What Happens if I Forget to Sign My Tax Return?
With income tax returns due in less than a month, many of you are probably planning on working on your tax returns this weekend. While I realize that the majority of you (80% according to our recent poll) are planning on e-filing*, there are still a number of people out there who file paper returns.
If you’re amongst the paper filers, here’s a friendly reminder:
Don’t forget to sign you tax return!
According to IRS guidance, your return will not be considered valid unless you (and your spouse, if applicable) sign it. Note that this is true even if someone else prepares your return.
What if you forget to sign your return?
If you submitted your return without signing it, all is not lost. In all likelihood, the IRS will simply send you a letter requesting your signature. And once they receive your signature, they’ll go ahead and process your return. Thus, if you think (or know) that you submitted your return without signing it, you should probably just sit tight and wait to hear from the IRS.
*Note: If you are e-filing, you will have the option of signing your return electronically using a PIN code. If you choose not to do this, then you will have to complete and sign IRS Form 8453.
Disclaimer: Discover is a paid advertiser of this site.
Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.
Filed under: Taxes
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
Related articles...
» Don’t Forget to Sign Your Tax Return!» Don’t Forget to Sign Your Tax Return!
» Have You Filed Your Taxes Yet?
» 2007 Taxes Due on October 15th
» Why Didn’t I Get My Tax Refund?
» Chase Freedom Experimenting With Quarterly Rewards Auto-Enrollment
» Five Ways to Get Your Credit Report for Free
» Chase Freedom Reward Categories for 2012 – Plus a $100 Bonus
Was this article useful? Please sign up to receive our content via e-mail:
3 Responses to “What Happens if I Forget to Sign My Tax Return?”
Leave a Reply
Top Cards by Category
Earn 100 Reward Dollars after you make $1,000 in purchases in the first three months of Cardmembership.
Earn 25K Membership Rewards(R) points after you spend $2,000 during your first three months of Card membership.
Consumer friendly credit card with a great low rate of 7.25% and save on interest charges. No balance transfer fees and no annual fee.
The new Discover it card is out to change the way people think about credit cards. No annual fee. No overlimit fee. No foreign transaction fee & no pay-by-phone fee. No late fee on your first late payment. And Discover won't increase your APR for paying late.*
The new Discover it card is out to change the way people think about credit cards. No annual fee. No overlimit fee. No foreign transaction fee & no pay-by-phone fee. No late fee on your first late payment. And Discover won't increase your APR for paying late.*
Consumer friendly credit card with a great low rate of 7.25% and save on interest charges. No balance transfer fees and no annual fee.
Limited Time Offer: Get 25,000 Membership Rewards(R) points after you spend $5,000 in the first three months of Card membership. Enroll and select a qualifying airline to receive up to $200 annually in statement credits for incidental fees, such as checked bags and in-flight refreshments, charged by the airline.
The new Discover it card is out to change the way people think about credit cards. No annual fee. No overlimit fee. No foreign transaction fee & no pay-by-phone fee. No late fee on your first late payment. And Discover won't increase your APR for paying late.*
- How to Become a Millionaire
- How to Get Out of Debt
- The Best Dollars I've Ever Spent
- How Our Estate Plan is Structured
- How We Paid Our Mortgage In Less than 10 Years
- Money Making Ideas
- How to Manage Your Asset Allocation with Multiple Accounts
- Consumption Smoothing - Save While the Saving's Good
- How to Save on Groceries
- How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
- Eleven Great Books About Money
- Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
- Dish Network Customer Service SUCKS
- $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Pay Off Mortgage Early or Invest?
- How to Claim the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Termite Control: Sentricon vs. Termidor
- How Much Should You Pay a Babysitter?
- Ethanol Blended Gas = Lower Mileage?
- Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience
- $15,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Will Mac OS X Lion Kill Quicken 2007?
- Federal Income Tax Rates Went Down but Your Federal Tax Withholding Increased. Here's Why...
How to save money on insurance
- Overdraft fees soared to $32 billion in 2012
- How do you combat prom inflation?
- How should you choose a bank? Look in the mirror.
- The cost of clean water
- College debt 101
- Is it possible to live debt free?
- How to prepare for a home appraisal
- Home prices are up: good news or bad?
- A bit of foolishness
- Passive solar homes: the basics
March 25th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
I did that one year. It took a long time to get the forms submitted and my return but that was all that happened. I didn’t get fined or anything.
March 26th, 2011 at 5:49 am
It’s surprisingly easy to omit the signature on the manual submission, I think we were guilty of that years ago. The IRS don’t seem to mind when there is an error, especially when you are expecting a return. They are happy to keep your money for a little while longer.
March 26th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
IRS these days encourage to e-file. The question of signature should not arise then. The last two or three years I have e-filed. By the way, with e-file and direct deposit you can get refund in about 10 days. That’s how long it took in my case.