Received back my joint return and form for a missing signature

[EldarB]

We received back our joint return and form 3531 with only one point checked "Your return doesn't show a valid signature on the Sign here line(s)". But me and my wife put our signatures there, you know the symbolic ones, where you put some letters from your name and add some lines around it. We didn't write our names, since it's clearly asking for a SIGNATURE. Did IRS mean "Write your name" where it says "Sign here"? 

I'm so confused. What am I supposed to do now? We filed by paper, and there's no way to e-file since my wife didn't have SSN at the time we filed. There's almost no empty space around our symbolic signatures in the line to fit in the names.

[DoninGA]

No, you cannot use a "symbolic signature" on a printed tax return.  You sign the return using your legal signature, full first and last name, where indicated on the Form 1040.

Follow the instructions on the IRS notice you received to comply.

[xmasbaby0]

There was no need to get fancy or creative on the signature line.  The IRS just wants you and your spouse to use a pen and sign your names --preferably in cursive if you know how to -- and enter the date.   If you messed it up, you could print just that one page (you did save a pdf, right?) and sign the Form 1040 and send it back to the IRS.

[VolvoGirl]

What is a symbolic signature?  Did you use a program to make them and to add them to your return on the screen so they printed out on your return?  You need to sign a paper tax return in INK with your Legal signature.  

[EldarB]

Thanks for the reply! We didn't get fancy, we are not from the US, and we put what is considered a legal signatures in our countries. I have a full tax return PDF saved, so I can just print out that single page and re-sign with full names and the NEW dates? And then send the whole thing back to IRS or just the 2nd page of the return?

[xmasbaby0]

Send the whole thing back to the IRS with the newly ink-signed page that you sign and date on the line that says "sign here."

[EldarB]

Last question, should the date be the day when we re-sign or the initial one?

Thank you so much for your help!

[Mike9241]

The date is supposed to be the date it is actually signed.