Tips for Filing an Amended Tax Return

Despite your very best efforts, you may, at some point in your life, end up filing a tax return that is incorrect in some way. This could simply be due to the fact that you were rushing to meet the impending tax deadline and made a mathematical error. Or, maybe you had a dishonest accountant or inaccurate software. Whatever the reason, if you made some serious error, like under reporting your income or forgetting to file for credits you deserved, or even a more minor one, don’t panic! The IRS knows that people make mistakes, and it has policies in place to allow for amended tax returns.

Whatever you do, don’t just avoid amending a wrongful tax return because you think it will be too stressful or too difficult; take the necessary steps now to amend your tax returns and set things right. If you don’t, you could miss out on great benefits, or, even worse yet, find yourself in legal and/or financial trouble or even facing an audit.   

Form Fitting

As mentioned, the IRS is quite used to people making (and amending) errors on their tax returns. In fact, it is so used to it that it has a specific and simple form you can fill out if you have made an error and need to fix it.

You can fill out Form 1040X to amend any errors as long as you initially filed one of the following very common tax return forms:

l  Form 1040

l  Form 1040A

l  Form 1040EZ

l  Form 1040EX-T

l  Form 1040NR

l  Form1040NR-EZ

If your originally filed form is not on the above list, you can still amend your taxes; it just may be a bit more complex of a process, so, if the form that you originally filed is not listed above, contact a tax adviser for help and information on how to amend your return. Most people, however, will simply be able to fill out the specialized amended form.

Pre-Filled Information

When you do have to file an amended form, the IRS does you a major favor by presenting you with a pre-filled form (at least if you go through the re-filing process online, which is recommended).

This form will contain all of the information you originally filed, which means that you won’t have to re-enter all of that tedious stuff, like your social security number, name, and address. Thanks to the pre-filling feature, you can simply go back through the form, find the spot or spots where you made a mistake, correct them quickly, and be on your way. What could be simpler? To get this nice benefit, however, make sure you are doing your filing and/or refiling online.

Provide Documentation

In addition to filing and/or refiling online, make sure that you have any necessary documentation of the changes you are making and, even more importantly, WHY you are making those changes available.

Providing this documentation will allow the IRS to quickly and easily see your error, to fix your form/status, and to move on, without opening you up to an audit or other issues.

If you do not have documentation, are not sure what documentation would entail, or have any other questions or “special circumstances,” just contact a qualified accountant in your area to make the amendment process even quicker and easier to go through.