Amended Tax Returns

Filing an amended tax return is far from uncommon. In 2018, 3,500,000 were filed with the IRS. Amended tax returns are often needed for a large number of wide-ranging reasons. Some of the more common ones include receiving a late Form 1099 or a late Schedule K-1 or any other relevant information after your tax return was filed. Or, the cause for amending may be as simple as a math error which was not discovered until a later date. Keep in mind, that filing an amended return with the IRS often prompts filing amended returns for other tax entities such as your state, city and school district. For the most part today, these tax entities are linked. So, if an amended return is filed with the IRS – the other tax entities are notified of that change. So, they are now expecting an amended return as well. Not filing it with them usually prompts some nasty correspondence. Refunds created from filing amended returns are often a pleasant surprise; not so much fun if they cause a tax balance due. Many tax entities limit the time for which a refund claim may be filed. The IRS says the amended return for a refund must generally be filed within three years after the date the original return was filed or within two years after the date the tax was paid whichever is later. 

An article, If You Want to File an Amended Tax Return, authored by Tom Herman as published in the WSJ on September 14, 2020 follows.


                                     -Mark Bradstreet


Much to their chagrin, millions of taxpayers each year discover significant errors, omissions and other miscues on returns they already have filed.

Mastering all the details of knowing how to handle problems such as these can be surprisingly tricky. But the Internal Revenue Service recently took an important step toward making the process of filing an amended federal income-tax return easier.

Until recently, taxpayers who wanted to amend their federal income-tax return had to file Form 1040-X the old-fashioned paper way—even if they had filed their original return electronically. Then, in August, the IRS reversed course and said taxpayers generally can file amended returns electronically for last year with tax-preparation software.

“This is a significant and a very welcome development,” says Stephen W. DeFilippis, owner of DeFilippis Financial Group, a wealth-management and tax firm in Wheaton, Ill., and an enrolled agent (a tax specialist authorized to represent taxpayers at all levels of the IRS). This will make the amending process “easier for everyone: taxpayers, practitioners and the IRS,” he says.

“E-filed returns are generally processed faster, more efficiently and contain fewer errors than paper-filed returns,” says Alison Flores, principal tax research analyst at the Tax Institute at H&R Block Inc. “Similar results are likely to extend to Form 1040-X.” She says H&R Block has already begun e-filing amended returns for customers.

The IRS received nearly 3.5 million amended income-tax returns in 2018.

The e-filing option is also a timely change. Because of the coronavirus pandemic and other issues, IRS workers have been struggling to open and process unusually large mountains of mail. But it remains to be seen how much this new e-filing option will affect how long it takes for the IRS to respond to amended returns. The waiting time can vary significantly based on the facts, circumstances and complexity of each taxpayer’s situation.

As with so many tax issues, there are important exceptions and other fine print to consider for amended returns, filed electronically or on paper. If you’re planning to make amends, here are a few points to consider:

Limited scope
At this stage, the e-filing option for amended returns applies only for Forms 1040 and 1040-SR for the 2019 tax year. “Additional improvements are planned for the future,” the IRS said. Also, only taxpayers who e-filed their original Form 1040 or 1040-SR for 2019 can e-file an amended return, notes Ms. Flores of H&R Block.

Taxpayers who want to amend returns for more than one tax year must file for each year separately, says Eric Smith, an IRS spokesman. “So, for example, if you are amending multiple years and one of them is 2019, we urge you to e-file for 2019 and then send separate 1040-X forms” in separate envelopes for each of the other years, he says. “However, you decide to send it, it’s a good idea to keep any receipt or other evidence you do have that it was sent, whether it’s through one of the mailing or shipping options offered by the U.S. Postal Service or one of the authorized private delivery services,” he adds. “Also, be sure to keep a copy of your return.”

For refunds claimed in amended returns filed electronically, as with the paper 1040-X form, “we don’t currently offer direct deposit, but that’s one of the further enhancements we hope to make in the future,” Mr. Smith says.

Time limits
Generally, to claim a refund, you must file Form 1040-X “within three years after the date you filed your original return or within two years after the date you paid the tax, whichever is later,” regardless of how you file, the IRS says. “Returns filed before the due date (without regard to extensions) are considered filed on the due date, and withholding is deemed to be tax paid on the due date.”

But there are special rules for “refund claims relating to net operating losses, foreign tax credits, bad debts, and other issues.” For example, the IRS says a Form 1040-X based on a “bad debt or worthless security” generally must be filed “within seven years after the due date of the return for the tax year in which the debt or security became worthless.”

Common flubs
Among the classic reasons for amending: You forgot to include taxable income. You didn’t realize you were eligible for various credits, deductions or other valuable breaks. You claimed breaks you now realize you weren’t entitled to take. You need to correct your tax-filing status, or perhaps you received new information from a partnership or a financial institution that differs significantly from what you originally were told.

Another possible reason is that you were affected by a natural disaster in a place later designated as a federally declared disaster area. In such cases, victims have the option of claiming unreimbursed casualty losses for the year in which the disaster occurred—or on the previous year’s return (which typically would mean amending the return for that year).

For example, those who suffered losses from Hurricane Laura or California wildfires this year could deduct those losses on their returns for 2020 or 2019, whichever works out better. The Federal Emergency Management Agency provides a list of disaster declarations.

Some people also may benefit from several tax laws enacted near the end of 2019 that could affect their returns for prior tax years.

Other considerations
Some errors don’t require an amended return. The IRS says it may correct math or clerical errors on a return and even accept returns filed “without certain required forms or schedules.”

There are other circumstances when you shouldn’t file Form 1040-X. For example, the IRS says you shouldn’t amend to ask for “a refund of penalties and interest that you have already paid.” Instead, file Form 843.

In certain other cases, such as where criminal issues might be involved, consider consulting a skilled tax pro.

Lastly, if you amend your federal return, check to see whether you also may need to amend state tax returns and how to do so.

Thank you for all of your questions, comments and suggestions for future topics. As always, they are much appreciated. We also welcome and appreciate anyone who wishes to write a Tax Tip of the Week for our consideration. We may be reached in our Dayton office at 937-436-3133 or in our Xenia office at 937-372-3504. Or, visit our website.

This Week’s Author, Mark Bradstreet, CPA

–until next week.