Wrong Address - IRS Mailed

[Snaggletooth]

Am really embarrassed at this goof.

Girl came to me early in February without a bank account. I had to e-file with no bank data, so they would mail the check to her house.

When filing the return, I entered the wrong address. Girl has called "Where's My Refund" and they asked her address, then told her it
was not the address where they mailed the check. When she contacted me, I confirmed that I failed to put the correct address on her
return.

This means her check is in the great abyss. Maybe even someone cashed it.

Any suggestions as to what to do at this point. I really want to make this right.

[luke]

s$#T happens

Snag - had the same thing happen to me several yrs ago - Postal service IS very good about sending BACK checks to IRS if name does not normally receive mail at that address? (at least in my case that's what happened) - It is still a hassle and thru PPS we were able to get another check issued (6-8 weeks later)!
In my case taxpayer was getting $6K refund and she had booked a cruise with payment due before she ever got refund! Wanted ME to "loan" her the money till her refund came..... (not hardly!)
STUFF happens and you move on (yes I lost that client and she probably cost me a half dozen more in our small town)!
(and not that it makes it any better BUT the taxpayer should have reviewed her OWN address???!!!)

[Black Bart]

Puts you in an unpleasant position alright. I had one several years ago -- customer lived out of town, had a post office box, and for some reason I used the right post office box number, but listed my town instead of hers. I told her what I'd done, she checked with our town's post office and they told her they had received it, but since the box here didn't match (wasn't in her name), they sent it back to IRS. I can't remember exactly how we handled it, but believe we called IRS, explained, and they sent her a duplicate check later. She was a nice lady and wasn't much upset, but then, of course, there are those like luke's.

Since (I assume) you checked the 1040 page 2 box to discuss procedural matters with IRS, couldn't you call IRS and give them the correct address? Maybe (just in case) get her in the office to okay the talk when you make the call (sometimes they won't talk without a POA even if the box is checked). Is she helpful or does she want to go on a cruise too?

[geekgirldany]

I know this is a old thread but I just did the same thing with the wrong address. I reversed numbers and I am totally embarrassed to say it has been this way for 9 years. I corrected it for 2016 but for previous years do I still need to get the client to file Form 8822?

I feel awful. If he any correspondence came from the IRS I guess it would be on me that he did not get it, correct?

[Roland Slugg]

I feel awful. If .. any correspondence came from the IRS I guess it would be on me that he did not get it, correct?

Well, I dunno. Don't taxpayers have SOME responsibility to LOOK at their own tax returns before filing them, or authorizing their preparer to e-file them?

[geekgirldany]

Thanks for answering Roland.

Majority just want to know refund or owe and then sign the efile papers. I know mistakes happen but most of the time with a new client I repeat the address when they pickup.
Can't believe it went that many years with the wrong address. What I would consider a basic tax return and always got a refund. So hopefully nothing will come of it although I might have lost a good customer.

[FEDUKE404]

Dealing with prior address errors

I know this is a old thread but I just did the same thing with the wrong address. I reversed numbers and I am totally embarrassed to say it has been this way for 9 years. I corrected it for 2016 but for previous years do I still need to get the client to file Form 8822?

I feel awful. If he any correspondence came from the IRS I guess it would be on me that he did not get it, correct?

I don't think Form 8822 has any "retroactive" use, as the IRS uses your most recent tax return address for any contact needs it might have, unless later changed via a Form 8822 (you move to a new location in July). Merely filing a correct address on your 2016 return should handle that matter. Also some state returns have a box to check "if your address has changed" and that should certainly alert them.

One side issue: The preparer is responsible for entering the address shown on such documents as W2s and 1099-Rs. (With efile, you are essentially "sending the document" to the IRS.) I routinely check, and frequently have to change, the autofill address shown as it differs from the address shown on the actual tax return. Yes, a nuisance. . .but also the rules. I only mention because there likely were many such items where the addresses would not have matched and then perhaps the glitch could have been caught and repaired sooner.

