When you have a tax “oops” you fix it by filing an Amended Tax Return, form 1040X.
Mistakes happen. You file your return and later get a W2 in the mail for a job you had forgotten about. Maybe your investment firm sent you an amended 1099 because your interest income they reported was wrong. Or maybe you were talking to a friend and learned about a deduction that you should have been claiming for the past three years and you’d like a refund. What do you do?
It’s easy, you need to file an amended return, the form is called a 1040X and you can find it on the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040x.pdf.
An amended return can’t be filed electronically like a regular return. You must mail it in and it’s going to take about 12 weeks to process. That’s a bummer if you’re expecting a refund, but that’s the way it works. If your regular return had a refund, make sure you wait until you’ve received the first refund before you file the amended return. (If they start processing the amended return before your original refund gets paid, it can mess up you getting the original refund. You don’t want that to happen now do you?)
If you have more than one tax return that needs to be amended, you must file separate returns for each year and mail them in separate envelopes. For example, say you found out that you had missed a $1000 deduction on your Schedule A every year and you’re in the 25% tax bracket. You can’t just put $3000 on this year’s return for a $750 refund. You’ll have to amend 2010, 2009, and 2008 separately and you’ll receive three checks for $250 each. It’s too late now to claim a refund that should have gone on 2007.
When you amend your tax return, you’ll have to send in the schedules of anything that changed. In the example above, the thing that changed was on the schedule A, so that form would also have to be attached. Don’t attach any forms that didn’t change. Warning: for many folks, a change in one part of your tax return can cause a change somewhere else-most notably on your schedule A. Before you actually mail anything in, go over it carefully to see if you have any unexpected changes.
When you file a 1040X, make sure you check the box for the tax year that you’re amending. That’s a pretty common mistake. The IRS can’t process the return if they don’t know what year it’s for.
When not to file an amended return: You don’t need to file an amended return for a basic math mistake. The IRS will automatically fix that for you. You also don’t need to file an amended return if your original was missing a schedule. That’s where you get a letter from the IRS saying that you claimed something on your return but that you’re missing the supporting documents. A common example of that would be a capital gain of $2000 on your return, but there’s no schedule D to back it up. You don’t need to amend the return, just mail them the schedule D. The IRS will ask you for whatever schedule they’re looking for, you won’t have to guess at what’s missing.
I’ve talked a lot about filing an amended return because of a refund. Sometimes when you file an amended return you’re going to owe. If you have a balance due, mail the payment check with your 1040X. The IRS will probably send you a bill for interest and maybe even penalties depending upon how much you owed. Be prepared for that.
Often times, people are thinking about filing amended returns because they received an IRS letter. Sometimes, you don’t need to amend, just pay the tax. Sometimes, you really need to amend because you shouldn’t have to pay the tax but you need to submit more information. Sometimes, you don’t need to amend and you don’t need to pay the tax—the IRS made a mistake and they just need to have it pointed out to them. Before you start writing that check, get a professional opinion–you want to pay your fair share, not more than you owe.
I was reviewing our income tax docs and noticed our preparer left out one of two W2s, it was for 17000.00, What do we do?! Sorry for the typo…furious! Help, pls!
Hi Rebecca,
Here’s a different post for you to read: http://robergtaxsolutions.com/2011/05/summer-jobs-for-teens-babysitting-and-lawn-mowing/
I’m not implying that you’re a teenager, but the information in there about babysitting might help ease your mind about that babysitting income. My guess is that your H&R Block person might have been right about putting the babysitting as “other income” and you probably have nothing to worry about.
But–when an H&R Block person does taxes for you on a program that is not an H&R Block product–that’s always a little suspect. Although I believe she was doing you a favor, I’m sure her employers would disagree.
Hi Gordon,
You left the federal tax that you paid out of your tax return. That’s one that the IRS may eventually catch, but it could take them up to two years to find it. It’s not really considered a “math error”.
