Refunds come and go when it comes to taxes. Luckily, for you, you can still claim the 2015 refund that you’ve been delaying. Just remember, you have three years within the original due date of your 2015 tax return to claim your refund.
This is due to the IRS Statute of Limitations, which limits taxpayers in claiming a prior year refund. After the three year deadline, your refund expires and goes to the IRS.
Don’t wait. Get the money you’re entitled to.
If you realized you lost a prior year W-2, there’s still hope. The process to get a copy of a W-2 can be fairly simple. In order to receive a copy of your prior year W-2, you have three options. After requesting the W-2 , create an account and start preparing your late tax return on Prior Tax. Your Dedicated Tax Professional will guide you from start to finish in filing your taxes.
The easiest way to get a copy of a lost W-2, is to contact the employer who issued it. The payroll department of your employer (or former employer) should be saving important tax information, such as W-2s. Ask for the W-2 to be sent to you. This process is pretty simple and shouldn’t take much time.
Have you asked your employer for your W-2 and noticed that he mentally added the task to the very bottom of his To-Do list? If you know that your employer (or past employer) uses a payroll provider instead of calculating payroll in-office, skip the middleman and give the company a call yourself. When you call, be prepared to verify your SSN or employee number as they may ask for it. While speaking to the payroll provider, you may want to confirm the following:
If you only need the federal information that was reported on your W-2 (not an actual copy), then you’ll file form 4506-T to the IRS for free. For state withholding amounts, you will need to contact your state department of revenue.
The box you will need to make sure that is checked off is titled “Form W-2, Form 1099 series, Form 1098 series, or Form 5498 series transcript.” This alternative may be more time-consuming than reaching out to an employer. However, it requires NO hunting down of past employers to get them to spare a nano-second of their time.
With federal taxes, we’re all, more or less, in the same boat. The IRS is a one stop shop for everyone; no matter where in the country you live. When we’re talking state tax returns, we each seem to be out to sea on our own one-man floats. States are given some leeway to construct a unique set of guidelines for resident and nonresident taxpayers.
For federal taxes, you can always contact one entity; the IRS. If you want to request prior year state tax information, you’ll need to contact that state specifically. We’ve put together a list for you including the following information for each state:
Phone: 334-353-0602
Address: Alabama Department of Revenue
50 North Ripley Street
Montgomery, AL 36104
Website: Alabama Department of Revenue
Although this is a quote by a historian who probably knew little about filing a tax return, it is oddly relatable when trying to locate a prior year AGI. Here’s why. In order to find your AGI (otherwise known as adjusted gross income), you’ll need to take a look at the prior year’s tax documents. I’ve pinpointed three easy ways to find your prior year AGI without having to dig too deep into the past. Let’s take a look.
If you’re the type of person who has a knack for keeping track of important paperwork, then you probably know where to find your tax return from last year. Once you find it, you’ll be able to find your AGI amount for the year on line 37 of Form 1040, as you’ll see below. (more…)
