The 2020 IRS federal tax forms are available from the IRS prior-year archive at irs.gov/prior-year-forms-and-instructions, where you can search by form number and tax year to pull the 2020 PDFs.1Internal Revenue Service. Prior Year Forms and Instructions Before you download anything, know this: the deadline to claim a 2020 refund was May 17, 2024, so any refund you were owed is gone.2Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund Filing still matters if you owe tax, because the IRS has no time limit to assess a balance when no return was ever filed, and penalties and interest keep running until you file and pay.
Downloading the Right 2020 Forms
On the prior-year page, search the form number and select 2020 as the tax year. Check the revision date printed on each PDF before you print or fill anything in. Line numbers, credit amounts, and threshold figures change every year, and a 2019 or 2021 version of a form will not process correctly for a 2020 return. Most forms are fillable PDFs, so you can type in your entries and print. Spanish-language versions of Form 1040 (Form 1040(SP)) and its instructions are in the same archive.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
For each form, grab the instruction booklet at the same time. The 2020 instructions carry the standard deduction amounts, tax tables, and worksheets specific to that year.
The 2020 Forms and Schedules Most Filers Need
Form 1040 is the main individual return. Form 1040-SR is an optional version for taxpayers who were 65 or older at the end of 2020; it uses larger print but the same schedules and instructions.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return The 2020 version of both forms placed a virtual currency question on the first page, asking whether you received, sold, or exchanged any virtual currency during the year.
Three supplementary schedules attach to the 1040 depending on your situation:3Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
- Schedule 1 for additional income (unemployment compensation, alimony received, gambling winnings) and adjustments to income (student loan interest, educator expenses, self-employment tax deduction).
- Schedule 2 for additional taxes such as alternative minimum tax, self-employment tax, and excess advance premium tax credit repayment.
- Schedule 3 for additional credits (foreign tax credit, education credits, general business credit) and payments like estimated tax or amounts paid with an extension request.
Nonresident aliens with U.S.-sourced income file Form 1040-NR instead, using Schedule OI to provide treaty and residency information.4Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1040-NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return
COVID-Era Items That Only Appear on a 2020 Return
A 2020 return is not just a delayed version of a standard filing. Several provisions applied only to that year, and missing them can inflate the tax you report.
Recovery Rebate Credit
The first two Economic Impact Payments were advance payments of a credit reconciled on the 2020 return. If you didn’t get the full amount you were eligible for, the difference goes on line 30 of Form 1040 as the Recovery Rebate Credit.5Internal Revenue Service. Notice 1444-B – Your Second Economic Impact Payment You need the exact payment amounts from IRS Notice 1444 (first payment) and Notice 1444-B (second payment) to calculate this correctly. If you don’t have the notices, your IRS online account shows the payments.6Internal Revenue Service. 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit – Topic F: Finding the First and Second Economic Impact Payment Amounts to Calculate the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit
Unemployment Compensation Exclusion
The American Rescue Plan Act allowed individuals with modified adjusted gross income under $150,000 to exclude up to $10,200 of 2020 unemployment benefits from gross income. On a joint return, each spouse could exclude up to $10,200.7Internal Revenue Service. 2020 Unemployment Compensation Exclusion FAQs The exclusion is reported on Schedule 1.
Earned Income Tax Credit Lookback
If your 2020 earned income was lower than 2019, you could elect to use your 2019 earned income to figure the Earned Income Tax Credit. The election often produces a larger credit for workers whose 2020 earnings dropped.8Taxpayer Advocate Service. Miscellaneous Recommendations: Allow Taxpayers the Option of Using Prior Year Income to Claim the Earned Income Tax Credit During Federally Declared Disasters
$300 Charitable Deduction for Non-Itemizers
The CARES Act created a $300 above-the-line deduction for cash charitable contributions available to taxpayers taking the standard deduction, a one-year departure from the usual rule limiting the charitable deduction to itemizers.
Required Minimum Distribution Waiver
The CARES Act suspended Required Minimum Distributions from IRAs and retirement plans for all of 2020, for both account owners and beneficiaries of inherited accounts.9Internal Revenue Service. Coronavirus Relief for Retirement Plans and IRAs
Self-Employed Sick and Family Leave Credits
Self-employed people who couldn’t work because of COVID-related illness, quarantine, or childcare responsibilities could claim refundable credits on Form 7202. The sick leave credit maxed out at $511 per day for your own care or $200 per day for caring for someone else, with an overall cap of $5,110. The family leave credit was capped at $200 per day for up to 50 days, with a $10,000 maximum.10Internal Revenue Service. Credits for Sick Leave and Family Leave for Certain Self-Employed Individuals The credit flows to Schedule 3, line 12b.
