2012 Income Tax FAQ - 107

The IRS says my name (or my spouse's name) is over 35 characters so they rejected my return. What do I need to do?

For electronic filing, the IRS has a 35 character limit on the taxpayer and spouse names. This includes the first name, last name, middle initial, punctuation and spaces.

The way the IRS assembles the names it comes out like this:

Example: William A Jefferson & Elizabeth R Johnson - that's 41 characters.

1. Print your return with your full name(s) entered so you have a copy for your records.
   
   
2. The IRS (and some states) verify your Social Security Number against the first four characters of both the first and last names when electronically filing. To insure you are under the 35 character limit and the information can still be verified, shorten your name(s) as follows:
   
   
   • Remove middle initials and any punctuation.
   • Shorten your first name(s) leaving at least the first 4 characters of each first name.
   • If you still are not within the limit, shorten your last name and your spouse's last name, leaving at least the first 4 characters of the last name.
   
   
3. You MUST recalculate the return for these changes to take effect and to verify that the error message is gone.
   
   
4. Once the error message has been eliminated, continue the filing process and submit the return for electronic filing.