< Back to IRS

2020 Return Disappeared from IRS System After Acceptance - Transcript Shows Asterisk (*) After Household Employee Letter

Filed 2020 taxes early 2021 and saw it processing for months. Got letter about household employee estimated payments in July, responded immediately. Now IRS shows no record of return at all. Can't reach anyone on phone and no IRS office nearby. I'm looking at my transcript availability and it's really strange. According to the IRS website, I have: Return Transcript: - 2021: Available - 2020: Shows with an asterisk (*) - 2019: Available Record of Account Transcript: - 2021: Available - 2020: N/A - 2019: Available Account Transcript: - 2022: Available - 2021: Available - 2020: Available - 2019: Available - 2018: Available Wage & Income Transcript: - 2022: N/A - 2021: Available - 2020: N/A - 2019: N/A The weird thing is I see that asterisk next to 2020 for Return Transcript, but N/A for Record of Account Transcript for 2020. And I definitely filed my 2020 taxes in early 2021. I watched it in the processing status for months on the Where's My Refund tool. Then in July 2021, I received that letter about household employee estimated payments. I responded to it right away with all the documentation they requested. But now when I call, they say they have no record of my 2020 return at all! How is that possible? I've tried calling the IRS dozens of times but can't get through to anyone. I've tried making an appointment at an IRS office but there's nothing within 100 miles of me. What should I do since my return was definitely accepted (I even have the acceptance confirmation) but now shows as non-existent in their system? The transcript page shows something weird with that asterisk. Does that indicate some kind of problem?

Javier Garcia

Tax pro here. This happens more than you'd think. First, pull your wage and income transcript for 2020 from irs.gov. You'll need to verify if they have your W2s and 1099s on file. Also get proof of your return acceptance - should be in your tax software or from your preparer. Then mail a CERTIFIED copy of your return with all documentation and write 'RESUBMISSION OF ACCEPTED RETURN' in red at the top.

0 coins

-

NebulaNomad

Thank you! Quick question - should I include the July letter response again with this package?

0 coins

-

2M

Javier Garcia

Yes absolutely include everything! Better to over-document than under-document 💯

0 coins

-

2M

Emma Taylor

Instead of going crazy trying to piece everything together, I'd highly recommend using taxr.ai - it's this new tool that analyzes your transcript and tells you exactly what's going on and what to do. It costs $4.99 but saved me weeks of headache. Here's the link: https://taxr.ai

0 coins

-

Malik Robinson

Is this legit? Sounds too good to be true 🤔

0 coins

-

2M

Emma Taylor

100% legit! It uses AI to read your transcript and spots issues human eyes might miss. Shows exactly where your return is stuck and why

0 coins

-

2M

Isabella Silva

Can confirm its amazing. Used it last week and found out exactly why my return was held up - had to do with a form that wasn't processed correctly

0 coins

-

2M

Ravi Choudhury

ugh im in the same boat. 2020 return vanished into thin air and ive called like 47494 times 🤮

0 coins

-

CosmosCaptain

IRS be playing hide and seek with our returns fr fr 🤡

0 coins

-

2M

Freya Johansen

Try contacting your local taxpayer advocate service. They helped me with a similar situation last year. Google 'TAS' + your state.

0 coins

-

Omar Fawzi

The household employee thing is probably what triggered this tbh. The IRS systems are notorious for losing returns when theres anything slightly unusual about them

0 coins

-

NebulaNomad

great just my luck 😭

0 coins

-

2M

Chloe Wilson

bruh the IRS is so broken rn its not even funny. my brother's 2019 return straight up disappeared too and he had to refile THREE TIMES

0 coins

-

Diego Mendoza

THREE?! Nah that's wild 💀

0 coins

-

2M