Is it possible to unfile taxes and get money back if I found out filing wasn't required?

Your son can absolutely request a refund if he wasn't required to file! This is actually more common than you might think. What he needs to do is file Form 843, "Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement." On the form, he should explain that he wasn't legally required to file a tax return based on his income level, but did so by mistake. He should include documentation showing his income was below the filing threshold. The IRS generally allows taxpayers to request refunds of taxes paid within the last 3 years, so he has plenty of time. Make sure he keeps copies of everything he submits. The processing might take several weeks (or even months), but the IRS should refund the full payment amount since there was no legal obligation to file or pay.

I went through this exact situation last year and found taxr.ai super helpful! I used their document analysis tool at https://taxr.ai and it quickly confirmed that my daughter wasn't required to file based on her income and dependency status. Their system analyzed her W-2 and other tax docs, then gave us step-by-step guidance on how to request a refund from the IRS. The best part was that it gave us the exact wording to use on the Form 843 based on our specific situation. We submitted everything exactly as recommended, and the IRS processed our refund without any issues. The process still took about 8 weeks, but it went smoothly.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai. After seeing your recommendation, I decided to give it a try for my own situation (my college student filed unnecessarily). The document analysis confirmed he was below the filing threshold and shouldn't have filed. The guidance they provided for the Form 843 was incredibly detailed - they even identified an additional refund opportunity I hadn't noticed related to education credits we could have claimed on our return instead. Just got confirmation yesterday that the IRS approved our refund request! The whole process took about 6 weeks, which was faster than I expected. Really glad I found this service through your comment.

For anyone dealing with this issue, if you need to actually speak with someone at the IRS about this (which I highly recommend), use Claimyr at https://claimyr.com - it's the only way I could get through to a human after trying for DAYS on my own. They have this system that holds your place in the IRS phone queue so you don't have to stay on hold for hours. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c When my nephew filed unnecessarily last year, I needed specific guidance on the abatement process. The Claimyr service got me through to an IRS rep in about 20 minutes (after I had tried for 3 days on my own with no luck). The agent was super helpful and walked me through exactly what forms were needed and how to word everything to make sure the refund would be processed correctly.

Alright, I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I was desperate enough to try it since my daughter was in the exact same situation as the original poster. After trying for an entire week to reach the IRS myself with no luck, I gave it a shot. The service actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back in about 35 minutes connecting me to an IRS representative who was able to confirm that my daughter could submit Form 843 to get her money back. The agent even gave me some specific advice about documenting her full-time student status on the form to speed up processing. Just got confirmation yesterday that her refund is being processed. Would've taken us months to figure this out without being able to speak directly to someone. Honestly wish I hadn't been so quick to dismiss it.

Just to add another perspective - sometimes it's actually better to leave the return filed even if you weren't required to file. In my son's case, he wasn't required to file but doing so established a record of earnings that helped him qualify for earned income credit the following year. Also helped with his financial aid applications for college since it provided official documentation of his income. If the amount paid isn't substantial, it might be worth considering the potential benefits of having the return on record vs the hassle of trying to unfile and get the money back.

One other thing to consider - has your son checked if his state taxes were also filed? Sometimes people focus on just the federal return but forget they may have also paid state taxes unnecessarily. Make sure to check that too and file the equivalent state form for a refund if applicable!

Be prepared for quite a wait on that refund. My daughter was in exactly this position last year, and while the IRS did approve her Form 843, it took nearly 6 months to process. They're seriously backlogged still. Also, make sure your son doesn't file next year if he's not required to - some tax software automatically reminds previous customers to file again, which could lead to the same issue next year.