Reject Code IND-031-04

When filing your federal income tax return electronically, there are bound to be errors and rejections. Due to COVID-19, there has been plenty of tax changes and some taxpayers may see issues on their returns. Overcoming these problems is easy as the IRS has a rejection code for every possible reason. One of the most commonly came across rejection codes, IND-031-04 is about your adjusted gross income. In particular, the previous year’s adjusted gross income.

On your return, the IRS wants you to enter the previous year’s adjusted gross income for figuring out your eligibility for the stimulus payments. After everything is said and done, you might see the IND-031-04 error. This mostly means adjusted gross income is incorrect but you might still get it even though your AGI is correct. Just like any other reject code though, there is a solution to overcome this error.

Solution to IND-031-04

Head over to the File menu and get to the screen that asks you if you’ve filed your previous year’s tax return. Answer as yes or not, then follow up with the Continue button. Now, go back to filing your return and your issue will be resolved. 

Taxpayers that still get this error after doing the above can enter their adjusted gross income as ‘0’ and re-file the tax return. There is another option though and that is to answer as you didn’t file a tax return last year. 

As for why you’re getting this error is due to the contradiction of the adjusted gross income with what you enter and what the IRS stores in their information base at the time. If you don’t know your adjusted gross income, take a look at your account and you’ll locate it. Another way to do it is by looking at Line 8b of Form 1040. In either way, you’ll be able to see your correct adjusted gross income.