Tax return rejection

[Polymoseki]

When I completed my 2018 tax return (both federal and state) it was rejected because I didn't know what an AGI number was at the conclusion. If that information is already on the W-2 form,why confuse me at the end of a long process.

[drc845443]

Hello, For most taxpayers, your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is an accumulation of several income items and adjustments and is not on your W2.

When you file your taxes, the IRS requires you to provide the previous year's AGI because the IRS compares that amount to your previous year's tax return in order to verify your identity. If the amount you report does not match what the IRS has on their records as your Adjusted Gross income from the previous year, they will rejected your tax return.

To find your AGI for this purpose, you need to get your tax return from the previous year, and on the Form 1040 you will find your AGI. Turbo Tax normally guides you to the right line depending on the document you are looking at.

Once more to emphasize, this is an IRS requirement when you file your own taxes - they use your previous year's AGI to confirm your identity.

[Polymoseki]

I'm not sure how my personal identity including the SSN,name,birth date, address, and email doesn't clearify that but, anyway,to be clear; is that AGI number on the 2017 tax statement or the 2018 tax statement?

[xmasbaby0]

@Polymoseki Your AGI is not on your W-2 that you received from your employer.   Your AGI is on a specific line of your Form 1040; the line number to look for it on may vary with the tax year you are asking about.   At this point in time, your AGI for any earlier tax year is irrelevant except for a 2020 AGI that you need to e-file a 2021 return.   You cannot e-file any tax year except for 2021, so you do not need an AGI for an earlier year tax return.  Any tax return for a year earlier than 2021 has to be filed by mail.  Print it, sign and date it in ink, and mail it.

When you are trying to e-file a tax return, the IRS uses your AGI from the previous year to verify that you are the same person using the same SSN to file a tax return.   So--for e-filing 2021, you need the AGI from line 11 of your 2020 Form 1040.

[drc845443]

For the 2018 tax year, the AGI that the IRS was looking for was from your 2017 Form 1040, line 37