Tax Planning When Should You Amend Your Tax Return? Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by Jim Wang Published Oct 26, 2011 - [Updated Jul 12, 2019] 4 min read A few years ago, after preparing my taxes, I realized I left off some income I earned that year. As a sole proprietor of a personal finance blog, I would receive several 1099-MISC forms each year from various vendors. A 1099-MISC is to freelancers what a W-2 is to a full time employee( a statement of income that is sent to you and filed with the IRS). I knew that since I left it off, it would only be a matter of time before the IRS checked the numbers and saw a mismatch. The solution? File an amended return. It’s not that uncommon to forget something on your taxes considering how complicated they can be. Perhaps you didn’t record all of your deductions and credits or you entered the wrong filing status. A 1099-INT from one of your banks gets lost in the mail and delivered a few months late? If you make a major mistake, it becomes necessary to file an amended return. Here are some situations that call for filing an amended return: Change in filing status Inaccurate reporting of number of dependents Mistake in reporting your total income Error in figuring deductions and/or credits You e-filed, have one of the above situations, and you received confirmation from the IRS or state taxing agency that your return was accepted There is an exception to the above rules. Let’s say you e-filed your tax return, but it’s rejected and you discover you made a mistake that usually calls for an amendment. If the return is rejected, you can fix the error without an amendment, because the IRS did not accept your return. If you missed the e-file deadline, print and paper file your corrected tax return. Also, be sure to pay attention to your state tax return. In some cases, it may be accepted although the federal tax return was rejected. If that is the case, you will need to amend your state tax return. There is usually no need to file an amended return if you have made a calculation error. Normally, the IRS will fix these minor mistakes (this is most common with paper returns). Additionally, if you forgot to include documentation, such as a W-2 with a paper filed return, the IRS will request the documentation. How to File an Amended Return If you need to file an amended return, you should use Form 1040X. You can file an amended return for multiple years, but you need a separate Form 1040X for each year, and each return should be filed separately. As you fill out the form, understand that Column A should include original figures, and Column C should show the new figures. The difference between the two should be listed in Column B. If you are listing changes on various schedules, such as Schedule A or Schedule C, you will need to include them with your Form 1040X. There is no need to worry about the complicated calculations, TurboTax does the behind the scenes calculations for you when amending your return. When you are claiming an additional refund, you should wait until your original refund arrives before you file your Form 1040X. You can cash your check, but you still should wait until your current tax return is resolved. That way, you know where you stand. In order to qualify for an additional refund, you will need to file within three years from the date of your original return, or within two years of paying your tax (whichever is later). If your mistake resulted in under-paying your taxes, you should file your amended return as soon as you possibly can. The longer you wait to file your 1040X, the more you will pay in interest fees and penalties, if you owe. Unfortunately, there is no way to file your 1040X electronically but this may be offered sometime in the near future. One important thing to remember when amending your tax return is to always keep a copy of your original filed tax return and create an amended tax return from an additional copy. You can correct mistakes on your tax return with the help of an amended return; just make sure you follow proper procedures. For more information on amending your return see Amend a 2010 Tax Return. Previous Post Still Have Tax Debt? The IRS Fresh Start Initiative May… Next Post ‘Tis the Season for Charitable Giving and Tax Deductions Written by Jim Wang More from Jim Wang 221 responses to “When Should You Amend Your Tax Return?” « Older Comments Newer Comments » While filing this year tax return we forgot to include schedule C to FORM 1040 about a dormant company we opened and that never traded. Anyone know how can we amend this? Do we need to file a 1040X form? We are past the deadline of a week. Will we pay a fee? Thanks for any help and indications! Reply Turbo Tax glitch resulted in my return saying yes to ‘I made payments that require a 1099’ and yes to ‘I will send documentation of those payments’. It did it last year and this year too. I am a home daycare provider and did not make any payments requiring a 1099. I called last year and a Turbo Tax rep told me that I did not need to file an amended return because the glitch wasn’t a ‘tax issue’. Is that right? And what can I do to change this going forward? Reply I know this is so last minute but I’m freaking out. My husband & I e-filed married jointly on TT and thought we were able to claim our 21 year old as a qualified dependent because he made less than $3800.00. We’re getting a refund of $120.00 (F&S). I e-filed my son’s taxes on TT but as single, not a student and someone else can claim him (he’s getting a refund). All of this would have been perfect until I found another W-2 for him causing him to make more than $3800.00. His federal was accepted / state is still processing. Our federal and state were both accepted. Nobody has received a refund amount as we only just filed today (I work a lot and husband is over the road driver). I’d like to change my son’s returns right now because of the missed W-2 or do I have to wait until he gets his refund? I will have to wait to amend ours because I know that we’ll owe and I won’t have the money until later this week. Will I have to wait for our refund as well or can I amend it sooner? It was an honest mistake and I’m sick over it. Thank you so much in advance. Reply I filed my son’s return and said that no one is declaring him a dependent. He has already received his refunds. Now, in doing my taxes, I see that I can still claim him and need to do so (and did do so). Should I go in and amend his return