Why amend tax returns? It is simple to rectify any error you realize after filing the tax return during tax season 2023 or at any time. Now, those errors can be proved very costly. The reason is penalty provisions under the Internal Revenue Code for most of the errors which affect your total income. Amending tax return quickly is beneficial to the tax health of a person!
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Common reasons to amend a tax return
As the famous saying goes – to err is human, but not rectifying the error will make you an accused in the eyes of the IRS as a tax evader. Apart from the error that leads to charges of concealing income or tax evasion, certain innocent errors while filling various fields of tax return form -say your bank account number or the address, may affect the refund you were expecting. The most common errors that taxpayers generally find after the tax return is filed :
- You forgot some income to include the income
- Chose the wrong filing status. …
- You either claimed more or claimed fewer deductions. …
- You inadvertently forgot to claim a credit or correct a tax credit that was either claimed less or more.
Amending is not required for some types of errors.
It is good news for all that the processing team of the IRS may rectify certain types of errors. Like a mathematical or clerical error on a tax return. If you found such errors in your tax return, no action may be taken by you to amend the tax return. But, any error which is not a clerical error must be rectified by filing a revised or amended return, especially if there’s a change in your filing status, income, deductions, or credits.
How to Amend Tax Return Easily?
IRS has notified a tax amendment form – Form 1040-X, known as Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. to amend a previously filed Form 1040, Form 1040A, Form 1040EZ, Form 1040NR, Form 1040NR-EZ. This form is easy and requires you to point out a correct figure for various fields.
How to file amended returns online or offline.
IRS has now upgraded its system to accept the amended return electronically. It means you can file Form 1040-X electronically using available tax software products. This facility is the year 2019 onwards. If you want to amend your tax return filed earlier than 2019, you must only file Form 1040-X in paper form.
Where to mail amended tax returns?
If you are not filing the amended tax return electronically, the men’s form 1040X is manually revised in the paper 1040X form and needs to be sent to IRS for processing. The address on which you need to send the amended tax return depends on the region where you live. Refer to the table below :
| If you live in | Address to send amended tax return |
| Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas | Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Austin, TX 73301-0052 |
| Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming | Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Fresno, CA 93888-0422 |
| Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia | Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Kansas City, MO 64999-0052 |
| A foreign country, U.S. possession or territory*; or use an APO or FPO address, or file Form 2555, 2555-EZ, or 4563; or are a dual-status alien | Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Austin, TX 73301-0215 |
Where is my amended tax return?
Okay, so once you amend your return, either electronically or on paper, you will be curious to know the amended tax return status. There are basically two ways to check the status of a revised tax return – one is to check the IRS online tool called Where’s My Amended Return? (WMAR) online tool or even contact the IRS phone number for this purpose, 866-464-2050. We have posted a detailed article Sad! Where’s My Amended Return Doesn’t Show These 5 pieces of information!
Is paying taxes quickly, per the amended return, a wise move?
If you file an amended tax return and accrue a tax amount due, penalties and interest can still build up. You should pay this balance as soon as possible as you would with your original tax return (Form 1040).
How many years can you amend your tax return?
Your question, “how much time to amend tax return,” is answered by IRS as three years. That is, you can file an amended tax return in form 1040-X up to three years from the date you file the original tax return or two years from when you pay the tax for that year.
To illustrate how these two rules work, suppose you file your 2022 tax returns long before the April 18, 2023 deadline because you were due a $500 tax refund. If you later discover a tax deduction you are eligible for but failed to claim, you have until April 15, 2026, to file a 1040-X and collect the additional tax refund that the deduction will provide you with8
Hopefully, readers got all the answers on “revising tax return” including the common question ” What’s amended tax return?” and “how to amend tax return”.
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While the information on this site - Internal Revenue Code Simplified-is about legal issues, it is not legal advice or legal representation. Because of the rapidly changing nature of the law and our reliance upon outside sources, we make no warranty or guarantee of the accuracy or reliability of information contained herein.