So, check your refund. Did you get a corrected amount? Have you seen a letter from the IRS yet? If not, go ahead and do the amendment. Better to claim your money now than to wait and see if they catch the error.
Hi Kehua You,
Your husband was on an F1 Visa and received an H1 Visa in October. You are still on an F Visa. You already filed your taxes separately and mailed them to Austin. That’s fine. Your husband may still be a non-resident for 2012. He will definitely have to file as a resident in 2013.
Even if you still retain your F status, you may elect to claim US residency and file with your husband in 2013. This may be a good status for you to claim. It depends upon you and your husband’s income levels and what treaty agreements the US has with the country you come from. For some people, it may be better to retain their non-residency status. You will need to sit down and go over the numbers together to determine what is best for you.
But for 2012, you are still both considered “non-residents” because your F status is like you are out of the country.
Hi Gerbay,
Wow, you’ve got a couple of things going on.
First–you’ve got the whole issue of your employer paying you $18 an hour and then saying that you only get $8 and the rest of the money is tips. That could mess you up royally. Is he paying your social security and medicare tax on your tips? If not, then you’re going to pay that.
How do you check? It’s math, but it’s not too bad. Here’s how. See the number in box 1? That’s your wages. The number in box 7 is your tips. Add those two numbers together. Take that number and multiply it by .042. That should be the number in box 4. If that works out that way, well there’s one less problem to worry about.
Now, about the worker’s compensation–that’s more of a state issue than a federal one. The hard part here is–if you report the employer, you can guarantee that you’ll lose that job. It’s a hard choice. You know the employer is doing wrong–but who’s going to suffer more? You or him? Only you can decide that issue.
Now, about being an employee–yes and no. Some of your jobs are being paid as a 1099 employee. That makes you an independent contractor. You will need to file a Schedule C for self employment, and a schedule SE to your self employment taxes.
Be sure to write off any expenses that you can claim. Do you have to wear a uniform? What did you pay for the uniforms? Do you clean them? Of course. Cleaning your uniforms is also a deduction.
Not many write offs, you’re right. But make sure you do take whatever you can.
I recommend using a computer software program. (There’s one on this website and plenty of others.) It will be much easier for you when you have so many issues. Good luck.
@Tom Amsberry,
Gee Thanks!
Hi Margaret D,
You one of the digits of your uncle’s Social Security number is wrong on his tax return. Most likely, that return is sitting in a trash can at the IRS. It’s possible that he’ll get a letter, but most likely, it went into the circular file. Follow up by checking the where’s my refund site. If there’s no refund coming, call, to see if it has been received and processed. If not, you’ll need to refile. I’m 99% positive you’ll have to refile.
Hi Cheese Danish,
Okay so first you should get a prize for the best screen name. Love cheese Danish.
Anyway–when you filed you got a refund but on your amended return you owe. My first thought is to look at your amended return. Look at line 17–it says overpayment as shown on original return. The refund you received should be listed there. If it is, then you should just pay the amount on line 18.
Hi Christina,
You filed your return and all the information was wrong. Your explanation in the explanation box should be that you had a software malfunction. You won’t be the only person making that claim this year. You’re definitely not alone.
Hi Jade,
you accidentally had your refund applied to your 2013 estimated taxes and want to change it back. Sorry, but I don’t know how change that. If anyone has had some success with that, please comment. Thanks.
Hi Daniel,
You filed a 1040X and realized there was still a mistake and you want to file another 1040X. Yes, you can do that, but make sure you wait until the first 1040X has been completely processed. Then file the new amendment. Make sure you explain what happened in the explanations box. Also, triple check your return before you send it in. You really don’t want to amend three times.
Hi Joy,
Since you’re working with the bank, ask the bank what they want. Are your 1099g forms for tax refunds or for unemployment? That could make a difference to the bank. But talk to your mortgage person, she’ll be the right one to talk to.
Hi Debbie,
I’m confused too. I think your best bet would be to contact the IRS directly. I’d just be playing a guessing game and you deserve a better answer than that.
