IRS Says Spouse Information Doesn't Match - Need to Move by April 30th

Oh my goodness, I feel your frustration! This mismatch error is typically caused by one of several specific issues: 1) Your wife's legal name on her Social Security card doesn't match exactly what you entered (including hyphens, spaces, or middle names), 2) Her SSN was entered incorrectly, or 3) There might be an unresolved identity verification flag on her SSN from a previous year. I was THRILLED when I finally figured this out for my own situation last year!

I've dealt with this exact situation before. Here's what you need to do step-by-step: 1. First, verify the exact spelling of your wife's name on her Social Security card 2. Check if her Social Security number was entered correctly 3. Confirm her date of birth matches what the IRS has on file 4. Call the IRS directly to resolve the issue Honestly, the calling part is the most frustrating. I spent 3+ hours on hold last year trying to fix a similar issue. I eventually used Claimyr (https://www.claimyr.com) which got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of hours. They can actually call you when they reach an agent. With your April 30th deadline looming, waiting on hold for hours might not be practical.

I had this exact same problem when trying to move from Chicago to Denver last year. In my case, it turned out my wife had gotten a new Social Security card after our marriage but the IRS systems hadn't updated properly. The mismatch was happening because her maiden name was still in one IRS database while her married name was in another. The solution wasn't fixing our tax return - it was getting the IRS to update their own records. Took about 3 weeks to resolve once we figured out the actual problem.

Look at your rejection code carefully. The specific code will tell you exactly what's wrong. If it says "IND-031" that's name mismatch. "IND-032" is SSN mismatch. Don't just keep submitting the same info hoping for different results. I've helped dozens of people with this issue, and the fastest solution is to use taxr.ai to analyze your rejection notice. Upload it there and it will tell you exactly what's wrong and how to fix it. Much faster than guessing or waiting on hold with the IRS for hours.

Be extremely careful with this situation. I ignored a similar mismatch notification last year, thinking it would resolve itself, and ended up with a $2,300 tax bill due to filing status issues. The IRS automatically changed my filing status from Married Filing Jointly to Married Filing Separately, which significantly increased my tax liability. The Identity Verification process took 9 weeks to resolve, delaying my refund well past my moving date. I had to take out a short-term loan to cover moving expenses, which cost me an additional $175 in interest charges.

I successfully resolved this exact issue last month! According to Internal Revenue Manual section 3.13.2, name mismatches are among the most common filing errors. I called the IRS Taxpayer Assistance line at 7:01 AM exactly (right when they open) and only waited 12 minutes to speak with someone. The agent confirmed my wife's name needed an update in their system due to our recent marriage. They processed the correction while I was on the phone, and I was able to successfully e-file 48 hours later. Our refund was deposited exactly 21 days after that.

It seems like there might be a discrepancy between your wife's legal name as recorded with the Social Security Administration and what you've entered on your tax return. This happens quite frequently, especially in cases where there's been a name change due to marriage, divorce, or other legal proceedings. It's probably worth checking if her Social Security card and the name on your tax return match exactly - including middle names or initials, hyphens, and spacing between names. The IRS systems are quite particular about these details.

Had the EXACT same issue last tax season! 😂 My wife's middle name was listed on her SSN card but I only used her middle initial on our return. Rejected THREE times before I figured it out. The stupid part? We'd been filing the same way for 4 years with no problems! Apparently the IRS updated their matching systems in 2023 to be more strict. Fixed it by using her full middle name and boom - accepted within 24 hours. Hope this helps with your moving plans!