IRS Resources
Form 15103 and the IRS Forms You Need Most
Updated
Form 15103, the reply form the IRS sends when it has no return on file, explained section by section, plus the IRS tax forms individuals need most, each linked straight to the official, current version on IRS.gov.
Every link on this page goes to the official IRS.gov. Clarity Tax Relief is not affiliated with the IRS. We just make the forms easy to find. Always use the current-year version, and if a form is tied to a notice or a balance you owe, talk to us first so you file it correctly.
Not Sure Which Form You Need?
If you’re filling out a 433, a 9465, or an Offer in Compromise because you owe the IRS, the wrong number in the wrong box can cost you. Get a free, confidential review and we’ll tell you exactly what to file, or handle it for you.
Below are the 44 consumer IRS forms taxpayers ask about most, grouped by what you’re trying to do. Click the PDF ↓ link to open the official form on IRS.gov.
Individual Income Tax Returns
| Form | What it’s for | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Form 1040 | U.S. Individual Income Tax Return: the main return most people file. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 1040-SR | U.S. Tax Return for Seniors: same as the 1040 with larger type, for age 65+. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 1040-X | Amended return: fix or change a return you already filed. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 1040-ES | Estimated Tax for Individuals: quarterly payments if you're self-employed. | PDF ↓ |
Common 1040 Schedules
| Form | What it’s for | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule 1 | Additional income and adjustments to income. | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule 2 | Additional taxes you may owe. | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule 3 | Additional credits and payments. | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule A | Itemized deductions. | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule B | Interest and ordinary dividends. | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule C | Profit or loss from business (sole proprietors). | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule D | Capital gains and losses. | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule E | Supplemental income and loss (rentals, royalties, partnerships). | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule SE | Self-employment tax. | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule 8812 | Credits for qualifying children and other dependents. | PDF ↓ |
| Schedule EIC | Earned Income Credit. | PDF ↓ |
Income & Withholding
| Form | What it’s for | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Form W-4 | Employee's Withholding Certificate: set how much tax your employer withholds. | PDF ↓ |
| Form W-9 | Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. | PDF ↓ |
| Form W-7 | Application for an IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). | PDF ↓ |
Finding the right version of a form
Clarity Tax Relief tells clients to read the instructions before the form itself. The IRS publishes forms instructions alongside the form itself, and on anything more complicated than a payment voucher the instructions carry the part that decides your answer. Read them before filling anything in.
The revision date sits in the top left corner of every IRS form. Check it against the year you are filing for before you fill anything in.
Tax Relief & IRS Resolution Forms
| Form | What it’s for | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Form 15103 | Form 1040 Return Delinquency: the reply form that comes with a CP59, CP516 or CP518 notice when the IRS shows no return on file for a prior year. Full guide above. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 9465 | Installment Agreement Request: set up a monthly payment plan. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 433-A | Collection Information Statement for wage earners and self-employed. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 433-F | Collection Information Statement, the shorter version. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 433-B | Collection Information Statement for businesses. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 656 | Offer in Compromise application, filed with Form 433-A (OIC) or 433-B (OIC). | PDF ↓ |
| Form 656-B | Offer in Compromise Booklet: full instructions and all OIC forms. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 843 | Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement: ask the IRS to remove penalties. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 8857 | Request for Innocent Spouse Relief. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 2848 | Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 8821 | Tax Information Authorization. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 911 | Request for Taxpayer Advocate Service assistance. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 12153 | Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 9423 | Collection Appeal Request. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 12277 | Application for Withdrawal of a Filed Federal Tax Lien (Form 668(Y)). | PDF ↓ |
What is Form 15103?
Clarity Tax Relief explains Form 15103 as the IRS asking where your return is. Form 15103, Form 1040 Return Delinquency, is the two-page reply form the IRS encloses with a CP59, CP516 or CP518 notice when it has no record of your federal income tax return for a year it believes you had to file. It is not a tax return. It is the form you use to tell the IRS one of three things: you already filed, you are filing now, or you were not required to file for that year. The current revision is dated June 2017, and the IRS still issues it with every delinquency notice.
Searchers type it as "15103 form" or "f15103" (the IRS file name is f15103.pdf). Same form. If the IRS has already sent you a notice, use the copy that came in the envelope, because the notice is pre-addressed and the year is filled in for you.