Educator Expenses
Teachers and other eligible educators could include the cost of personal protective equipment, disinfectant, and other COVID-prevention supplies in the educator expense deduction on Schedule 1.11Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 458, Educator Expense Deduction
Documents to Have Before You Fill Anything Out
Track down every income document for 2020 before you touch the 1040. If you no longer have the paper copies, request a Wage and Income Transcript from the IRS, which shows the W-2 and 1099 information your employers and payers reported for that year.
- W-2 forms from every employer you worked for in 2020.
- 1099 forms: 1099-INT for interest, 1099-DIV for dividends, 1099-R for retirement distributions, 1099-G for unemployment compensation, 1099-B for investment sales.
- Form 1099-NEC, which for tax year 2020 became the separate form for nonemployee compensation previously reported in Box 7 of Form 1099-MISC. If you earned $600 or more from any single payer as an independent contractor, that payer should have issued a 1099-NEC.
- IRS Notices 1444 and 1444-B, showing your first and second Economic Impact Payment amounts.6Internal Revenue Service. 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit – Topic F: Finding the First and Second Economic Impact Payment Amounts to Calculate the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit
- Social Security numbers for you, your spouse if filing jointly, and every dependent. Missing or incorrect SSNs are a common reason returns get rejected.
Confirm your filing status before you start entering numbers. Single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) determines the standard deduction and bracket that apply, and everything else on the return builds on it.
How to Submit a 2020 Return Now
Individual e-filing for 2020 returns is no longer available through the IRS Free File program or most consumer tax software.12Internal Revenue Service. E-File: Do Your Taxes for Free A tax professional with the right software may still be able to e-file, but if you’re filing on your own, plan on mailing a paper return. The correct mailing address depends on your state and whether you’re enclosing a payment; the IRS maintains a lookup at irs.gov.13Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Paper Tax Returns With or Without a Payment
Send the return by USPS Certified Mail with a return receipt, or use an IRS-designated private delivery service. Not every FedEx or UPS service qualifies for the “timely mailing” rule; approved options include FedEx Priority Overnight, UPS Next Day Air, and DHL Express, among others.14Internal Revenue Service. Private Delivery Services (PDS) Keep the dated receipt. Processing on paper prior-year returns runs months, not weeks.
What Filing Late Costs
The original due date for 2020 returns was April 15, 2021, extended to May 17, 2021 by IRS Notice 2021-21.15Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2021-21 Two penalties apply when a balance is owed:
- The failure-to-file penalty runs 5 percent of the unpaid tax per month (or partial month) the return is late, capped at 25 percent. On a return this old, the cap has already been reached.16Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty
- The failure-to-pay penalty runs 0.5 percent of unpaid tax per month, also capped at 25 percent. When both penalties apply in the same month, the failure-to-file penalty is reduced by the failure-to-pay amount.16Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty
Interest compounds daily on unpaid tax from the May 17, 2021 due date until you pay in full. The rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points, reset quarterly.17Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 653, IRS Notices and Bills, Penalties and Interest Charges Combined penalties and interest on a years-old balance can approach or exceed the original tax.
If you don’t owe tax for 2020, no penalty applies for filing late. The only consequence is the forfeited refund, since the three-year claim window closed on May 17, 2024.2Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund
If You Can’t Pay the Balance
The IRS offers a short-term payment plan of up to 180 days with no setup fee, and a formal installment agreement for larger balances or longer terms. Request an installment agreement by filing Form 9465 or applying through your IRS online account.18Internal Revenue Service. Payment Plans; Installment Agreements While a request is pending, the IRS generally cannot levy your wages or bank accounts. Interest continues to accrue during the plan, but filing and setting up an agreement stops the failure-to-file penalty from growing and prevents more aggressive collection.
Fixing a 2020 Return You Already Filed
If you filed a 2020 return and need to correct it, use Form 1040-X. A 2020 1040-X can be e-filed if the original 2020 return was e-filed; otherwise mail it. On the paper form, write “2020” by hand in the calendar year entry box.19Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1040-X Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return The correct mailing address depends on your state and is listed in the 1040-X instructions; if you’re responding to an IRS notice, use the address on the notice instead. Note that the refund window for a 2020 amendment has also closed, so an amended return that produces a refund will not be paid out.