When you call–1 800 829-1040, don’t push the button to find out about your refund, you want to talk to a human. Hold on until you get to a human to talk to, it’s the only way you’ll get a decent answer.
Hi Mike,
So you had the wrong number in the proceeds from sales box. Now even though it won’t affect your tax, if you don’t do the amendment, you might still get a letter from the IRS because your documents won’t match.
The document matching program is just that, the information on your tax return is matched against what is provided to the IRS by your sources (employers, stock companies, banks, etc.)
Even though it won’t change your taxes, it’s worth doing the amendment now, just to avoid getting a letter two years later when you’ve forgotten what you did.
Hello International Student,
If you have a social security number, you should be using it on all of your tax documents.
Hi. I filed my first tax return with hr block online and realize I could reduce my taxes if I contributed to a traditional ira. So I did and filed a 1040x with hrblock online. The website gave me instructions to mail my 1040x to the IRS but for my California return it says mailing address check list is not applicable. The site says I am getting a refund from California … Shouldn’t I need to file the 540x to tell California ?
My husband and I filed Married Filing Separately this year because I had a large tax debt, and he didn’t.
He filed his taxes in February, and already got his refund.
When I E-Filed my taxes, it was rejected because he had mistakenly claimed “the exemption for your non-working spouse” in the tax software we used.
At this point, is it better for me to mail in my taxes and let the IRS sort this out, or should he file an amended return while I mail mine in?
Hello,
First of all, thank you very much for answering our questions.
Couple weeks ago an authorized person prepared my federal taxes and e-filed them, but she made a mistake, she attached 2106 EZ and said I have unreimbursed employee business expenses during my relocation, but I was reimbursed for everything. I realized that attachment after I came home. I know that I need to do an amendment now to correct this, but I don’t want to go to her again. Can I do the amendment by myself? or do I have to go to her for amendment since she prepared them initially? Also, can I do the amendment before April 15th, or not?
I really appreciate your help.
Pam
Hi, I just filed my 2012 Tax Return via Turbo Tax two days ago and sent my payment as well. Just today I recived a 1099 R. Can I just wait for the notification from the IRS as to the balance I still owe then mail my payment from there? Or is there a better process for this.
Thanks in advance.
Bono
Hi Jan,
I missed a 1099 in my 2011 tax return and received a letter from the IRS that I owed money for the return. I filed an amended return along with all the documentation required to settle the balance and now show an additional return of $900. However, since you have to mail in the amendment, it isn’t showing that it has been received yet. My question is: I have efiled my 2012 tax return and am expecting a refund. Will they give me the refund event though my amended return for the previous year (which originally showed I owed money) is still processing?
We printed out my son’s completed online tax preparer’s 1040X (changing himself to NOT be his own dependent…so I can claim head of household and him as “Qualifying Relative”) The 1040EZ form also printed at the same time? He had already filed his 1040EZ, (income less than $2,000) and got a small refund in the mail. He will be filing the 1040X, enclosing a check for the return amount. There are no supporting documents that I can think of BUT, does he need to also attach the original 1040EZ?
Hi Jan,
Thank you for a wonderful resource. I filed my taxes and owed 24k in taxes because my preparer missed some cost basis information. It was efiled with the mistake. After the corrections/1040x were made, I only owe 10k. Should I send the full 24k then wait for them to refund it or can I just net out the difference and only send the 10k payment?
good evening,
my husband was a sole proprietor in 2010 and 2012 and received 1099’s. in 2011 he worked and got a w2, so there wasnt a 1099 that year. well on my return i forgot to check the box on line h on schedule c. where it says to check box if u didnt submit schedule c in 2011. is this gonna be an issue
Hi Jan,
I have filed 1040X and CA 540X for TY2011 2 days back. There was no change to my federal tax owed though I reduced my property tax deduction. However, I had received a refund from the state based on the original return. Upon amending the state, I now owed the state (part of the refund) and have sent a check with the CA 540X (plus amended federal return etc.). For TY2012, on Form 1040 Line 10, should I report the state tax refund
(a) I actually received in 2012 (reported on 1099-G) or
(b) I would have received had I not made the mistake in deductions when I had originally filed for TY2011. This would be (a) minus the amount of check that I have just mailed to the state.
