federal and state return

Rhonda N. Lee on

Good afternoon,
Our investment club returns for federal and state were sent
off at the end February. Both were sent certified with
return receipt requested. I checked on the status of both
returns and USPS tracking says the items are 'In Transit to
the Destination', as of March 2nd. When I followed up with
USPS, no data on either item was found, nor was there any
information as whether they reached their destinations. USPS
suggested that I contact IRS and the state to ask if our
returns had been received. I am having difficulty figuring
out how to go about contacting IRS and state revenue
department to ask if our returns have been received.

Local USPS believes that our returns have been received, but
it was possibly an oversight by someone that caused the
return receipts to not have been scanned. My concern is
having the returns in the right place by the due date, which
is today, of course.

Should I not worry about it, since the items are either at
their destination or in transit? Or is it still my
responsibility to determine if the returns have made it to
their destination, even after leaving my hands and being
accepted by the USPS? In the latter case, am I required to
send a second copy of each, postmarked before midnight
tonight?
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Rhonda

Rita Roberts on

Rhonda,
You can file a claim with USPS and they will track the returns. I had to do that recently, and soon after I filed the claim the package was found and was sent on its way. It was, in fact, held up at a post office en route. I would not assume the returns would have been delivered. Not only does the tracking information not appear, you haven’t received the return receipt (although that can take an especially long time).
Good luck. I’m awaiting confirmation of delivery of mine!
Rita

> On Mar 15, 2017, at 6:21 PM, Rhonda N. Lee <rhonda.lee@gccaz.edu> wrote:
>
> Good afternoon,
> Our investment club returns for federal and state were sent
> off at the end February. Both were sent certified with
> return receipt requested. I checked on the status of both
> returns and USPS tracking says the items are 'In Transit to
> the Destination', as of March 2nd. When I followed up with
> USPS, no data on either item was found, nor was there any
> information as whether they reached their destinations. USPS
> suggested that I contact IRS and the state to ask if our
> returns had been received. I am having difficulty figuring
> out how to go about contacting IRS and state revenue
> department to ask if our returns have been received.
>
> Local USPS believes that our returns have been received, but
> it was possibly an oversight by someone that caused the
> return receipts to not have been scanned. My concern is
> having the returns in the right place by the due date, which
> is today, of course.
>
> Should I not worry about it, since the items are either at
> their destination or in transit? Or is it still my
> responsibility to determine if the returns have made it to
> their destination, even after leaving my hands and being
> accepted by the USPS? In the latter case, am I required to
> send a second copy of each, postmarked before midnight
> tonight?
> Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
> Rhonda

ira smilovitz on

Your certified mail payment receipts (not the green return card) are your proof of timely filing. I would approach your problem on two fronts. As Rita suggests, file a claim with the USPS and get them started tracing the items. Second, if you haven't heard anything by the end of March, contact the tax authorities through their telephone help centers (the IRS is 800-829-1040) and ask about the status of the return. The customer service agent should be able to tell you whether the return has been received and processed, it's still too soon to know, or how to resubmit the return and retain its "timely filed" status.

Ira Smilovitz

On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 7:15 PM, Rita Roberts <rita.roberts@verizon.net> wrote:

Rhonda,
You can file a claim with USPS and they will track the returns. I had to do that recently, and soon after I filed the claim the package was found and was sent on its way. It was, in fact, held up at a post office en route. I would not assume the returns would have been delivered. Not only does the tracking information not appear, you haven't received the return receipt (although that can take an especially long time).
Good luck. I'm awaiting confirmation of delivery of mine!
Rita

> On Mar 15, 2017, at 6:21 PM, Rhonda N. Lee <rhonda.lee@gccaz.edu> wrote:
>
> Good afternoon,
> Our investment club returns for federal and state were sent
> off at the end February. Both were sent certified with
> return receipt requested. I checked on the status of both
> returns and USPS tracking says the items are 'In Transit to
> the Destination', as of March 2nd. When I followed up with
> USPS, no data on either item was found, nor was there any
> information as whether they reached their destinations. USPS
> suggested that I contact IRS and the state to ask if our
> returns had been received. I am having difficulty figuring
> out how to go about contacting IRS and state revenue
> department to ask if our returns have been received.
>
> Local USPS believes that our returns have been received, but
> it was possibly an oversight by someone that caused the
> return receipts to not have been scanned. My concern is
> having the returns in the right place by the due date, which
> is today, of course.
>
> Should I not worry about it, since the items are either at
> their destination or in transit? Or is it still my
> responsibility to determine if the returns have made it to
> their destination, even after leaving my hands and being
> accepted by the USPS? In the latter case, am I required to
> send a second copy of each, postmarked before midnight
> tonight?
> Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
> Rhonda

Rhonda N. Lee on

Thanks for the suggestions and advice. Happy Tax Season!

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