Still Haven’t Received Your Tax Forms? Here’s What To Do

We hear the following from clients every year right around the tax deadline, “I know I should have received my 1099 by now, but I can’t find it.” Sometimes the form is simply misplaced, and other times, it is never received in the mail. Either way, as the tax deadline approaches – this year, on April 18th – panic often begins to set in for taxpayers worrying about how to report their income without the proper documentation.

In general, form W-2 wage statements and 1099s reporting nonemployee compensation, miscellaneous income, interest, dividends and retirement income are due by the end of January. If you have not received the documentation by late February, you should try contacting the issuing party or payor, such as your employer, bank or other institution, for a copy.

If you are still unable to obtain the necessary information, you can call the IRS and ask them to help you  track down the form from the issuer. The IRS will then attempt to contact the payor for the missing form. In addition, if the missing document is a W-2 or 1099-R, the service will provide you with a Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, or Form 1099R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRA’s Insurance Contracts, Etc. This form is attached to the tax return and requires the taxpayer to provide their best estimates of their income and withholdings. One must also explain how these amounts were determined and what efforts were taken to try to secure the original tax form. Should the missing tax form eventually be located, the taxpayer must amend their tax return to report the correct information.

The final option is to request an account transcript from the IRS. As W-2s and 1099s are provided to both taxpayers and the IRS, one may be able to get their missing income information from the Service. Note: It can take some time for the IRS to process the incoming W-2s and 1099s submitted earlier in the year, so the requested information may not be available until later in the summer. If this is the case, one should request a filing extension to buy more time in the hopes of getting the financial transcript in the ensuing month and use it to file a complete tax return.

If you still have not received your 2021 tax documents and need advice on how best to file your tax return, please contact Alan Goldenberg, Principal and Leader of the Tax Controversy and State and Local Taxation groups, or your Anchin Relationship Partner.