Sorry if you missed that train. But you can still prepare your late return online.

You cannot e-file a prior year tax return. However, you can prepare prior year returns on PriorTax and send your printed return copy in the mail, to the IRS.

You can only e-file a “current year” tax return between mid-January when e-file opens and mid-October when it closes, the year after the tax year in question.

Each year the IRS shuts down their e-file system come mid-October. This is why you will need to send in a physical copy of your return to the IRS.

How to file your prior year tax return

Even though your return is already late, you should still submit it. In fact, it will be in your best interest to get your late tax return submitted as soon as possible to avoid the accumulation of penalty fees.

If you’re due a refund from the last three years, you will be able to receive that money. And if you owe money, you will be able to minimize your penalties and interest by filing sooner rather than later.

Gather your old documents: One of the greatest challenges of filing late taxes is gathering all the old documents you need to fill out your return. If you’ve kept good records and you have all of those documents handy – great! You can get started right away. But if you’ve lost the necessary documents you may have to retrieve transcripts of them from the IRS.
Create a PriorTax account: Although you can’t e-file a prior year return anymore, you can still prepare it online with PriorTax. Other online tax preparation sites don’t allow you to prepare a return from a previous year online. They make you purchase prior year software and install it on your computer.
Complete your tax return: With PriorTax you can completely prepare your return online. Once it’s finished all you have to do is print it out, sign it, and mail it in to the IRS.

The PriorTax application will find every credit and deduction from the year that you are filing. This will allow you to maximize your refund. Our experts are knowledgeable in all aspects of late taxes. We’re available to answer your questions via phone, live chat, and email.

Prepare your late tax return today!

PriorTax offers taxpayers to get caught up on tax returns dating back to 2005.

Categories:

Tax Deadlines

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 20th, 2016 at 6:34 pm and is filed under Tax Deadlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

13 Responses to “Can You E-File A Tax Return After the October Deadline?”

Comments(13)

admin

Nov 13, 2013

Hi Brian,
You can create an account on our website and get started filing your return for the selected prior year. Here is the link to get started; https://www.priortax.com/Tax2012/?CreateAccount

While there, simply select the tax year you need to file for in the drop down menu. Once you create a user ID and password, you can start filing in your tax information.

You have three years to claim your refund from the IRS (for example, the deadline to receive 2010 refunds is April 15,2014).

Reply
Melissa

Jan 28, 2014

I am having no luck efiling for 2010. I have been told by the IRS it can still be efiled, but to do it soon!

Reply
- admin
  
  Jan 29, 2014
  
  Hi Melissa,
  You can not e-file (electronically submit) your late 2010 return to the IRS. You’ll have to prepare the return (you can do this by clicking tax year 2010 from the drop down menu on our create an account page), once it’s prepared, you can print it out and then will have to mail it to the IRS.
  
  The IRS only accepts e-filed current year returns (that means you can file your 2013 taxes online) but for any prior year, you’ll have to mail it in. If you need any help with filing with us, you can always contact one of our tax experts.
  Best of luck!
  
  Reply
Naz

Feb 13, 2014

Did you find a website to e file on? Would be helpful if you did thanks.

Reply
Justin Papke

Feb 16, 2015

can you efile my taxes… or at least send me in the right direction to do so myself

Reply
cynthia meade

Mar 6, 2016

how come it wont let me verify my email?i keep checking my email and i dont see the verification email in my spam box or in my inbox?

Reply
- admin
  
  Mar 18, 2016
  
  Hi Cynthia,
  
  I apologize for the inconvenience. You can try this verification again. The issue has been resolved. If for some reason you are not able to verify, please do not hesitate to give us a call at 877-289-7580. You can also leave a message on the status page of your account if you are unable to give us a call. Thanks for preparing your return with us!!
  
  Reply
Teaching Strategies Gold Login

May 14, 2017

Hey great post! I hope it’s ok that I shared
this on my FB, if not, no issues just let me know and I’ll remove it.
Regardless keep up the good work.

Reply
- admin
  
  May 16, 2017
  
  Thank you! We appreciate your kind words.
  
  Reply
Kat

Aug 10, 2017

I had e filed my 2016 taxes on time. Then, when I was wondering where my refund was..discovered that I hadn’t completely submitted my information. I have e filed for several years. I am not good on the computer, and cannot figure out how to print out forms….but I’m too embarrassed to ask for help that my taxes weren’t filed on time. Is there any site that I can still file 2016 online?

Reply
- admin
  
  Aug 10, 2017
  
  If you are looking to file your return online for 2016, our website Priortax.com can assist you in this matter. We also provide phone and live chat assistance, to help you file your taxes.
  
  Reply
Sara

Feb 13, 2018

I know that 2016 returns must be mailed in at this point, but can you still elect to have the return sent via direct deposit? I was told direct deposit is not an option for previous years’ returns, but wanted to see if that was in fact true. Thanks!

Reply
- admin
  
  Apr 2, 2018
  
  Sara,
  Prior year returns do not qualify for direct deposit. The IRS will issues refunds by check in the mail.
  
  Reply