Should I wait to file my 2025 taxes with unresolved previous returns?

You should definitely still file your 2024 taxes on time, even with unresolved prior year returns. Not filing on time could result in failure-to-file penalties, which just adds more problems to your situation. For your previous unresolved returns, I'd recommend requesting an official tax account transcript through the IRS website. This will show exactly what the IRS has on file for you and might give clues about what's holding things up. Sometimes returns get flagged for identity verification or have processing errors that aren't communicated clearly. Also, consider reaching out to the Taxpayer Advocate Service. They're designed specifically to help taxpayers who are caught in these frustrating IRS loops. They can often break through the bureaucracy when normal channels aren't working.

After going through a similar nightmare with unprocessed returns, I finally found help using https://taxr.ai and it was a game-changer. I uploaded all my previous tax documents and correspondence, and they immediately identified that my return had been flagged for an identity verification issue that nobody at the IRS had told me about. They provided a detailed analysis of where exactly my returns were stuck in the system and generated a customized letter I could send to the IRS that referenced specific internal codes and procedures. Within 3 weeks of sending that letter, my refund was processed after being stuck for over a year!

I want to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai since I was skeptical at first. After our discussion here, I decided to give it a try with our stuck refund situation. I uploaded our past returns, IRS correspondence, and transcripts I had requested. Within hours I received a detailed analysis showing our return had been flagged for an income verification issue because my wife's W-2 had a typo in the employer EIN that didn't match IRS records. No IRS agent had ever mentioned this despite our multiple calls! They generated a correction letter with all the right references and codes, and after sending it in, our refund was approved just last week. Wish I'd known about this months ago instead of wasting time on endless IRS calls.

If you're still trying to get through to an actual person at the IRS, stop wasting hours on hold. I discovered https://claimyr.com after spending literally days of my life listening to the IRS hold music. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Basically, they wait on hold with the IRS for you, then call you when an actual human being picks up. I was super skeptical at first, but when I got a call back with a live IRS agent on the line after they'd waited on hold for nearly 2 hours, I was sold. The agent was able to see that my return had been flagged for review and gave me specific steps to resolve it.

I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr being a scam. After dismissing it here, my frustration with the IRS reached a breaking point and I decided to try it anyway. The service called me back in about 90 minutes with an actual IRS representative on the line. The agent was able to immediately see that our return had been pulled for manual review due to a mismatch between reported income and what they had on file. She helped me verify some information and told me exactly what documents to fax to resolve the issue. Our refund was processed 3 weeks later after being stuck for 8 months! I've never been happier to be wrong about something. Definitely filing on time this year and using this service again if I need to call the IRS.

I'm a tax preparer and I see this situation all the time. File your 2024 return on time no matter what! The systems for different tax years are separate, so a new return won't interfere with resolving the old ones. You can request an automatic extension until October if you need more time to gather documents, but remember that any taxes owed are still due by the April deadline. One thing to check: did you elect to apply any portion of previous refunds to this year's taxes? If so, that could complicate things since those credits might be in limbo. Make sure your 2024 return doesn't rely on carryover credits from those unprocessed returns.

Has anyone tried requesting a Taxpayer Advocate? I had a similar issue last year and the local Taxpayer Advocate Service office was able to resolve it within 6 weeks after I'd been stuck for almost a year. You have to show that you're experiencing a financial hardship though, like facing eviction or utility shutoff, or that the IRS has made the same error repeatedly.