The IRS is reminding taxpayers about things they should remember when filing their 2021 income tax returns in 2022.
According to the IRS, following these tips will help speed tax return processing and avoid refund delays:
How to speed up return processing, avoid refund delays. To avoid processing and refund delays, the top things that taxpayers should remember when filing their return this year are:
Collect all documents before preparing and filing a return. Before preparing a tax return, a taxpayer should make sure they have all the documents needed to prepare an accurate return. Taxpayers who don’t want to encounter processing delays should make sure they correctly report their stimulus payment (EIP) and advance Child Tax Credit (ACTC). In addition to collecting W-2s, Form 1099s and other tax-related statements, taxpayers who received an EIP or ACTC payments should also have their Advance Child Tax Credit (Letter 6419) and Economic Impact Payment (Letter 6475) letters on hand when preparing their returns.
Letter 6419, 2021 Total Advance Child Tax Credit Payments, tells taxpayers who received ACTC payments how much they received. Since the ACTC payments represented about one-half of the total credit, taxpayers who received ACTC payments need to file a return to collect the rest of the credit.
Note. Taxpayers who can’t find their Letter 6419 can check how much they received using the IRS’s CTC Update Portal.
Letter 6475, Your Third Economic Impact Payment, tells taxpayers who received an EIP in 2021 the amount of that payment. Taxpayers need to know that amount to determine if they can claim an additional amount on their tax return (The Recovery Rebate Credit or RRC). Taxpayers who don’t receive a Letter 9475 or can’t find the one the IRS sent, can use their IRS online account to get this information.
Taxpayers who received an EIP or ACTC payments must include that information on their return. Failure to include this information, according to the IRS, means the return is incomplete and will require additional processing which may delay any refund owed to the taxpayer.