What is amended tax return mean

When this happens, any refund owed will be adjusted and any extra tax liability due will be billed to the taxpayer. In the event that the individual fails to include a required form or schedule in their submitted original tax return, the IRS will send a letter requesting that they mail the missing information to one of their offices.

A taxpayer must file an amended return if:. Form X has three columns: A, B, and C. Under column A, the figure that was reported in the original or last-amended tax form is recorded. The taxpayer will need to input the adjusted or correct number in column C. The difference between columns A and C is reflected in column B. The adjustments made to a tax return will either result in a tax refund, balance due, or no tax change. The taxpayer also has to explain what changes they are making and the reasons for making each change in a section provided on the back of Form X.

The drawback of filing an amended tax return is that Form X cannot be submitted electronically for every tax year, although the IRS has recently started accepting e-filed amended returns for tax year If filling out the form manually, the taxpayer has to mail the printed-out document to the IRS Service Center that processed the original tax form.

The IRS manually processes amended returns, and the process can take 16 weeks —or even longer, if the amended return is not signed, is incomplete, has errors, requires additional information, needs clearance by the IRS bankruptcy department, has been routed to another specialized area, or has been affected by identity fraud.

There is, however, a three-year statute of limitations for issuing tax refund checks. Therefore, the taxpayer must file any amended returns that will result in a tax refund within three years after the date they filed the original tax return. An amended return filed to account for additional income or overstated deductions does not fall under any such statute and can be filed at any time. Internal Revenue Service. General Math Error Procedures. Accessed Aug. The CPA Journal. Income Tax. Your Privacy Rights.

To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. Taxpayers can opt to file their amended tax return either two years from the date they paid the tax or three years after filing their original return. The IRS stresses going for the later one of these dates. The IRS wants correct tax payments every single time, so they favor amending tax returns. This means an amended tax return will not raise an alarm over at the service or serve as an IRS audit trigger.

Of course, the IRS operates on a case-to-case basis if the taxpayer submits an amended tax return for the unpaid tax liability. The IRS will charge the taxpayer with penalties and interest for the late payment of taxes.

Tax Relief Center. However, taxpayers filing Form X in response to a notice received from the IRS, should mail it to the address shown on the notice. If taxpayers used other IRS forms or schedules to make changes, they should attach those schedules to their Form X.

Taxpayers should not amend a tax return to correct math errors; the IRS will make the math corrections for the taxpayers. Taxpayers should also not amend if they forgot to include a required form or schedule. The IRS will mail a request about the missing item. An amended return can be used to correct errors and claim a more advantageous tax status—such as a refund. For example, one might choose to file an amended return in instances of misreported earnings or tax credits.

At the present time , the IRS does not offer a direct deposit option for refunds on amended returns. The IRS will mail a check for the amount of your additional refund to the address shown on your amended tax return.

Amended returns take up to 16 weeks to process. You will receive any additional refund you are owed.

Amending to pay additional tax. If you're filing an amended tax return because you owe more tax, you should file Form X and pay the tax as soon as possible. No, it does not cost money to amend your taxes.

Just remember that you can only amend taxes as far as 3 years back. And know that all amended taxes have to mailed. If your amended return shows you owe more tax than on your original return, you will owe additional interest and probably penalties too.

The IRS will compute the interest and send you a bill if you don't include it.