IRS requesting refiling for lost return

[PATAX]

Client , a non-profit entity , just received a letter stating that the IRS does not have the required 2019 form 990 return. The return was properly filed in the second half of 2020 and  client has the certified mail receipts. (At that time there was not e file mandate for form 990 as there is now). letter States, among many other things, that if you have already filed the required return more than 4 weeks ago to complete the response form at the end of this notice and mail it in the enclosed envelope with a signed and dated copy of the return. The response form States and asks if you already filed that you are enclosing copy of the return and they ask for the date the form was filed. So it looks like the original return that was filed and received by them cannot be located and now the client has to file a copy of the return.... hope this information is useful for others and if anyone else has advice or a similar situation please share it with us....

[George4Tacks]

Certified mail to IRS in 2020? It may still be sitting in a trailer in the parking lot. 

Once, LONG AGO, I got a letter like that and I included a bill to the United States Treasury for the cost of replicating the return. I bet you can guess what happened. 

[sjrcpa · Accepted solution]

We had a client get a letter saying the IRS lost their 2019 amended tax return (paper filed) and to please resubmit it.

@PATAX I'd respond with a copy of the return and the proof of mailing

[IRonMaN]

Maybe a few IRS folks got tired of looking at those trailers and just started shredding returns to help get caught up 😬

[PATAX]

@sjrcpa @IRonMaN @George4Tacks thanks for the responses... I'm going to attach photocopy of the certified mail receipt and a copy of the original return.. I am also going to type a brief letter explaining this to them and have the client sign it in addition to my signature... Hopefully they will not process the return twice if and when they open up the original return envelope... I used to be able to go a whole year without any notices from the federal , state , or local entities... Not anymore...

[IRonMaN]

"We had a client get a letter saying the IRS lost their 2019 amended tax return (paper filed) and to please resubmit it."

How did they know they had it and then lost it?  Sounds like one that made that shredding pile 😁

[PATAX]

@IRonMaN between this and the phone calls that we are now getting for delayed refunds  it is not turning out to be a banner year... And I don't think next year is going to be any better...

[sjrcpa]

I don't know how they knew. Since employees are working from home, maybe the dog ate it before the employee finished?

[PATAX]

@sjrcpa @IRonMaN I wonder if they have a log of incoming mail, especially if it is certified mail, where they just record basic information... Sort of similar to how we login a client when they drop off their data in tax season... Just wondering...

[sjrcpa]

I don't know. Maybe they do.

[IRonMaN]

If they do, hopefully the log is put in a safe place so their dog doesn't eat it.

[PATAX]

@IRonMaN @sjrcpa @George4Tacks just read an article emailed to me... IRS is encouraging nonprofit entities to file electronically if they have not yet filed , ,for returns like 990-ez, ETC.... Article states that IRS is having processing issues with forms filed manually related to nonprofit or tax-exempt entities... if anyone needs details of the rest of the article please let me know...

[sjrcpa]

I thought it was mandatory for nonprofits now. 

[IRonMaN]

Me two.  Or is it to?  Or is it too?

Nevermind - me three.  (that solves that issue 😬)

[PATAX]

@sjrcpa it is now mandatory for form 990... Not sure about form 990-ez since I don't file that form... The article also mentioned another form , it may have been the form dealing with tax-exempt status, but I'm not sure

[PATAX]

@IRonMaN @sjrcpa @George4Tacks client cannot find the certified mail receipt so I asked him to look for the postage receipt... Not sure what I'm going to do if he cannot find proof of mailing.. Not sure if I should just wait for the IRS to find the original return... What do you guys think?

[sjrcpa]

Do you think client really mailed it?

[PATAX]

@sjrcpa  yeah I think they did mail it... the quartermaster for this veterans organization is very straightforward and I do not think he would lie to me... They have been a longtime client...

[PATAX]

@sjrcpa if they did not mail it then the penalty / interest will be substantial... Years ago a client, an ethnic Club, forgot to mail the 990 form in... The penalty / interest fee I believe was between $2,000 to $3,000... If my memory serves me right IRS ended up waiving the amount... Not sure if it was first-time forgiveness or not...

[mdtao31]

AMEN!!,my phone is ringing off the hook.some returns i filed 2 weeks ago have received

thier refunds, while others i filed 6 weeks ago are receiving the message return

is being processed

regards, LARRY

stay safe