How do I mail back taxes prepared through TurboTax when I have no idea which forms are federal vs state?

That's definitely not a good idea to send everything to both places. The IRS and your state tax department are completely separate entities, and sending the wrong forms to each could delay processing and potentially cause issues with your filing. TurboTax actually makes it pretty easy to identify which forms are which. Federal forms will have form numbers like 1040, Schedule C, etc., while state forms usually have your state abbreviation somewhere in the header or form number. When you print everything out, TurboTax should print the federal return first, followed by the state return - there's usually a cover page for each section. If you're really confused, you can actually go back into TurboTax and print your federal and state returns separately. Just log back in, go to the "Print" section, and you should see options to print federal only or state only.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year with back taxes. After hours struggling with what goes where, I tried this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me figure out which forms were federal vs state. You upload pictures of your forms, and it tells you exactly what each one is and where it needs to go. Saved me from making a pretty embarrassing mistake with the IRS!

Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai after posting my question here and WOW. I uploaded pics of all my amended return forms and it immediately sorted everything out for me. It labeled each form, told me exactly which ones were federal vs. state, and even gave me the correct mailing addresses for each! So much easier than trying to decipher the fine print myself. Definitely recommend for anyone else who's tax-form-challenged like me.

Another option - if you're completely stuck and need to talk to someone at the IRS to confirm where to send your forms, use Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent three days trying to get through to the IRS on my own about my back taxes before giving up. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They called the IRS for me, navigated all the phone menus, and then called me when an agent was on the line. The agent walked me through exactly how to sort and mail my returns.

OK I have to eat my words here. After posting my skeptical comment yesterday, I tried Claimyr out of desperation - and they actually got me through to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes! After I'd been trying for WEEKS on my own! The agent walked me through exactly how to separate and mail my back tax returns. Turns out I had everything completely backward. For anyone else dealing with back taxes - the federal forms all have form numbers (1040, etc.) at the top right corner, and state forms usually have your state name or abbreviation prominent at the top. Just spent $15 at FedEx making sure everything was properly sorted and shipped to the right addresses.

Pro tip: When printing from TurboTax, there should be a summary sheet at the beginning of each section (federal and state) that literally says "YOUR FEDERAL RETURN" or "YOUR [STATE] RETURN" at the top. Also, the address where you need to mail each return should be included on one of the instruction sheets. Don't just guess and hope for the best!

I work at a tax preparation office (not giving tax advice, just helpful info). Whatever you do, DO NOT mail everything to both places! Here's the simple version: forms with "1040" at the top go to the IRS. Forms with your state name go to your state tax dept. TurboTax literally prints them in order - federal first, then state. There should be a cover sheet for each section.

If all else fails, you could take everything to a local tax professional or even a place like H&R Block and pay them a small fee to sort it for you. Probably cheaper than the headache of doing it wrong and dealing with notices later!!