When I was little, I used to dream about changing my name. Kelly seemed so completely ordinary. I wanted a grand, dramatic name like Victoria Elizabeth, Eleanor Eugenia, or Tallulah Marie. Something that made people pause. Someday, I thought, I’ll change it.
When I got married, however, I realized how very attached I was to my original name. I didn’t want to change it. I had happily been Kelly Phillips for my entire life and the idea of replacing it with something else seemed weird to me. So rather than drop my last name, I simply added my married name. Easy, right?
Not exactly. While the Social Security Administration was happy to accept my married name, other agencies and institutions were not so thrilled. The name on my driver’s license tends to reflect the whim of whoever is typing that day at the DMV: sometimes with both last names, sometimes not. Sometimes with a hyphen, sometimes without. There’s a certain airline that insists that it cannot list me as anything other than Phillipserb in their system, which tends to make checking in at the airport tremendously fun (hint: that doesn’t match my government-issued ID). And then, there are the many, many folks that believe that I just don’t know how to spell “Erb” and that it simply must be Herb. It is not.
While getting your name wrong on your library card or utility bill can be annoying, it’s rarely anything more than inconvenient. However, getting your name wrong on your tax return is far more than inconvenient: it can delay processing, slow refunds, and subject you to additional scrutiny. That’s why it’s so important for the name on your tax return to match Social Security Administration records.
If your name changes during the year – or if your dependent’s name changes during the year – you must contact the Social Security Administration to record the change. You’ll want to do this before you file your tax return.
You do this by filing a form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card (downloads as a pdf). You can file form SS-5 at your local Social Security Administration office or by mail.
The Social Security Administration is going to insist on original documentation (notarized copies or photocopies which have not been certified by the custodian of the record are not acceptable), so have that handy. If you have to turn over originals, keep clear and legible copies for your own records. If you send original documentation through the mail, be sure to send it certified or some other method that allows for tracking. And do plan ahead: if you send original documentation through the mail, it could take a significant amount of time for it to be returned. If you are going to need to provide that original documentation (for example, your passport) to another agency in the near future, you should apply for a new card in person.
You should also make sure that your employer, financial institutions, mortgage company, student loan lenders, and other agencies have your correct name on file. Things will go a lot more smoothly at tax time if the name on your forms W-2, 1099, 1098, and other tax documents match the name on your tax return.
Finally, if you changed your name during the tax year and you made estimated tax payments during the tax year using your old name, you’ll want to bring this to the attention of the IRS so that your payments are applied properly. The IRS doesn’t have a terribly efficient process for making this change – and you can’t easily do it online. You’ll need to attach a brief statement to the front of your paper tax return (yes, paper) indicating when you made the payments, the amount of each payment, your name when you made the payments, and your Social Security number.
