How Do I Prepare & File My Tax Return Without A Computer?

Intro
So, you’ve decided that this year, you’re going to prepare your tax return 100% off the grid, no computer what-so ever, but realized in the process that you don’t know how to now that computers have become a part of our everyday lives. Well fright no more, print out a copy of this post, turn off your computer and prepare to be amazed as together we will accomplish a task without using a single microprocessor.

• Pros:
  • No mining of your data
    • The big name tax prep companies will use and/or sell your data for various money making schemes. The old saying is true here, if the product is free then you are the product.
  • Full control
    • The only parties involved with filing your tax return this way will be you and the IRS. No third parties, no software, no nonsense.
  • Less Computer Usage
    • Any reason to get off the computer and away from the screens in this day and age is worth it
• Cons:
  • Slower
    • Everything from preparing the return to receiving your refund will be a slower process
  • Less convenient
    • From order forms to mail them out can turn into a full day of errands

                                          
Required Tools Needed

• Telephone (or Library)
• Mailing Address
• Pen
• Envelope
• Stamp

The phone can be a landline, dumbphone, or smartphone, as we are just going to be calling the IRS to order tax forms. Now if you don't have access to aI will be including instructions for you later, located under 'Getting forms without a phone', but the summary is to utilize your local library.
With your phone in one hand and your index finger extended with the other you're going to want to call the IRS at this number:
 1-800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676)
They are open Monday through Friday 7:00 am to 10:00 pm local time, except Alaska and Hawaii which follow Pacific time.


The people who work at this line do not work for the IRS, they are contracted by a third-party company, nor do they use your information for any reason other than to send you tax forms to my knowledge. That is to say, if you owe taxes, the person on the other end has no way of knowing this, so you won't be hassled about making a payment. With that said, I don't know what information the IRS will use from the phone call. For example, if when you give your name and address, will the IRS use that to update your address in their system? I highly doubt this, as again, it's a private third-party collecting information on their behalf so I don't see the IRS trusting them with any kind of data collection, but if you're extra paranoid about it you can always use a fake name and/or a third-party mailbox like a PO box or something similar.

Choosing the correct forms to order

For this tutorial, we are preparing one of the simplest US tax returns. The situation is:
A single (unmarried) person whose only income was from their job as an employee.
This individual will be receiving a Form W-2 at the beginning of the year for the previous calendar year from their employer, usually either mailed to them or in their employee portal or both. Based on the criteria of the situation we will only be needing Form 1040 to file the tax return so that's what we need to order from the IRS. Now if your situation is different than the one in this tutorial then other tax forms might be needed and it's important not to miss any forms or the IRS might request that you fix it, so contact us if you are unsure what forms you will need based on your specific situation.

Ordering the forms by phone

Once you make the call at the number above, the customer service representative will ask you what forms you would like to order and how many you would like of each form. We will be ordering:

• Two (2) 2020 Form 1040
• One (1) 2020 Tax Table
  • The second 1040 will just be for our records. It will be a copy of the tax return we'll be mailing to the IRS
  • We're using year 2020 in our example, but if you were needing to prepare a tax return for a different year you would ask for that year's Form 1040 and Tax Table.
  • You can order the Form 1040 instruction booklet as well, but, for 2020 at least, it's over 100 pages and mostly unnecessary for this situation. I didn't want to be wasteful so I'm not including it in the list, but if you need it, it's there.

Getting forms without a phone
​

• Go to the library
  • Your local library might have people there with experience in printing tax forms for people. You can ask the people at the front desk if this is an option, or if not, if they could help you print a form 1040 from one of their computers. The IRS claims that some libraries will have Form 1040s available for patrons but I have never seen them in my local libraries.

• Going to an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center in person
  • There are 401 TACs across the country where IRS offers face-to-face assistance to taxpayers, and where taxpayers can pick up many IRS forms and publications. I’m not going to focus on this portion of assistance at all as time of writing this we are in a pandemic and getting an appointment without a computer means having to call the IRS main line 1-800-829-1040 which might be a huge waste of time. If you need this kind of specialized assistance going online to find your local office and make an appointment seems to be the only way. Ask the librarian if they can help you with this portion if it’s your only option. The web address to find your local IRS office and book an appointment is: https://www.irs.gov/help/contact-your-local-irs-office

State Taxes

Additionally, most states have requirements for filing their own separate tax returns that will be a requirement if you earn over a certain amount of income so make sure you follow their specific instructions for this step as it will not be covered in this tutorial or contact us anytime for assistance.