Thank you for your valuable feedback!
Last year, 2011, I went to H&R block to get my taxes done with a W2 and an extra income from babysitting but I hadn’t received any paperwork for the second job. Getting my taxes done at H&R block was going to be far too expensive on my income as they charge per form so the woman was nice enough to fill it out via turbo tax. Unfortunately, it seems she put the babysitting money as “extra money” or something instead of a Schedule C but I didn’t realize it until I was going over everything for my taxes this year (I plead sincere ignorance)!! I got a refund last year of a few hundred dollars and now I’m petrified of interest and what they are going to do in general.
What do I do? File an amend? Schedule C for business tax?
I e-filed my tax return using Turbo Tax and it was accepted by the IRS a week and a half ago. I was looking over my paperwork tonight and realized that when filing out the W2 information, I mistakenly left the Fed income tax withheld, social security tax withheld, and medicare tax withheld boxes blank. I paid the taxes, the info is on the W2, but for some reason I left them blank when doing the return, and it was not something that Turbo Tax reported as an error when doing a review error check.
Adding in the amount for the withheld taxes increases my refund due. My question is if this is something that the IRS would consider a “math error” and will catch themselves, as the info is correct on the actual W2, or is it something I need to file an amended return for? Thanks!
Hi, I have two questions to ask.
First, My husband and I are both Asian people. We came to study in America with F visa in 2008. Since then, my husband has never left America. He transferred to H1B visa status last October. So is he a resident or non-resident for tax purpose?
Second, I have already sent my tax return form to Austin office without my husband. Now I want to refile it with my husband jointly as married. But he lives in north carolina and I lives in Texas. Where should we send the our tax return form and my 1040X form? To Austin or Kansas?
Thanks a lot for your help.
Hello Jan,
Thank you for all the good job you are doing by providing us with great information!
I have a BIG problem and not sure as to how to resolve it, here it is:
I live in CA. work as a Catering Server for different Catering companies, for a couple companies I’m a 1099 and it’s ok, I got the 1099 Misc form, however, for the rest of the companies (4) I’m an employee (w4) and got the W2’s but most of them show no federal or state withholding deductions, or just very minimum like 1 company deducted only .50 cents for State and $16 for federal out of $5200. But going back and reviewing my paystubs this particular company pays me $18/hr and no tips, but yet on my paystubs shows that she pays me $8/hr plus tips which are reported against my wages. I have contacted her about this situation but the answer that she gave me was that she was doing it this way for worker’s compensation purposes. Now, I need to file my taxes and am afraid to do so because I think I owe a lot of money plus penalties.
Is there any advice to follow from you? Beside, contacting the IRS and letting them know about this company, what else is there for me to do?
Also, what forms do I need to file? I do file my own taxes, but not sure as to what forms to use, I know I can’t itemize because I am an employee not a independent contractor and really don’t have that much to itemized other than miles.
Please help!!!
Jan,
I didn’t realize you were such a wealth of info. Thanks for sharing it! You are a great resource.
Thanks, too, for your assistance to me last year.
Take Care,
Tom Amsberry, CPA
I did my uncle’s 2011 tax return by mail . I just noticed one digit on his Social Security number was wrong. Should he have received a letter from the IRS or with the documents of his reported interest enclosed IRS noticed the error and corrected it.
Hi Jan,
My wife & I incorrectly e-filed (first year filing jointly) our 2012 taxes a month ago and got a direct-deposit refund. Turns out, we actually owe money and so had a professional prepare a 1040x for us which we need to snail-mail off.
