Getting proof of income from IRS for previous years?

Question

I was recently contacted by a community's tax office that I moved from about 5 years ago. Basically they said that I had not filed a form for their local tax from 2000-2003.

Well, I'm not sure about statutes of limitations on something like that, and I honestly thought it would have already been withheld from my pay during those years. It's only a 1% tax, so I just want to take care of it - but no longer have W2's from those years. The company I worked for is no longer in business.

My question is this - is there a way to simply get proof of income from the IRS for those years (i.e. what was reported on my federal return). I saw something about transcripts on the IRS sight,but that appears to be the whole return, and only goes back three years. Even something official that just gives a list of what was reported by year

Thanks,

Answer 1

The IRS will provide form W2 information for up to 10 years.  See the following link.

http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq1-6.html

Answer 2

The IRS transcript will provide what you need.  It's a printout of the form numbers and line numbers and the amounts on them.  You can use a blank form from that year to reconstitute your tax return.

Answer 3

An IRS wage and income transcript is the place to start.  You still may not have all the information you need because these transcripts don't have state or local tax withheld on them, but it will have the name and address of the employer on it that you can then contact.  If you can't get a copy from the employer your only other choice is to get a copy of the w-2 from Social Security.

To get a transcript from IRS call 800-829-1040 or visit your closest Taxpayer Assistance Center.

Answer 4

Bite the bullet and pay up.

1.  If there was a form to file, when it didn't get filed, you never started a statute of limitations for collections.  (On the other hand if you were entitled to a refund, you generally get 3 years to prove it.)  

The city where I once worked had the ordinance worded as follows for who must file a return:  "Every person who is or was employed on a salary, wage, or commission basis, or

who receives other compensation which is subject to tax, and which tax his employer fails to withhold any or an insufficient amount of tax."--meaning that if my employer did it correctly, I was off the hook.  If the employer screwed up, *I* was.

2.  If there was a form, it would have been like a miniature tax return.  Show income, show calculation, show proof the taxes were paid (or write a check for the difference).  If money *had* been withheld from your pay, the proof would have been either your W-2 or your paycheck stub.  Your employer only has to keep their records for 4 years--so even if you could find them, chances are they recently destroyed the 2003 records.  (Yet another reason to keep the W-2s forever.)  

3.  The IRS computer copy of your W-2 does not show local data.  The IRS has no obligation to save tax data they generally don't need.  The IRS computer copy of your tax return (the item that only goes back 3 years) won't show it either.  The only place you would show a local tax paid is via a subtotal on your schedule A and if you didn't itemize.....

(If you filed a PAPER tax return, the IRS can make a photocopy of it--for $39--and it should show the W-2 since you had to file the form with the tax return.  If you efiled, there's nothing to photocopy.  The IRS destroys their copies about 7 years later.)

4.  If you didn't work in the same city where you lived, there is a strong possibility that you never paid the money or paid it to a different city. (Money paid to city B doesn't get you out of the tax for city A, it might get you a credit for the money paid, but that's it.)  

If you worked for a small employer, there's no guarantee *any* money was collected/turned over.   Any money withheld by the employer may have been sent (as a lump sum for all employees) to the local tax authority.  Then once a year, they would have sent in a report showing each employee's name, address, SSN, the total wages paid and the tax paid.  If the report was never sent it, there was no proof the money had been paid by them specifically for you.

Bite the bullet and pay up.  Roughly 1/2 of the amount can be used as a tax deduction on your taxes next year if you itemize.  (You can deduct local taxes when paid, but not the interest or penalties..)