Preparing the Form

Once your forms arrive in the mail, which should be about 10 days later based on the IRS's instructions, you'll want to fill out the Form 1040. The forms vary a little from year to year, so contact us if you need assistance with a different tax year, but for 2020 it should go like this:

• Fill out your Filing Status. In this case we are filing as single, but if you are not sure which box to check contact us so we can assist you.
• Fill out your current address, regardless of what year you are filing for.
• Input your social security number
• Fill in the box that best matches your situation to the virtual currency question, located just below the address bar on page 1 of the Form 1040.
• Copy the amount on Box 1 of the W-2 to Box 1 of Form 1040
• Repeat the amount from Box 1 onto Box 9 of the Form 1040 since there was no other income made in 2020. If you had other income make sure to contact us as there is usually other forms that need to be filed if your situation is different than this tutorial.
• Copy line 9 to line 11 on Form 1040 since our tutorial has no adjustments to income.
• Review line 12 of the Form 1040. We will be taking the standard deduction in this tutorial, which for our single (unmarried) person would be $12,400 for 2020, but you might benefit more from taking an itemized deduction depending on your situation, so make sure to contact us if you'd like to know more about that specific line item so that you don't lose out on additional tax savings.
• Add lines 12 & 13 to line 14
• Subtract line 14 from line
• Go to the Tax Table and find your tax by looking for your taxable income amount under "If like 15 (taxable income) is - ".
• Put that amount from Step #7 into box 16 of the Form 1040
• Add lines 16 & 17 and add them to line 18, all from Form 1040
• Copy line 18 to line 22 and line 24 of the Form 1040
• Line 24 of the Form 1040 is your total tax
• On line 25(a) of the Form 1040 copy the dollar amount from Box 2 of the W-2
• Copy like 25(a) to lines 25(d) and line 33, all on Form 1040
• Review line 34 which states: If line 33 is more than line 24, you are going to get a refund of some of the tax you paid from your paychecks; subtract line 24 from line 33 and copy that amount to line 35a.
  • If you want direct deposit put your routing and account number for the bank you would like the refunds deposited to. This will be the quickest way to receive your refund.
  • If you leave lines 35(b), 35(c) & 35(d) blank the IRS will mail your refund to the address you put at the top of the Form 1040
• If line 33 is LESS THAN line 24, then you owe the IRS additional tax. You didn't withhold enough throughout the year from each paycheck in this specific example, and you will need to reconcile the difference with an additional tax payment.
  • You may have to pay an estimated tax penalty if you didn't withhold enough throughout the year. It is best to fill out the worksheet regarding the estimated tax penalty and add any amount from the worksheet to box 36 to avoid having the IRS do it for you, as that will just mean additional interest and late penalty fees since they will take a few months to issue a correction at the very least.
• Sign and date the return if everything is correct and add your general occupation
• Make a copy of your tax return for your records.
• Mail your return to the address below. The correct address is based on what state you live in. Expect to wait many months before receiving your refund via check as the IRS has been very backed up in the last couple years. Also please note that the IRS has been known to change their mailing addresses over the years, so as of 2021 these are the correct addresses based on what state you are in, but they may change so you will want to double check if you are able to by either calling them at 1-800-829-1040. Here are the addresses as of 2021. You have to choose the correct IRS address based on whether you are also submitting a check for tax payment or not:

If you live in the following state...

Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, 
Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma,
Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin:

...and you ARE NOT enclosing a payment use this address:
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Kansas City, MO 64999-0002

...and you ARE enclosing a payment use this address:
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 931000
Louisville, KY 40293-1000

Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia:

...and you ARE NOT enclosing a payment use this address:
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Ogden, UT 84201-0002

...and you ARE enclosing a payment use this address:
Internal Revenue Service
P. O. Box 931000
Louisville, KY 40293-1000

Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas:

...and you ARE NOT enclosing a payment use this address:
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Austin, TX 73301-0002

...and you ARE enclosing a payment use this address:
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 1214
Charlotte, NC 28201-1214

Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee:

...and you ARE NOT enclosing a payment use this address:
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Kansas City, MO 64999-0002

...and you ARE enclosing a payment use this address:
Internal Revenue Service
P O Box 1214
Charlotte, NC 28201-1214

Alaska, California, Hawaii, Ohio, Washington:

...and you ARE NOT enclosing a payment use this address:
Department of Treasury
Internal Revenue Service 
Ogden, UT 84201-0002

...and you ARE enclosing a payment use this address:
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 802501
Cincinnati, OH 
45280-2501

Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana,
Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming:

...and you ARE NOT enclosing a payment use this address:
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Ogden, UT 84201-0002

...and you ARE enclosing a payment use this address:
Internal Revenue Service
P O Box 802501
Cincinnati, OH 45280-2501



Sources:
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/ways-to-obtain-irs-forms-and-publications
https://www.irs.gov/filing/where-to-file-addresses-for-taxpayers-and-tax-professionals-filing-form-1040