Reclaiming withheld income from past year 1042-S

Question

I currently have a 1042-S that I received in 2012 as part of a scholarship. I did not file taxes in 2013 as I was new to the country, had no other income and was unsure of what to do - I am an international student on an F-1 visa, and obtained an SSN/EIN in 2013. At the time, I thought I had to file a regular form 1040, and hence i had trepidations about filing without an SSN/EIN.

I tried to file it in 2014 with a completed 1040NR-EZ for 2012-2013 and a completed 1040NR-EZ for the tax year 2013-2014, where the only item on the latter was the income from my 1042-S form. However, while I received a tax refund for the 2013-2014 year, no action seems to have been taken on my 2012-2013 tax return. They clearly received both as I sent both in the same envelope, but I am not sure what happened to my 2012-2013 filing.

I am unsure of how to proceed. The IRS does not appear to have any way to track late filings or filings from previous years, and I have already tried the only avenue I know of. I would appreciate any advice.

Answer 1

They clearly received both as I sent both in the same envelope

That was your main mistake. Never ever send two unrelated things in the same envelope to anyone, let alone to the IRS. You're assuming they have received both, while the reality is that they scanned the first and ignored all the rest. While there no explicit requirement to send each form separately, you may find it hard to argue that you did when they say "in that envelope there was only the form for 2013".

I also don't understand the "2012-2013" notation. In the US tax year is the calendar year. Are you referring to two different years?

As to how to proceed - you can call them, or check online, to see if they have received the returns you sent. Most likely they haven't. Send them again, this time each in a separate envelope, and certified.