Counselors who prepare or quality review a prior year return must have been certified for the year of that return.

Only returns for the three (federal) or four (CA) prior years may be prepared by Tax-Aide. Taxpayers needing even older returns must use a paid preparer (but note that they must file ONLY if there’s a balance due or in response to an IRS request; they aren’t eligible to get a refund).


  • Taxpayers who want to file prior returns are often missing tax forms. In such case, the taxpayer can request a Wage and Income Transcript from the IRS. The request can be done in one of four ways: online, by mail, by phone, or in-person at an IRS office. 
        • Note: To prevent identity theft, transcripts obtained online show only the last four digits of each EIN. If the taxpayer has prior year and/or subsequent year documents with full EINs, then this “masked” transcript suffices. Otherwise, another approach should be used. 
      • Social Security Administration: If the taxpayer has an SSA account, and has not yet filed for SS benefits, they can see W-2 information through that account. This is primarily useful for getting full EINs, since the W-2 information is quite incomplete.
        • When the taxpayer goes to their Earnings Record, online, that page should include “Not sure if you need to request a correction? Take a closer look.” 
  • In-person, at an IRS Tax Assistance Center. (Call 844-545-5640 for an appointment.)  Ask for an unmasked transcript, “needed to file a tax return”.
    • By phone: Call 800-908-9946. Ask for an unmasked transcript, “needed to file a tax return”; allow 5 to 10 business days to receive the transcript.
  • By mail: The appropriate transcript to request is listed as number 8 on Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return.  It is unclear whether the IRS provides an unmasked transcript in response as the default. If an unmasked transcript is needed (usually), the taxpayer should write “Unmasked” next to the checkbox for item number 8, and “Unmasked transcript needed for tax return preparation” at the top of the form.
    • Note for CA returns: IRS transcripts don’t include CA-specific information, which is primarily state tax withholding. If the taxpayer needs this information, they can obtain it by creating an online MyFTB account (ftb.ca.gov/myftb/), or by calling the FTB at 800-852-5711; the FTB agent will look up the information and send the taxpayer a copy.
      • Note: Establishing an online account requires an email address, and the FTB mails the taxpayer a PIN, which can take up to 10 days.
      • An alternative is to just file a CA return and let the FTB computers automatically make the adjustment for CA withholding. The FTB then mails a letter to the taxpayer explaining what corrections were made.
    • Complete W-2s are available from the Social Security Administration, but at a fee of $90 for each year since the taxpayer is requesting these for a reason unrelated to Social Security matters. 
  • Taxpayers with newly issued SSNs or ITINs can’t claim certain credits if/when they file a prior year return, or an amended return for a prior year. See Pub 4012 page M-10, “Prior Year Returns,” for details.
  • If multiple prior year returns are needed, prepare and QR the oldest year first, so that data Carryforward can be used, sequentially, for the other years.
    • If you’ve completed a prior year, then try to start the next tax year, but get a message from TaxSlayer that the SSN is in use or that the SSN already exists, two possible workarounds to clear the error message are:
      • Log off TaxSlayer, close the browser, reopen the browser, and log back in.
      • Submit (transmit) the e-file for the prior year.
  • Use the correct prior year Intake Booklet for prior year returns; the taxpayer should ignore consents #2 and #3 [treat as “Decline”].
    • If the taxpayer is having returns done for multiple years, IRS policy is that the taxpayer must complete an Intake Booklet for each year.
    • Data analysis by the IRS and the AARP Foundation won’t include any responses to questions for prior tax years. Accordingly, there’s no need to ask, or enter, responses to the demographic questions for prior year returns. (TaxSlayer software should no longer require answering these questions.)
  • View and download federal forms and instructions for prior years at irs.gov/forms-instructions.
    • Note for CA tax preparers: prior-year versions of this manual can be found at the shared CA-wide REFERENCES folder (tiny.cc/ca-ref).
  • To start a prior year return in TaxSlayer, use the “Change Tax Year” pull-down menu (upper right) to select the desired year, then click “Select”, to the right of “Start New Tax Return.”
    • The IRS allows registered preparers to e-file returns for the current tax year and the two previous tax years, so those returns can be e-filed until November of the current year, when IRS e-filing stops.  
  • When doing a prior year return, always ask if the taxpayer filed a Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to delay tax filing for up to six months. If yes, ask the taxpayer if a payment was made when the Form 4868 was filed, and if so, how much was paid.
  • In the E-file section, all questions are optional and should be skipped. (Statistical reports related to these questions are generated after the tax season ends, and are not run again.)
  • If the taxpayer owes money, and can pay the amount due, they may be eligible for the IRS First Time Penalty Abatement program, which gives a waiver for penalties that would otherwise be assessed for failure to file and for failure to pay. 
    • Before assisting the taxpayer with such a waiver, consider whether these penalties are likely to be significant – see page 133. For example, if the taxpayer owes $50, and is filing 10 months late, the two penalties combined would be less than $60.
    • Requesting such a waiver should only be done when the taxpayer meets all the following criteria:
      • For the three tax years prior to the tax year for which a waiver is being requested, the taxpayer either didn’t have to file a return or did file a return and had no penalty assessed for that return.
      • The taxpayer is up to date on filing all tax returns, or – if this is a current year return being filed after the usual IRS deadline – has filed an extension and is still within the extension period.
      • The taxpayer has paid or has arranged to pay (with a short-term payment agreement, as discussed on page 131, or an installment agreement, page 131), the tax due on the return.
        • If an installment agreement is in place, payments must be current.
    • The written request should include all relevant information in the request (taxpayer name, identification number, tax year), and should clearly state that the taxpayer meets the criteria for the First Time Penalty Abatement Program. The written statement should also include a detailed explanation of any reasonable cause for failing to pay or file, if there is such a cause - the IRS might decide that while the waiver criteria have not been met, but the reasonable cause is sufficient to justify waiving the penalties.
    • The written request for a waiver should be mailed to the IRS service center where the taxpayer is required to file paper returns.
      • If a paper return is being filed, the request can accompany that return, as long as payment in full (for everything except penalties) also accompanies the paper return. (Payment can be as a check or direct debit information.)
  • Note for CA returns: Taxpayers are not eligible for the $600 Golden State Stimulus (GSS) payment or any MCTR payment if they missed the prior-year filing deadline. 
  • Note for CA returns: California has a four-year statute of limitations for refunds – taxpayers can get a refund even if filing up to four years after the filing deadline. The federal limit is three years.

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