FE

[geekgirldany]

Thanks FE. I thought the form was for the current than prior years.

Yes, if I would have looked closer at the W-2 and other forms address I would have seen it was different. I caught myself a few times this year changing the autofill address with what was show on the W-2. I have no excuse and like I said very embarrassed it went for so long... that I let it go for so long. I believe I get tunnel vision so to speak the last two weeks of the tax season and do not check things like addresses and more focused on the numbers. I double check them, add up W-2s Income, Fed W/H, State W/H, interest, dividends to make sure everything is correct. Things like double checking addresses get pushed aside I suppose.

A side note... I believe I am going to start scanning in all client's information and using PDFs for entering the data so I can zoom in to make the text larger. I've had some health problems and my eyesight is worse. I've caught some errors this year just by my double checking with adding up the forms. Like I would put a 5 instead of 2 or 6 instead of 8. I had even looked at the forms again and did not catch the error until I added up the forms. So, need to make adjustments in my entry process.

[FEDUKE404]

Fixing the small stuff

Thanks FE. I thought the form was for the current than prior years.

Yes, if I would have looked closer at the W-2 and other forms address I would have seen it was different. I caught myself a few times this year changing the autofill address with what was show on the W-2. I have no excuse and like I said very embarrassed it went for so long... that I let it go for so long. I believe I get tunnel vision so to speak the last two weeks of the tax season and do not check things like addresses and more focused on the numbers. I double check them, add up W-2s Income, Fed W/H, State W/H, interest, dividends to make sure everything is correct. Things like double checking addresses get pushed aside I suppose.

A side note... I believe I am going to start scanning in all client's information and using PDFs for entering the data so I can zoom in to make the text larger. I've had some health problems and my eyesight is worse. I've caught some errors this year just by my double checking with adding up the forms. Like I would put a 5 instead of 2 or 6 instead of 8. I had even looked at the forms again and did not catch the error until I added up the forms. So, need to make adjustments in my entry process.

We're all only human, and certainly have our fair share of mistakes along our own historical tax trails.

One thing I've tended to do much more is trust my software. It can handle many things quite well. And I never override anything unless there is a darn clear-cut reason why I should do so. In most cases I am able to figure our why the software was showing the "wrong" answer. . .and more times than not the error was input related on my part (such as you must start with a worksheet). Every now and then I will get a calculated number (consider such things as calculated limitations on Form 1116. or "stuff" on Form 8880 or Form 8960) and I want to see if the software is correct. It usually is! A less complicated but more common example includes deciding how much of a state refund MIGHT BE/IS taxable when estimated state payments or extension payments or state refunds all occur in the same 12-month period as the refund. In theory, it's not an overly difficult calculation (and can help on AGI issues such as IRMAA and if TP does not itemize the succeeding year), but the number-crunching can be time-consuming. Generally speaking I don't "add up" anything anymore.

SIDE ISSUE: I can commensurate with the vision issues. Merely adding a few years often leads to diminished vision. I've had serious continuing vision problems for several years, and may soon just have to quit any tax work. For now I rely on bright lights, a magnifying glass always nearby, and the ability to make things "larger" on the computer screen. Many of my clients are like family. . . .well, some better very distant cousins??. . .and once I hang up my pencil I will truly miss dealing with (most of) them. My 2017 soul-searching time in the summer for whether to continue next year might be rough.

Oh well. Pardon the serious detour in this epistle. Keep your chin up!

Best!

FE

[taxea]

File a request for refund form. IRS will track down the check and send a new one. Be sure to include a Statement of Facts

[geekgirldany]

The refunds were always direct deposited so that was no problem. It is just that prior years had the wrong address on the forms.

[FEDUKE404]

IRS has wrong mail address

The refunds were always direct deposited so that was no problem. It is just that prior years had the wrong address on the forms.

I wonder when/if the IRS starts using the "daytime telephone number" shown on the filed tax return, if they encounter returned mail problems.

Anyone ??

FE