Ever go looking for a copy of past tax return and can not find it?
This happens frequently. How?
1) People shift - quite a bit. Then you know what happens. They get put in a box...that...well, you just can't seem to find.
2) People pass away - A parent passes away and one of their children needs to pick up the pieces and complete the estate and probate filings. And the individual returns, that hopefully were filed, are nowhere to be found.
What should you do?
The easiest thing to do is complete IRS Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return. Along with this you will need to send in a check for $57 for each year requested. The good news is if there is no copy of tax return on file, the IRS will send you the check back. The bad news is there may have been a non-filing of tax returns for some years. This can happen with old taxpayers who forget to file. We have even had situations where the taxpayer filed the federal tax return but not the state tax return. State tax returns require a different request form.
The issue with Form 4506, in addition to the cost, is the holdup in getting a reply. According to the instructions to the form, it indicates it will take at least 60 days.
What if you can't wait that long?
Complete IRS Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Return. There are two benefits to using this form. First, there is no cost associated with this form. Second, the response can be as little as 10 business days.
What's the downside to just requesting the transcript?
The transcript is not a tax return. It is just a summary of the various items of income and some third party reporting (like mortgages) that have been reported. These forms however, can be somewhat challenging to read.
People that need a Tax Return Copy that are not under a big time constraint should complete IRS Form 4506. If you need information quickly, complete IRS Form 4506-T and get just the transcript.