To file a late Form 1040EZ, you need the paper form for the specific year you missed (2017 or earlier, since the IRS retired the form after that), your wage and income records for that year, and a way to mail it in with any balance you owe. Electronic filing is not an option for these years, and the deadline to claim a refund on any 1040EZ year has already passed, so filing now is almost always about resolving a balance rather than getting money back.
The rest of this walks through the steps in the order you’ll actually take them.
Make Sure the 1040EZ Is the Right Form for Your Year
The 1040EZ was only accepted through tax year 2017. If your unfiled year is 2018 or later, you need a different form entirely and should stop here. If your year is 2017 or earlier, you also need to confirm your situation for that year actually qualified for the EZ version. Every one of these had to be true:1Internal Revenue Service. 2017 Instructions for Form 1040EZ
- Filing status was Single or Married Filing Jointly.
- You and your spouse (if filing jointly) were under 65 and not legally blind at the end of the year.
- Taxable income was under $100,000.
- Income came only from wages, salaries, tips, taxable scholarships or fellowships, unemployment compensation, or Alaska Permanent Fund dividends.
- Taxable interest was $1,500 or less.
- You claimed no dependents.
- You took no itemized deductions and no income adjustments, and the only credit you claimed was the Earned Income Credit.
If any single item doesn’t fit, use Form 1040A or the full Form 1040 for that year instead. Both are available in the IRS prior-year archive.
Pull Your Old Wage and Income Records
W-2s and 1099s from years ago are rarely still on hand, and you can’t file accurately without them. The IRS keeps copies of what your employers and banks reported and will give them back to you as a Wage and Income Transcript.
The fastest route is the IRS Individual Online Account. Sign in and request a Wage and Income Transcript for the year you need. Transcripts are available for the current year plus the prior nine, which still covers 2017 in 2026.2Internal Revenue Service. Transcript Types for Individuals and Ways to Order Them
If the online system won’t work for you, mail or fax Form 4506-T. Check box 6e for wage and income documents and enter the ending date of the tax year on line 9 (for example, 12/31/2017). Most requests are processed within about 10 business days, and the transcript goes to the address the IRS has on file for you.3Internal Revenue Service. Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return
The transcript only shows what was actually filed with the IRS. If an employer never submitted your W-2, it won’t be there, and you’ll need to rebuild that income from pay stubs, bank deposits, or the employer directly.
Download the Correct Year’s Form and Fill It Out
Get the form and its instruction booklet from the IRS Prior Year Forms page.4Internal Revenue Service. Prior Year Forms and Instructions Confirm the year printed in the upper-right corner matches your tax year before you start. A form from the wrong year gets rejected.
At the top, enter your legal name, current mailing address, and Social Security number. For a joint return, both spouses’ Social Security numbers go in the designated fields. Enter total wages, salaries, and tips from all W-2s, plus taxable interest from any 1099-INT forms. The total is your adjusted gross income.
Subtract that year’s combined standard deduction and personal exemption. For 2017, a single filer subtracted $6,350 plus $4,050, for a total of $10,400; a joint filer subtracted $12,700 plus $8,100, for a total of $20,800. Earlier years used different figures, so always follow the instruction booklet for your actual tax year.
The result is your taxable income. Look up the tax owed in the Tax Table at the back of the booklet. Compare that number to the federal income tax withheld on your W-2s. If withholding was higher, the return would have generated a refund, but that refund is no longer collectible in almost every case. Federal law gives you three years from the original filing deadline (or two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later) to claim a refund. For 2017, that window closed in April 2021.5Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund If your tax exceeded your withholding, the difference is what you owe, before penalties and interest.
Sign and date the return. If filing jointly, both spouses must sign by hand. An unsigned return is sent back unprocessed.
Mail the Return and Pay Any Balance
IRS e-file only accepts the current year and the two prior years, so in 2026 that’s 2025, 2024, and 2023.6Internal Revenue Service. Benefits of Modernized e-File (MeF) A 1040EZ has to go in on paper.
The right mailing address depends on your state and whether you’re enclosing a payment. The instruction booklet lists addresses, but some have changed since those booklets were printed. Use the IRS “Where to File” page for the current version.7Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Tax Returns – Addresses Listed by Return Type
How to Pay
If you owe, you can enclose a check or money order made payable to “United States Treasury” with Form 1040-V as a payment voucher.8Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher for Individuals Don’t staple anything; place the payment and return loosely in the envelope.
You can also pay online through IRS Direct Pay, which handles balance-due payments for prior-year 1040 returns going back up to 20 years. Select “Balance Due” as the reason and pick the correct tax year.9Internal Revenue Service. Types of Payments Available to Individuals Through Direct Pay Paying online before the return finishes processing can reduce daily interest, since interest keeps running until the balance is cleared.
Proof of Mailing
Send the return with a service that gives you written proof of the mailing date. USPS Certified Mail with a return receipt is the standard choice. Certain FedEx, UPS, and DHL Express services also qualify under the IRS “timely mailing as timely filing” rule, but only the specific overnight and priority tiers on the IRS list. Standard ground services from those carriers do not count.10Internal Revenue Service. Private Delivery Services (PDS) Hold on to your mailing receipt with a photocopy of the signed return.
Plan on about six weeks of processing time for an accurate past-due return, longer if there are errors or mismatches with IRS records.11Internal Revenue Service. Filing Past Due Tax Returns
What You’ll Owe on Top of the Tax
Two penalties and interest apply to any late-filed return with a balance due.
The failure-to-file penalty is 5% of the unpaid tax per month or partial month, capped at 25%.12Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty The failure-to-pay penalty is 0.5% per month on any unpaid tax after the due date, also capped at 25%.13Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Pay Penalty When both apply in the same month, the filing penalty is reduced by the amount of the payment penalty for that month, so the combined rate is 5% per month during the first five months.14Internal Revenue Service. Information About Your Notice, Penalty and Interest For a 2017 return filed now, both caps have been reached for years.
Interest is separate and does not cap. It compounds daily on unpaid tax and on the penalties themselves, at the federal short-term rate plus three percentage points, adjusted quarterly. For 2026, the rate is 7% in Q1 and 6% in Q2.15Internal Revenue Service. Quarterly Interest Rates Over eight or more years, interest alone can approach the size of the original tax.
If You Cannot Pay the Full Balance
A 2017 balance with years of accumulated penalties and interest can be sizable. The IRS offers installment agreements to spread payment over time.16Internal Revenue Service. Payment Plans; Installment Agreements
If your combined tax, penalties, and interest total $50,000 or less and you’ve filed all required returns, apply for a long-term plan online through your IRS account. Short-term plans (180 days or less) are available online for balances under $100,000. Larger balances mean filing Form 9465 by mail or calling the IRS at 800-829-1040.17Internal Revenue Service. Online Payment Agreement Application
Once an installment agreement is approved, the failure-to-pay rate drops from 0.5% to 0.25% per month on the remaining balance.13Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Pay Penalty Interest keeps accruing, but the agreement also stops the more aggressive collection tools like wage and bank levies. File the return first; set up the payment plan after the IRS processes it and formally assesses the balance.