How to fill out Form 15103
Complete both sides, check the circumstances that apply, sign under penalties of perjury, and send it back in the envelope that came with the notice so the IRS address shows through the window. Most people only need one of the boxes. Here is what each part of the form asks for.
| Section of Form 15103 | Who checks it | What to provide |
|---|---|---|
| Contact information | Everyone | Social Security number, name, a corrected address if you moved, phone numbers and the best time to call. |
| If you already filed a tax return | You filed and the IRS never matched it | Check the box, list the names on the return, the forms filed, the year and the date you filed, and enclose a signed and dated copy of the return as verification. |
| If the person addressed on this notice is deceased | Executors and surviving family | Date of death, and whether a Form 1041 estate return was filed instead of a Form 1040 (with the names on it, the EIN and the tax year). |
| If you don't think you have to file a tax return | Income under the filing threshold, or no U.S. filing requirement | Filing status for that year; boxes for age 65 or older, blind, not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, work performed in another country, or claimable as someone's dependent; your total income; and the reason for not filing. The answers apply to that tax year only. |
| Prior year credit or estimated payments | You have money sitting with the IRS for that year | Choose to apply the credit to another return or take it as a refund check. The form notes that you must file a return to receive a refund, even if you were not required to file. |
| Sign and mail to us | Everyone | Signature and date. An unsigned form is treated as though it never arrived. |
Filing the late return now? Then the return itself is the answer. Send the signed, dated return together with Form 15103 to the address on the notice, and keep a copy of both. Returns for the two most recent prior years can also be e-filed through an authorized provider, which is faster than paper and gives you proof of receipt.
Where to send Form 15103
To the address or fax number printed on your notice, never to the general filing address for your state. The IRS also accepts Form 15103 through your IRS Online Account as a mobile-friendly form, which is the best option if you have lost the envelope. Sending it to the wrong place is the most common way a reply goes astray, and a reply the IRS cannot match to your account does not stop the next notice.
What happens if you ignore Form 15103
The notices escalate. CP59 is the first letter, CP516 is the follow-up and CP518 is the final reminder, each saying the IRS has no record of your return. After that the IRS can determine your tax for you from the wages and income reported by employers, banks and other payers, with none of the deductions, credits or dependents you were entitled to.
“If you get a CP59 and you did file, send proof. If you didn't, file the return. Either answer beats silence, because otherwise the IRS will work out the tax for you,” says Angeline Balsitis, EA, an IRS Enrolled Agent at Clarity Tax Relief.
That calculation arrives as a CP2566, followed by a CP3219N notice of deficiency with a 90-day window to petition the Tax Court (150 days if you are outside the U.S.). Filing a return later does not extend that deadline. Penalties and interest keep running the whole time, and the strict time limits for claiming a refund keep running as well.
| Notice | What it says | What to send back |
|---|---|---|
| CP59 | First notice: no record of your prior year personal return. | The return, or Form 15103 explaining why none was required. If you filed in the last eight weeks, nothing. |
| CP516 | Second notice: a previous letter went unanswered. | The return with Form 15103, or Form 15103 alone if you had no filing requirement. |
| CP518 | Final reminder before the IRS determines your tax for you. | Same as CP516, by mail, fax or your IRS Online Account. |
| CP2566 | The IRS has calculated your tax from reported income. | Your own return (usually lower), or the response form agreeing to their figure and a payment arrangement. |
| CP3219N | Notice of deficiency, the 90-day letter. | Your return by the date shown, or a Tax Court petition within 90 days. Both deadlines are firm. |
If you have several unfiled years, the delinquency notice is usually the first of a stack. Our unfiled tax returns service pulls your wage and income transcripts, prepares the missing returns and answers the notices in one pass. Want to see what the IRS already has on file for you first? Our guide to IRS transcript codes explains how to read the account transcript, and if a balance is coming out of this, the IRS payment plan calculator shows what a monthly agreement would look like. Have questions about this form? Call (888) 825-7779 for a free case review.
Where to find official IRS tax forms
Clarity Tax Relief links every form on this page to irs.gov and nowhere else. Searches like "www gov com irs tax forms" land on lookalike sites that charge for free government forms. The only official source is irs.gov/forms-instructions, which carries the current year's forms, instructions and publications with a search box by form number. Every link on this page points there.
- Prior year forms: use the IRS prior year page (irs.gov/forms-pubs/prior-year) and pick the year you are filing for. A 2022 return goes on the 2022 form, because line numbers and thresholds move each year.
