How Do I Make An Amendment To My Tax Return

What Happens If You File Your Taxes Twice

If you file your taxes twice for the same tax year by mistake, your return will be rejected and sent back to you with an error code and explanation, but you wont be fined for filing twice. Instead, one of the returns will be left, but the other will be accepted and processed. Filing your taxes can be incredibly complicated, and there are a number of reasons why they are.

Why Do I Need To File An Amended Tax Return

You may need to file an amended return to claim a bigger refundor because you owe the IRS more money than you initially thought.

People often file tax return amendments because they forgot to report some income, or have realized they should or shouldnt have claimed certain credits or that they incorrectly claimed dependents, says Curtis, the accounting instructor.

Other common reasons for filing an amended tax return include tax forms like W-2s or 1099s arriving late after you have already filed your return. An amended return is necessary to report any income that was left off your first return.

Tax laws often changetax credits and deductions are often expanded or taken away, notes Daniel Fan, managing director, head of wealth planning at First Foundation Advisors, an Irvine, California-based financial institution.

For example, at the height of the pandemic, in 2021, the child tax credit temporarily increased to $3,600 and included children ages 17 and under.

Is There A Penalty For Filing An Amended Tax Return

Not necessarily. The IRS can charge penalties due to late payments of tax. If your amended return results in you owing a higher amount of taxes, you must pay the additional tax within 21 calendar days after receiving notification from the IRS. The agency also can penalize you for severely understating your income tax in the first place, and it can charge interest on taxes not paid by the original due dateeven if youd been given an extension.

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How To Complete An Amended Return

You can file your amended return electronically, or on paper. If you file electronically, follow the instructions for your software provider.

In either case, make sure to indicate that its an amended return before filling it out.

For paper returns, mark the oval labeled Amended Return. Complete the new return using the corrected information, as if it were the original return. Do not make any adjustments to your amended return to show that you received a refund or paid a balance due with your original return. Attach a complete copy of your federal amended return, if applicable.

If your amended return results in additional tax due, interest must be paid on the tax you owe from the due date on the original return to the date filed or postmarked.

List The Reasons For Filing The Amendment On The Form

• Additional schedules and forms: In some cases, when filing for an amendment, you must use Form 8949 to report incomefromsales and exchanges of capital assets that you previously forgot to include on your return. Schedule D often accompanies this form, which is used to report capital gains or losses.
• Filling out Form 1040X: The form has three columns: column A, column B, and column C. In column A, the number from the original tax return is entered, while the amended number is entered in column C. The difference between the two columns is recorded in column B, resulting in a balance due, tax refund, or no tax change.

If youre unsure as to how to amend taxes already filed, the 1040X form comes with instructions that guide you through the process of filling out the form and exactly where to send it. The taxpayer also needs to list all the changes made to the return. The year for which you are amending the return also needs to be prominently featured on the form. How far back can you amend tax returns? Three years.

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File An Amended Return

• Current: File an Amended Return

Did you make a mistake on your tax return? Dont worry you can file an amended return with the Indiana Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service . Amended Indiana state returns can be filed up to three years after the original due date or the date the tax was paidwhichever is later.

Amending An Individual Income Tax Return

Individual income tax returns from 2009 and forward may be amended electronically through Revenue Online. Filing and amending returns in Revenue Online is a free service. You may amend online even if the original return was filed on paper. Revenue Online has all the information from your original return. You will not need to re-enter everything.

If you cannot amend online, you may file the DR 0104X. Make sure you use the appropriate form version for the year you are amending. If you are changing your Colorado return because the IRS made changes to your federal return, you must file the DR 0104X within 30 days of being notified by the IRS. You must amend your Colorado return in this case, even if there is no net change to your tax liability. It is very important that you submit all schedules and supporting documentation for any changes with your amended return. You must submit all schedules, even if you are not changing those values.

Printable/downloadable forms can be found on the Individual Income Tax Forms web page.

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How Do I Amend My State Tax Return

You can amend your state tax return in two simple steps:

Like the IRS, states typically use a special form for an amended return. Many states also use the X suffix for the form number. Some states allow you to e-file amended returns while others require that you file a paper return.

For example, California uses Schedule X. Other states do not. The Hawaii form, for example, is Schedule AMD.

Don’t forget to attach a copy of your amended federal return to your amended state return, if the state requires it, as is usually the case.

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Disaster Victims Can Amend Return To Deduct Losses

If you’re the victim of a hurricane, wildfire or other natural disaster, you might be able to file an amended tax return to claim a casualty loss deduction for the tax year before the disaster. Alternatively, you can claim the loss in the year of the disaster. You should select whichever tax year is more favorable to you. However, the loss must be attributable to a federally declared disaster that occurred in an area warranting public and/or individual assistance. Otherwise, this special rule doesn’t apply.

If you decide to claim the loss for the year before the disaster, you must file your amended tax return no later than six months after the due date for filing your original return for the year in which the loss took place. So, for example, if the disaster occurred in 2021, and you want to claim your loss on your 2020 return, you should have filed an amended 2020 return by October 15, 2022.

Also note that a personal casualty and theft loss deduction is generally subject to a $100-per-casualty limit. It also can’t exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income, and you have to itemize to claim it.

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To Complete The Amendment Process For Your Federal Return:

If you receive an error when accessing Amend Federal Return that states you must first complete the filing steps prior to amending the return, click the Filing down the left to expand, then click Print Return. You’ll need to go all the way through this process until it actually prints the return . Once you do this, you can click Filing to expand, then click Amend Federal Return to continue.