Question: how do we send back the incorrect refund which was already deposited directly into our accounts? Should we write a check for that incorrect amount to send along w/ our 1040x (along w/ the actual amount owed)? Or is there a separate process for sending back IRS money that doesn’t belong to us?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Hi Jan,
I used a popular tax software to do our taxes. I knew we would owe before i even started. I went ahead and deleted old information out and added new as i went along (Last year was itemized and this year was just standard deductions.) i completed the return, and reviewed it and all was showing we owed. So i submitted it on 03/12/13 I then printed it 3 days later, and our ENTIRE Return is wrong other than the w-2’s I entered. I called the company and they told me to amend my return and they cant explain why my information didnt save. I’m in a complete panic now, because the entire return is wrong, it shows i’m getting a refund, when we actually owe. how do i explain to the irs and nys why i’m amending an entire return? and will this trigger an audit HELP HELP HELP!
Hi Jan,
When I e-file my Wisconsin state taxes I managed to fill in the wrong line for my refund. I filled in the line that says to apply my 2012 refund to my 2013 estimated taxes. Instead, I’d like to direct deposit my refund into a bank account. Is there a way to change this information? I’ve tried filling out an amended form (2012 Form 1X) and it keeps tell me the amount I owe &/or will be refunded is “$0.00” – presumably because it shows I’ve already been refunded the amount. Is there a way I can change this?
Many thanks!
I recently sent an 1040x form in and i notice it was incorrect about the rental property i sold. I though i had got corrected the first time but i didnt understand what the cpa was explaining to me. can i send another 1040x form to get problem
Hello
I’m applying for a mortgage and when I sent them my taxes I later discovered that I forgot to file a 1099-g for the beginning of 2011 and for 2009.Also I was looking the 4506t form and the bank wants 1099s from those years, but they only asked for the taxes for 2012 and 2011. Should I tell the bank or wait for them to contact me.
So I filled my amended taxes feb 22 2013 and I am supposed to receive a difference of 5144.00 and today I received a check for 3963.00 from the dept of treasury today is only march 21 2013 when i check my wheres my amended tax return on the website it still says its only been received not adjusted or completed and I have already received the other part of the balance before I even filled my amended taxes. What is this check that I got. Very confused. Also when I check the status of wheres my amended refund on irs.gov it says my amended tax return is 2011, but when I look at my copies I have of my amended return it is done properly with the right 2012 date. I had a tax pro do my 1040 x paper work. All I did was send it in. Please help I am very confused as to what is going on.
Hi Tara,
You need to file an amended return. I can’t tell if you’ll owe or not–it depends upon your withholding. Most likely you’ll owe–but I could easily be wrong.
You can’t just put it on your next year’s return. Sorry.
Hi Neeka,
It sounds like you and your ex want to do what’s best. So, you should sign an 8332 for him to claim your child for the dependency exemption and child tax credit. You’ll want to keep your child on your return for head of household and EIC. (At least, I’m guessing that you have custody).
It may make sense to make these changes and file your returns together. You put your return in one envelope. He puts his return in another. And you put both of the envelopes in a big envelope and mail them together. That way the IRS knows you’re doing this together and that your amendments go together.
That’s the best way.
If he’s not cooperative–that’s another story. You can do your part all by yourself–then at least you’ve done your part.
Hi Peter,
I would give it a few weeks and see if your return gets processed. If you don’t see a refund within a few weeks, I’d call and follow up to see if they recieved and processed the return.
You name is on the front of the return–so it might be okay. But you never know. Just make sure you follow up. If they didn’t process you return, then you won’t be amending, you’ll just be resubmitting with your name on all he pages.
Hi Jan, it’s great how you help people out. Shortly after e-filing I noticed that I had entered the cost basis on a 1099B into both the sales proceeds and cost basis boxes, resulting in a $0 cap. gains. (long term). Cap gains were actually $908. However, due to my tax bracket the gains are not taxed, so it had no effect on what I owed the IRS. Should I file an amended return?
Hi!
I’m an international student and every year I fill out the Form 8843.
However, because of an internship I have just got I also got a social security number.
Today I sent my Form 8843, but I forgot to include the social security number. What can I do? Should I worry about it?
Thanks!
