Working abroad and not sure I can obtain US tax return transcripts

[I&G 2]

We are in the NVC phase now and am collecting the packet for the Affidavit of Support. I am having a hard time getting my tax return transcripts for the past 3 years.

I live and work abroad with my wife and have filed my US tax return for every single year abroad. However, when I go to order my transcripts over the phone or online, I am not able to. I get the message "The information you have entered does not match our records." However, the info I entered is exactly what was on my last tax return.

I am not sure what to do, I called the IRS transcript phone line several time but it is automated - its not possible to talk to a real person!

I am mailing in a form 4505-T, but I am now worried that maybe my transcripts will still not be available. I have changed addresses in the past several years, and I have informed the IRS about this using their form 8822. Maybe they never got them in the first place all these years?

Can you get through the NVC phase without having the tax transcripts from the IRS?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[Ning 619]

We are in the NVC phase now and am collecting the packet for the Affidavit of Support. I am having a hard time getting my tax return transcripts for the past 3 years.

I live and work abroad with my wife and have filed my US tax return for every single year abroad. However, when I go to order my transcripts over the phone or online, I am not able to. I get the message "The information you have entered does not match our records." However, the info I entered is exactly what was on my last tax return.

I am not sure what to do, I called the IRS transcript phone line several time but it is automated - its not possible to talk to a real person!

I am mailing in a form 4505-T, but I am now worried that maybe my transcripts will still not be available. I have changed addresses in the past several years, and I have informed the IRS about this using their form 8822. Maybe they never got them in the first place all these years?

Can you get through the NVC phase without having the tax transcripts from the IRS?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

See IRS web site for link to free downloadable transcripts.

[mlh 93]

Just saw this article posted today. Might be why you can't get your transcripts...

http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/26/pf/taxes/irs-website-data-hack/index.html

[Villanelle 4,122]

try this page for info-

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-My-Local-Office-Internationally

if no help then another suggestion because Im not sure what error you are getting when (that article above is scary!) it could be the system is down but I know the last time I used it I typed in a variation of ST instead of Street and it worked as an address because its computer based, so if you filled out your taxes as avenue you must type in avenue as the address for an exact match again not ave or av

[I&G 2]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

I ended up calling the International Taxpayer Service Call Center to see what I could find out from them. While they weren't able to arrange for the delivery of my tax return transcripts, they were able to confirm which address of mine they have on file. Thankfully it is the one I am at, so they did receive my tax returns after all.

Unfortunately I still can't order my transcripts via the online and phone routes - no idea why, can only suspect a computer system glitch since I confirmed my address with the IRS. Not surprising given the recent news about the security breach!

Will need to request the transcripts the old fashion way via the postal service by sending out form 4505-T. We'll see how that goes.

Hope this is helpful for anyone encountering a similar issue.

[Brewlin 52]

My husband had the exact same issue, online system refused his foreign log-in address. He mailed in that form however, and got his transcript surprisingly quick, so there's that.

[DM_G 20]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

I ended up calling the International Taxpayer Service Call Center to see what I could find out from them. While they weren't able to arrange for the delivery of my tax return transcripts, they were able to confirm which address of mine they have on file. Thankfully it is the one I am at, so they did receive my tax returns after all.

Unfortunately I still can't order my transcripts via the online and phone routes - no idea why, can only suspect a computer system glitch since I confirmed my address with the IRS. Not surprising given the recent news about the security breach!

Will need to request the transcripts the old fashion way via the postal service by sending out form 4505-T. We'll see how that goes.

Hope this is helpful for anyone encountering a similar issue.

Hello,

I was in a similar situation. They will mail it to you if you talk to them, but it can take a long time.

The fastest way is to call them and request that they fax it to you. You'll need a US fax number, which I'm guessing you don't have since you're working abroad. But just do a search online and there are plenty of services where you can pay less than $10 and get a US fax number. Then just call IRS and ask to have it faxed to that number, you'll receive it as a PDF from the fax service. Then just print it and that's it. That's what I did and had my 3 years of transcripts within 1 day.

Edit: Just wanted to add that I also sent out the 4505-T before I requested it by fax. I received the transcripts by mail about a month after I got them by fax.

Edited June 10, 2015 by DM_G

[Brewlin 52]

My husband sent a request by mail, and he got it within 11 days mailed to Sweden.

[I&G 2]

Hello,

I was in a similar situation. They will mail it to you if you talk to them, but it can take a long time.

The fastest way is to call them and request that they fax it to you. You'll need a US fax number, which I'm guessing you don't have since you're working abroad. But just do a search online and there are plenty of services where you can pay less than $10 and get a US fax number. Then just call IRS and ask to have it faxed to that number, you'll receive it as a PDF from the fax service. Then just print it and that's it. That's what I did and had my 3 years of transcripts within 1 day.

Edit: Just wanted to add that I also sent out the 4505-T before I requested it by fax. I received the transcripts by mail about a month after I got them by fax.

Thanks for your tip.

Which number did you call the IRS on? When I called the international service center the person I spoke to didn't seem to really know what they were doing. They wouldn't let me order the transcripts, they just directed me to the 450-T form, which I sent out about 8 business days ago.

[DM_G 20]

Thanks for your tip.

Which number did you call the IRS on? When I called the international service center the person I spoke to didn't seem to really know what they were doing. They wouldn't let me order the transcripts, they just directed me to the 450-T form, which I sent out about 8 business days ago.

It was the US number 800-908-9946. I believe it was shown to me after I tried obtaining the taxes online, and after 3 failed attempts (because foreign address) they gave this number to call.

[sn0skier 0]

I know that lots of websites will only allow you access to personal information if you are inside the country where the website is based. Since you are trying to access your documents outside of the US the IRS might be blocking you. If you can access a SECURE!!! VPN in the US, you might want to try doing that and seeing if you can access your documents through there. My university has one, and lots of international corporations have them, so if you those options you can try that. The other thing you could do is get someone that you trust in the US to try and access them for you.

This may not be the case, and someone else can correct me if they were able to access the documents he wants while outside of the US, but it is worth a try.

[I&G 2]

It was the US number 800-908-9946. I believe it was shown to me after I tried obtaining the taxes online, and after 3 failed attempts (because foreign address) they gave this number to call.

Thanks.

Unfortunately still doesn't work for me. It's automated so can't speak to anyone either. Guess I'll just have to wait for them to come in the mail.

Appreciate your help.