Amended 2020 Return

[RWG1950]

On April 10th 2024 my new customer submitted paper amended tax returns for 2020, 2021 & 2022.
These were mailed in the same envelope. He says he used USPS Priority mail.
In November 2024 he & I called the IRS practitioner hotline & were advised the refunds for '21 & '22 were
in process but they had no record of receiving the '20 amended. We were further advised to re-submit it along with
proof of mailing and a letter of explanation. This was done.
We called IRS again today & they again said they still have no record of the receipt of the '20 amended return.
What recourse (if any) does the taxpayer have in this situation? Thanks for comments.

[RAG1775]

What a mess.
Anything I send as a paper file, document, etc. to the IRS is always sent certified mail return receipt. This is inexpensive insurance and proof that the IRS received the package.
If you think about the past, there were points in time when the IRS had tens of thousands of paper returns that were unprocessed. This is only to get worse with reduction in their workforce.
I would send in another, indicating in a cover letter that this is the 3rd submission. This will hopefully allow them to add a notation in the "file" in case one of the other 2020 amended returns show up.
Not much else you can do.

[Anarchrist]

he used USPS Priority mail.
advised to re-submit it along with proof of mailing and a letter of explanation. This was done.

Unfortunately, Priority Mail doesn't count as proof of mailing. Certified or an approved delivery service. Go ahead and submit it w/ an explanation, but warn the client that they're screwed.

[RWG1950]

Customer received IRS letter dated 6-27-25 requesting the same signed docs that had been provided with the 2 prior 2020 amended return attempts.
Their letter seems to confirm that the original 1040-X was received in a timely manner, though.
Will be sure to have him send these pages back to IRS by certified mail this time.
The cutback in funding must be really taking a toll on IRS service capabilities.

[FEDUKE404]

Certified mail w/receipt basically says the mail clerk at the IRS received the item. There are plenty of places afterward a paper return could go astray. Especially during the COVID era.
It is generally not a good idea to send more than one tax return in a given envelope.

FWIW, I had a client with a similar three-year amended scenario. Two of the years were processed in a reasonably timely manner, but the third was lost in space. Finally last year the client received a letter that the "recently submitted" amended return (I guess it showed up??) could not be processed because the three-year window had since closed. (I guess the date with the client signature was irrelevant?)

Client decided it wasn't worth the effort and the matter was dropped.

FE