My tax return got rejected - IRS says birth date doesn't match their records. How do I fix this?

This is a pretty common issue for international students, so try not to worry too much! The IRS rejection could happen for a few reasons when your birth date doesn't match. First, check if you might have accidentally formatted your birth date differently than expected. The US uses MM/DD/YYYY format, but if you're from a country that uses DD/MM/YYYY, you might have swapped the day and month without realizing it. Second, there could be a transcription error from when your information was first entered into the IRS system, especially with international records. This happens more often than you'd think! For international students, I recommend calling the IRS directly at 800-829-1040 to verify what birth date they have on file. Have your previous tax return handy when you call. You might need to mail in a paper return with proper identification documents if the error is on their end. GLACIER Tax Prep is a good choice for international students, but this particular issue needs to be resolved regardless of which tax software you use.

After dealing with a similar issue last year (wrong SSN in IRS system), I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it saved me so much stress! Their system can analyze your tax documents and identify potential mismatches or errors before you submit. It caught that I had transposed two digits in my SSN that wouldn't have matched IRS records. For international students, it's especially helpful because it can flag possible formatting differences like the date format issue mentioned above. You upload your docs, and it checks everything against common rejection reasons. Helped me avoid what would have been a huge headache!

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after my initial skepticism and wow - it actually found the problem! Turns out when I first got my paperwork processed years ago, someone had entered my birth month and day reversed (I'm from a country that uses day/month format). The tool flagged this as a potential date format mismatch issue after analyzing my documents. It also gave me clear instructions on how to file a paper return with the correct proof of my birth date. Definitely saved me from making another failed e-file attempt. And it spotted a deduction I was missing related to my international student status. If you're having weird rejection issues, it's worth checking out!

After seeing your post, I wanted to share something that helped me with a similar situation. I spent WEEKS trying to reach the IRS about a birthdate mismatch (my birth year was somehow entered as 1977 instead of 1997). I kept calling that 800 number and either waiting for hours or getting disconnected. I finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call you when an agent is ready. The IRS agent confirmed the wrong birthdate in their system and walked me through fixing it. As an international student, you definitely want to get this fixed before you leave the country!

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier. After my fifth attempt calling the IRS and getting disconnected after 1+ hour holds, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Got a call back in about 35 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. The agent confirmed there was indeed a typo in my birthdate in their system (had year as 1989 instead of 1998). She walked me through the verification process and helped me submit the correction. Apparently this happens a lot with international records where dates get flipped or typos occur during data entry. For anyone with similar issues - don't waste days trying to get through on your own like I did. I'm usually the last person to recommend paying for something I could theoretically do myself, but the time saved was absolutely worth it.

Hey, I work at the international student office at a university. This is super common! One thing nobody mentioned - check if your name might be formatted differently too. Many international students have their names entered incorrectly in IRS systems. For example, if you have multiple given names or if your family name comes first in your culture but is listed last in US documents. Often both the name AND birthdate have issues. I've seen cases where someone from China had their family name listed as their first name AND their birthdate was in the wrong format. When you get this fixed, get an official transcript from the IRS (you can request one online) and keep it for your records. This will help if you ever need to prove what's in their system.

Did you know you can also get your tax transcript from the IRS website? It shows your name and SSN (but not birthdate) as the IRS has it. Could help confirm if there's a name issue at least. Go to IRS.gov and search "Get Transcript Online.

Hey Keisha! I went through almost the exact same thing last year as an international student. The birth date mismatch is super frustrating, but it's definitely fixable! One thing that helped me was checking my I-94 record online (the official arrival/departure record) to see how my birth date was recorded there. Sometimes there are discrepancies between different government databases that can cause these issues. Also, since you mentioned you're planning to leave the country next month, I'd recommend acting fast. If you do need to mail in a paper return with supporting documents, it can take 6-8 weeks to process. The IRS services mentioned above (like Claimyr) might be worth it in your situation since time is tight. One other tip - when you do get through to the IRS, ask them to email you a summary of what they're showing in their system. This way you have documentation of exactly what needs to be corrected. Good luck, and don't panic - this happens to international students all the time!