If you choose to mail Form 1040-X, print the amended return and mail it to the IRS. Attach any required accompanying documents, such as forms created in the return due to the changes made, or any documentation that would support the changes made .

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How Do I Know If I Need To Amend My Tax Return

You can amend your tax return if: There is a change in filing status, income, dependents, credits, or deductions. You are expecting a tax credit or refund. You have to amend within 3 years, after the date you filed your original tax return or within 2 years after the date you paid the tax whichever is later.

How Long Do You Have To Amend A Tax Return

There is a limited amount of time during which taxpayers can file for an amended return and have it accepted by the IRS. So, if you want to receive a tax refund, the amended tax return deadline is:

• No later than three years from the due date for the original tax return.
• Three years from the date on which you filed the return in question.
• Within two years after youve paid your taxes for the year in question.

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Reasons You Need To File An Amended Virginia Income Tax Return

Changes to Your Federal Return

If you or the IRS changes your federal return, youre required to fix or correct your Virginia return to reflect the changes on your federal return within one year of the final determination date of the federal change.

IRS CP2000 Notices & Federal Tax Adjustments

The IRS reports changes to federal returns to Virginia Tax. However, this can happen years after you receive your IRS notice, and interest will continue to accrue on any additional balance due starting from the original due date. To avoid additional interest on any tax due, file your amended Virginia return as soon as you are notified of a change to your federal income tax return by the IRS – dont wait for us to notify you.

You have one year from the resolution of your federal audit to file an amended Virginia return. If you dont file an amended return, or notify us in writing of IRS audit results, we can adjust your return based on the IRS audit findings at any time in the future, which may result in additional tax and interest.

If youre not sure if you need to file an amended Virginia tax return, give us a call.

Changes to Another States Return Affecting Your Virginia Return

If you file an amended return with any other state that affects your Virginia income tax, you must file an amended Virginia return within one year.

Correcting an Error

Submit Your Amended Forms

Beginning with the 2019 tax year, the IRS allows you to e-file amended tax returns if you filed the original return electronically and provided that your tax software supplier supports electronically filing amended returns. To amend a return for 2018 or earlier, you’ll need to print the completed Form 1040-X and any other forms you’re amending. Attach any necessary supporting documentation, such as:

• Any new or amended W-2s or 1099 forms
• Other forms or schedules that changed, such as Schedule A if you updated your itemized deductions
• Any notices that you received from the IRS regarding your amended return

Mail all the forms and documents to the address provided in the instructions or electronically file the return if you are able to.

If amending your tax return results in a higher tax bill, you will need to make an additional tax payment. You can mail a check with the amendment or go online and make a payment at the IRS website after logging into their system. By making a payment now instead of waiting for the IRS to send an invoice, you can minimize the interest and penalties you’ll owe.

Keep in mind that if you file an amended tax return on paper rather the e-filing, it can take the IRS eight weeks or longer to process the amendment. You can check the status of your amended return using the IRS’ Where’s My Amended Return? Wait about three weeks from the date you mailed your return for the information to show up in the IRS system.

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File A Superseding Return If The Filing Deadline Hasn’t Passed

What if you filed your tax return but discover a mistake the very next day? If the filing deadline, including extensions, hasn’t passed, then you don’t want to file an amended tax return. Instead, you can file a “superseding return.” Basically, if you file a second return before the filing deadline, the second return “supersedes” the first return and is treated as the original return.

Say, for example, you filed a 2021 return in February 2022 and, instead of getting a refund, elected to apply your overpayment against your 2022 tax liability. But then you lost your job in March and wanted to get your refund this year. If you filed a superseding return before the , you’ll receive the refund in 2022. It might take a while before the IRS is able to process your superseding return, since they’re behind on tackling paper returns. But this is an example of how, depending upon when you file your superseding return, you may not necessarily have to wait until the next year to benefit from the overpayment.

Take Note: Previously, you could only file a superseding return on a paper Form 1040. But the IRS recently changed that. As of June 2022, a new electronic checkbox has been added to certain tax forms to show that a superseding return is being filed electronically.

If You Must Amend Your Return

If you need to make a change or adjustment on a return already filed, you can file an amended return. Use Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, and follow the instructions.

You should amend your return if you reported certain items incorrectly on the original return, such as filing status, dependents, total income, deductions or credits.

However, you dont have to amend a return because of math errors you made the IRS will correct those. You also usually wont have to file an amended return because you forgot to include forms, such as W-2s or schedules, when you filed the IRS will normally request those forms from you.

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How To File An Amended Return

Taxpayers should use IRS Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to file an amendment. Later, you can check the status of your amended return by going to the tax agencys Wheres My Amended Return? online tool, or by calling 866-464-2050.

You can track the status of amended returns for the current year and up to three prior years. When you check online or call, youll need to prove your identity by entering information, including your taxpayer identification number along with your date of birth and ZIP code.

There are three processing stages of your return: received, adjusted and completed.

You can amend your return by going online to generate a Form 1040-X, which can correct forms 1040, 1040-A, 1040-EZ, 1040-NR or 1040-NR EZ. The online form lets you input your data and download it for submission to the IRS.

If you used one of todays best tax software programs to file your original return, you should be able to use the same product to submit your amendment.

Let The Irs Correct Certain Errors

You don’t need to file an amended return if you discover a simple math or clerical error on your return. The IRS can correct those types of mistakes on its own. Also, if you forgot to attach a particular form or schedule to your tax return, you don’t need to file an amended return to address that. The IRS will contact you by mail if they need additional information to fix those kinds of errors. However, you should file an amended tax return if there’s an issue that changes your filing status, income, deductions, or credits.

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