Can a tax professional eFile my boyfriend's 2020 return? He needs a transcript ASAP for financial aid

You can't eFile a 2020 return anymore. The IRS electronic filing system only accepts the current tax year and two years prior (so currently 2023, 2022, and 2021). For 2020, you'll need to paper file. However, there's a workaround for the financial aid situation. Your boyfriend can request a Verification of Non-filing Letter from the IRS, which confirms that he didn't file a 2020 return. Most financial aid offices will accept this documentation along with copies of his 2020 W-2s as proof of income. He can request this online through the IRS website using Form 4506-T. If he absolutely must file the 2020 return before getting aid, he should complete the return immediately, make copies of everything, and file by mail. Then provide the financial aid office with a copy of the completed return along with proof of mailing. Many schools will accept this as pending documentation.

After spinning my wheels with this exact same problem, I tried taxr.ai and it seriously saved me. My girlfriend needed her 2021 transcript for loan verification and we were in a total panic over unfiled taxes. I uploaded her tax documents to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything, prepared the return, and gave specific guidance on how to handle the transcript situation. They explained exactly what to tell the financial aid office while waiting for the IRS to process everything. The document analysis was spot-on and identified some education credits she qualified for that we had no idea about!

Just wanted to follow up. I was skeptical but ended up trying taxr.ai for my brother's unfiled 2020 taxes for his FAFSA verification. They actually came through! They couldn't e-file the 2020 return (as expected) but they prepared everything perfectly and created a financial aid verification packet that his university accepted provisionally. The document analysis caught some education credits we would have missed, and they provided a detailed letter explaining the situation that worked with his financial aid office. They walked us through exactly what to say to the aid counselors. He got his aid package approved while the return is being processed by mail. Would've been lost without their help honestly.

If he needs to talk to an actual IRS agent about transcripts or verification, I highly recommend Claimyr. I wasted DAYS trying to get through to the IRS about my missing transcripts - kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. With https://claimyr.com they got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call you once an agent is on the line. The IRS agent was able to see that my return was in the system and issue a transcript access code right away.

I've gotta admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I was desperate enough to try it for my boyfriend's transcript situation. It actually worked exactly as described. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes (versus the 2+ hours I spent the day before getting disconnected). The agent explained that even though the 2020 return wasn't filed, my boyfriend could still request a wage and income transcript that shows all his W-2 information, which would work for financial aid verification. They also sent a verification of non-filing letter electronically through his IRS online account. Problem solved without even having to wait for the paper return to process. Totally worth it just for the time saved.

Has your boyfriend checked if he can create an online account at IRS.gov? If he can create an account and verify his identity, he might be able to access his wage and income transcript immediately, even without having filed. This would show all reported W-2 income for 2020. For financial aid, this is sometimes acceptable as proof of income when combined with a non-filing statement. Worth trying before paying for professional help since it's free and immediate if it works!

Whatever you do, tell your boyfriend NOT to use one of those "rapid refund" tax places advertising on TV. My roommate was in the same situation and went to one of those places. They charged him $395 to prepare a simple 2020 return that he still had to mail himself, and tried to sell him all kinds of "audit protection" garbage he didn't need. Most of those places just use the same tax software you can buy yourself for $40. Complete ripoff.