Hi. I filed my taxes on Turbotax I’ve received my refund but I forgot to file one of my w2 for about $2,300. I need to do the amended do you think I will owe money back or get something back? And will it be okay if I don’t amended it this year and just file it for next year? Or is it something I have to do ASAP
Hi, I have a serious dilemma. I just recently filed my son as a dependent on my taxes. Problem is I didn’t know that his father had too. When I went to try to get help on it, I was told that I was supposed to sign a w8332 for him if he was going to carry our son.he didn’t know anything about it and the lady h&r never mentioned it. I really don’t want neither of us to be in trouble. What should we do?
Hi Jan, thanks for a great site.
I think our situation is quite simple. Basically, my question is about the State Form 1. We filled it properly with my wife, all numbers add up and all our details are correct (names, SSN etc.) The only thing I just realized is that on pages 2-4 of Form 1 we left the Name: and SSN: at the very top blank, although they are present on page 1 of Form 1 (both our names and our correct SSNs). We did not e-file but did a paper return.
So we sent all the correct documents, all is OK except that on Form 1 pp. 2-4 the Name: and SSN: entries at the VERY top are left blank. We both missed them because they seem to be outside the margin space. Oh well.
Do you think we need to do anything about it?
Hi Christi H–
The mistake of putting too many zeros is really common. Really! It happens all the time. So don’t feel so bad.
Amend your return, add the extra income and take the standard deduction. (Make sure that’s what you should do–maybe itemizing is best, just not too many zeros.)
When you amend your return before April 15th it won’t go on your permanent record. (Do I sound like an old school teacher? Sorry.) But, your tax record will show the corrected return and not that there was a mistake.
Hey Kathy O–
A couple of thoughts for you. One–you might want to go to your H&R Block’s district manager and have one of their EAs go over your taxes to make sure they’re right. You have spent a lot of money and they should back up their work.
If they won’t cooperate, try finding an enrolled agent in your area. Here’s a link to find someone near you: https://portal.naeacentral.org/webportal/buyersguide/professionalsearch.aspx
It just seems a little strange that they’ve been off by $3,000 on a couple of occassions. They should at least be able to explain what the problem was so that you don’t get into that situation again.
Okay thanks so much for your input. I have totally screwed up our taxes. I’m out if state and flew home for a few days to do my taxes with my husband. He had entered all of our information and w2s. I just went in and added credits and adjustments. After all the credits hr block online said we should take the itemized deductions it was 27000 but I think I put in too many zeros because that seems like an awful lot because we only made 36000 last year. I should have just used the standard but didn’t. Anyway I’m afraid I somehow put too many deductions I wasn’t entitled too. Also after printing realized my husband didn’t put his 3,000 cash income for grass cutting, he is unemployed but did make a little doing yardwork. Can I file an amended and just take the standard deduction instead of the itemized and add his income? I’m so confused and scared, I don’t want to be audited or face jail time because of a silly mistake. Our refund is due tomorrow.
Hi,
Thanks for your response. I figured that they would keep the taxes owed. We did not owe any money in 2010, we got a small refund actually. So this has me really confused. We both work regular jobs and each have one w-2 each. We have three children, nothing complicated. So this is where my frustration lies…I still don’t understand why we paid someone (a good amount of money) to do our taxes and still, they consistently have not done them correctly. There is nothing we could have possibly “hidden” or tried to “slide by or through”. Will the IRS give us an explanation? They haven’t in the past, but I’m hoping they will this time because it’s really put us in tough position financially. I will never use HR Block again, I know it sounds like I’m pointing a finger, but it really just doesn’t seem fair. I’m so frustrated and upset about this and trying to keep a straight mind about it, but can’t. Thank you for your advice though, it confirmed things for me so that now I will know what I am forced to deal with. Thanks again.
@Kris,
If the state agency tells you to call a live agent you need to do it. It could be anything, but past court costs could be the issue.
At Kristi,
if you’re trying to amned, try using computer software. It’s usually easier than looking things up in tables.