tax, you will have to pay back part or all of your original refund and you may get hit with interest and penalties.

And in some cases, your original tax return may get held up for investigation, especially if you are requesting a large refund based on W-2 or 1099 income when the payors have not yet submitted their copies to the IRS, making the IRS unable to automatically verify your income and withholding.

It's always recommended to wait until you have all your correct information.

G

gardner-pkAuthor

How can I prevent someone from claiming my tax refund ahead of me? I'm expecting a large return and afraid it will trigger theives. Are there protections in place?

O

Opus 17Answer

Employee

The first day that the IRS accepts electronic filing is usually around January 20.

You can file without your documents, the computer doesn't know the difference. Although technically, you are certifying that your return is true and correct, when you know it isn't.

But, then after you receive your documents, you will have to file an amended return. Amended returns take 5 months to process, assuming that the load stays the same. If more people try your plan, amended returns will get delayed even more. If the amended return results in you owing additional tax, you will have to pay back part or all of your original refund and you may get hit with interest and penalties.

And in some cases, your original tax return may get held up for investigation, especially if you are requesting a large refund based on W-2 or 1099 income when the payors have not yet submitted their copies to the IRS, making the IRS unable to automatically verify your income and withholding.

It's always recommended to wait until you have all your correct information.

S

SweetieJean

Employee

Also, if you are are claiming the EIC and/or the ACTC, no refunds will be issued until at least mid February.

O

Opus 17

Employee

First, if you used Turbotax in the past, and a crook also uses turbotax in your name, you will get a notification email and 48 hours to call security and block the other return.  This doesn't work if the crook uses a different tax service.

Secondly, your e-filed return is protected by the requirement to include either your e-file PIN (that you selected the first year you e-filed and use every year after that) or your adjusted gross income (AGI) from your last tax return.  To e-file ahead of you, a crook would need both your SSN and some information from last year's tax return.

If you know your information has been specifically compromised (more than just the general Equifax mess) you can file an identity theft report with the IRS, if they accept the report they will issue a 6 digit identity protection PIN that is mailed to your home and changes every year.  Download form 14039-T from the IRS web site.

You may want to request your own tax transcript from the IRS web site.  Doing this requires that you set up and verify an online account with the IRS.  Even if you don't really need your transcript, setting up your own account prevents anyone else from setting up an account in your name to access your information. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript">https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript</a>

The IRS also has some fraud triggers that they watch for and will hold your refund pending verification.  They don't discuss publicly what those triggers are, but an informed guess would include large refunds going to foreign addresses or different bank accounts than the taxpayer used in previous years.

S

SweetieJean

Employee

You can always change your withholding for the rest of the year so that your expected refund is not as large.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/w4/

And be aware that Congress is considering major Federal tax law changes.