A taxpayer came to Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) in April 2016 for help getting a refund from his 2012 tax return that was filed late. Although the return was filed late, it was nonetheless a timely claim for refund. The case was assigned to a TAS case advocate who reviewed the taxpayer’s account information and was able to confirm that the taxpayer faxed his 2012 original tax return to the IRS in April 2014. However, the tax return was never processed, even though the account history indicated that it was being processed. TAS provided a copy of the 2012 return and asked the IRS to process the return using the April 2014 received date, which would allow a refund of the prepaid credits reported on the return.

The IRS employee stated he could only stamp the return using the current received date. TAS advocated for the taxpayer using the April 2014 date, based on the account history notes, which established that the IRS had received the return, but failed to process it timely. After several contacts with multiple departments, the case advocate was successful in advocating for the taxpayer and got the taxpayer’s return processed with the correct date. The taxpayer received a refund of the prepaid credits plus interest.