- Paper copies by mail: order online at irs.gov or call 800-829-3676. You can order up to 20 copies of each form (one copy of the instructions is included automatically) and up to 5 of each instruction booklet or publication, free of charge. Orders arrive within about 15 business days once the product is available for the season.
- Accessible versions: the IRS publishes accessible copies of most forms for people with disabilities on the same site, along with eBook, browser-friendly and mobile-friendly formats.
- Fillable forms: the PDFs linked here can be typed into and saved, then printed and signed before mailing.
Two things catch people out. A prior year filing needs that year's version of the form, and grabbing the current one produces a return the IRS cannot match. And a form that is not signed and dated is treated as though it never arrived, which is the most common reason a submission has to be sent twice. If you are responding to a notice about a balance, our CP14 notice guide covers the first bill the IRS sends, and our IRS hold times study shows when calling the IRS actually gets through.
Credits & Deductions
| Form | What it’s for | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Form 8863 | Education credits (American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning). | PDF ↓ |
| Form 2441 | Child and Dependent Care Expenses. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 8889 | Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). | PDF ↓ |
| Form 8962 | Premium Tax Credit (marketplace health insurance). | PDF ↓ |
| Form 8949 | Sales and other dispositions of capital assets. | PDF ↓ |
Extensions, Identity & Other
| Form | What it’s for | Download |
|---|---|---|
| Form 4868 | Application for an automatic extension of time to file. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 14039 | Identity Theft Affidavit. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 8888 | Allocation of Refund: split your refund across accounts. | PDF ↓ |
| Form SS-4 | Application for an Employer Identification Number (EIN). | PDF ↓ |
| Form 8332 | Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for a Child. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 1099-NEC | Nonemployee Compensation: for contractors you paid. | PDF ↓ |
| Form 1099-MISC | Miscellaneous Information. | PDF ↓ |
Forms and links are provided for convenience and point to the official IRS.gov. Clarity Tax Relief is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency. Always confirm you are using the correct, current-year form. This page is general information, not tax or legal advice.
Related: Decode an IRS Notice · Set Up a Payment Plan · Offer in Compromise · IRS Help Center.
Frequently asked questions about IRS forms
What is IRS Form 15103?
IRS Form 15103, Form 1040 Return Delinquency, is the two-page reply form enclosed with a CP59, CP516 or CP518 notice when the IRS has no record of your federal income tax return for a year it believes you had to file. You use it to say you already filed, you are filing now, or you were not required to file for that year. It is not a tax return and it does not replace one.
How do I fill out Form 15103?
Complete the contact section, then check the one circumstance that fits: already filed (enclose a signed, dated copy of the return), the taxpayer is deceased, or not required to file (give your filing status, total income and the reason). If you are filing the late return now, attach it. Sign and date the form, because an unsigned copy is treated as though it never arrived.
Where do I send Form 15103?
To the address or fax number printed on your notice, in the envelope the IRS provided so its address shows through the window. You can also submit it through your IRS Online Account. Do not mail it to the general filing address for your state; a reply the IRS cannot match to your account does not stop the next notice.
What happens if I ignore Form 15103 and the CP59 notice?
The IRS sends CP516, then a final CP518. After that it can determine your tax for you from the wages and income reported by employers and banks, with none of your deductions or credits, and send that calculation as a CP2566 followed by a CP3219N notice of deficiency. You then have 90 days to petition the Tax Court, and filing a return later does not extend that deadline.
Where can I find official IRS tax forms?
At irs.gov/forms-instructions, the only official source. Current forms, instructions and publications are searchable by number, prior year forms have their own page, and paper copies can be ordered free by mail or by calling 800-829-3676. Any site that charges for a federal form is not the IRS.
Which IRS form do I need?
It depends on what you are trying to do. Filing or amending a return, reporting income someone else paid you, asking for relief on a balance, and claiming a credit each use a different family of forms. The sections on this page group them by purpose so you can start from the task rather than from the number.
Which forms are used to ask the IRS for relief on a balance?
The collection related ones. Form 9465 requests an installment agreement. Form 656, filed with Form 433-A (OIC) or Form 433-B (OIC), makes an offer in compromise. Form 843 claims a refund or requests an abatement. Form 8857 requests innocent spouse relief. No outcome is guaranteed on any of them; the IRS decides each on the financial facts.
“Wage and income transcript: shows data from information returns we receive such as Forms W-2, 1098, 1099, and 5498.”
IRS, Transcript types and ways to order them
The passage quoted above is from IRS, Transcript types and ways to order them.