now? Does Turbo Tax charge you again for this? Can I do it on TT and not pay? Plus, I see that I forgot to add income of $2K which was a withdrawal from my IRA. Should I wait for my refund and then amend? Do I use 1040X? Thanks. Reply I have exiled my return and as soon as I hit submit I realized I typed the wrong state tax withheld on a 1099 as 2400 instead of 240. What should I do? This reduces my refund amount greatly. Reply my son wrote the wrong amount of tax from the tax table, which resulted in lesser refund. Will he file an amendment return or the IRS can detect the mistake and automatically sen the correct refund? Reply My son wrote the wrong amount of tax from the tax table, which resulted for a lesser refund. Does he need to file an amendment or will the IRS fix the computation? Reply I made a mistake on my federal taxes (something I thought I could deduct that I really can’t). That resulted in my getting a refund from both federal and state. I already received the federal refund and my state still says processing on the state’s website. Should I file an amendment now? Both returns were ‘accepted’ after I e-filed. Thanks. Reply I already filed my 2012 Federal and State online and they were both accepted. I owe a large amount to Federal and received a small state refund. (I have not paid Federal amount yet.) I later realized that I should be able to make an IRA contribution and reduce the amount I owe on Federal by that amount. I think I should be able to amend my Federal and probably the State tax forms. I haven’t seen any questions about this. Do you see any problems with I am thinking about doing? Reply I e-filed and then realized I forgot to include the last half of my Roth conversion from 2010. I recalculated my taxes and it appears adding this amount to AGI will not change my taxable income. Do I still need to do an amended return? Reply « Older Comments Newer Comments » Leave a ReplyCancel reply Browse Related Articles Tax Tips What Is a 1099 Form? Reporting Your Income for Taxes Self-Employed 1099-MISC vs 1099-NEC vs 1099-K: Understanding the Differences Life How to File Taxes with a Missing W-2 Self-Employed What is the Form 1099-NEC? Tax Tips 1098 vs 1099 forms Explained (Difference Between These Tax Forms) Investments Dividends and Taxes: An Intro Guide Self-Employed 1040 vs 1099 Forms: What’s the Difference? Self-Employed How to File Self-Employment Taxes (Understanding the Forms & Process) Income and Investments What is an IRS 1099 Form? 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While filing this year tax return we forgot to include schedule C to FORM 1040 about a dormant company we opened and that never traded. Anyone know how can we amend this? Do we need to file a 1040X form? We are past the deadline of a week. Will we pay a fee? Thanks for any help and indications! Reply
Turbo Tax glitch resulted in my return saying yes to ‘I made payments that require a 1099’ and yes to ‘I will send documentation of those payments’. It did it last year and this year too. I am a home daycare provider and did not make any payments requiring a 1099. I called last year and a Turbo Tax rep told me that I did not need to file an amended return because the glitch wasn’t a ‘tax issue’. Is that right? And what can I do to change this going forward? Reply
I know this is so last minute but I’m freaking out. My husband & I e-filed married jointly on TT and thought we were able to claim our 21 year old as a qualified dependent because he made less than $3800.00. We’re getting a refund of $120.00 (F&S). I e-filed my son’s taxes on TT but as single, not a student and someone else can claim him (he’s getting a refund). All of this would have been perfect until I found another W-2 for him causing him to make more than $3800.00. His federal was accepted / state is still processing. Our federal and state were both accepted. Nobody has received a refund amount as we only just filed today (I work a lot and husband is over the road driver). I’d like to change my son’s returns right now because of the missed W-2 or do I have to wait until he gets his refund? I will have to wait to amend ours because I know that we’ll owe and I won’t have the money until later this week. Will I have to wait for our refund as well or can I amend it sooner? It was an honest mistake and I’m sick over it. Thank you so much in advance. Reply
I filed my son’s return and said that no one is declaring him a dependent. He has already received his refunds. Now, in doing my taxes, I see that I can still claim him and need to do so (and did do so). Should I go in and amend his return now? Does Turbo Tax charge you again for this? Can I do it on TT and not pay? Plus, I see that I forgot to add income of $2K which was a withdrawal from my IRA. Should I wait for my refund and then amend? Do I use 1040X? Thanks. Reply
I have exiled my return and as soon as I hit submit I realized I typed the wrong state tax withheld on a 1099 as 2400 instead of 240. What should I do? This reduces my refund amount greatly. Reply
my son wrote the wrong amount of tax from the tax table, which resulted in lesser refund. Will he file an amendment return or the IRS can detect the mistake and automatically sen the correct refund? Reply
My son wrote the wrong amount of tax from the tax table, which resulted for a lesser refund. Does he need to file an amendment or will the IRS fix the computation? Reply
I made a mistake on my federal taxes (something I thought I could deduct that I really can’t). That resulted in my getting a refund from both federal and state. I already received the federal refund and my state still says processing on the state’s website. Should I file an amendment now? Both returns were ‘accepted’ after I e-filed. Thanks. Reply
I already filed my 2012 Federal and State online and they were both accepted. I owe a large amount to Federal and received a small state refund. (I have not paid Federal amount yet.) I later realized that I should be able to make an IRA contribution and reduce the amount I owe on Federal by that amount. I think I should be able to amend my Federal and probably the State tax forms. I haven’t seen any questions about this. Do you see any problems with I am thinking about doing? Reply
I e-filed and then realized I forgot to include the last half of my Roth conversion from 2010. I recalculated my taxes and it appears adding this amount to AGI will not change my taxable income. Do I still need to do an amended return? Reply