CARL WATTS & ASSOCIATES

April 27, 2015

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Do You Need to Amend
Your Return?
The pressure of the tax day is over and, whether you followed our advice and found a good tax professional for your tax return or not, your federal tax return is filed and out of the way.

What if the unexpected happens and you need to amend your tax return? And even more interesting, what reasons could determine the need to amend your tax return?

You certainly need a more serious reason than a math error or a missing W-2 or 1099 Form. You might discover a reporting error or receive late information or corrected forms, in any case, the IRS specifies that if there is a change in your filing status, income, deductions, or credits, then you need to file an amended return.

Some of the most common reasons to file an amended tax return include:

  • To report additional income and/or additional withholding from a W-2 or a 1099 Form;
  • To report changes in your above-the-line deductions (IRA contribution, tuition, health savings accounts, self-employment tax deduction, alimony paid, etc.);
  • To change your filing status (from married filing jointly to head of household, for instance);
  • To claim an additional dependent or remove one;
  • To claim or remove a tax credit;
  • To report a change in your itemized deductions or standard deductions.

There are several situations that may cause the changes above. You may have filed your return early, before receiving a late form (as is usually the case with Form K-1 or Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets) and the amounts you declared do not match and therefore impact the refund or the amount of tax owed.

You may have overlooked deductions you are entitled to or the IRS came up with a new tax break or tax regulations.


You may receive a windfall prior to the filing deadline and you decide to make a pension or profit sharing contribution for the previous year (such contributions can be made up to the filing deadline - including extensions).

You may have gone through a natural disaster (fire, flood), or a less natural one (divorce, business split) and later recovered accurate information from clients, vendors, banks, etc. which does not fit your estimates.

Your filing status or income may be impacted by a court ruling on your divorce or custody rights.

You may discover you made a worthless investment or have losses from a theft (you can amend for up to 7 years in the case of theft and some investment losses may benefit of the theft-loss rules if there are criminal charges filed with the police).

As a particular situation as of 2014, if you enrolled in qualifying Marketplace health coverage, you probably filed your tax return based on a Form 1095-A that you received from the Marketplace. If you received a corrected Form 1095-A, you do not need to file an amended return based on your corrected Form 1095-A.  This is true even if additional taxes would be owed based on the new information.  Nonetheless, you may choose to file an amended return.  Comparing the forms can help you determine whether you are likely to benefit from filing an amended tax return. 

Any of the situations mentioned above may be a reason to file Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, which you can get from the IRS website.

To be able to fill out the form correctly, you will need a copy of the return that you have already filed, and the new tax return containing the necessary correction (yes, you need to prepare a new tax return as well).


The 1040X has three columns: Column A shows original or adjusted figures from the original return; Column C shows the corrected figures; and the difference between Columns A and C is shown in Column B. There is a certain area to explain the specific changes being made and the reason for each change.


You have to be very careful when filling out Form 1040X, especially with Part C which summarizes the change in your tax return. You should be very specific and concise, since amended tax returns are carefully scrutinized by the IRS. Check twice all information you report, attach the new tax return, any additional schedule or form, and any other pertinent documentation.

Since Form 1040X is a standard one, don’t forget to write the tax year you are amending at the top of the form.

If you need to amend several returns, you’ll have to fill out a separate Form 1040X for each year.

Form 1040X must be filed within three years from the date of your original return or within two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. Returns filed before the due date (without regard to extensions) are considered filed on the due date.

Your amended tax return has to be mailed, it cannot be filed electronically.

As is usually the case, adjustments to the federal return will carry over to the state, so you will have to amend your state return as well.

You can check the status of your Form 1040X with the IRS using the Where's My Amended Return? (WMAR) online tool or the toll-free telephone number 866-464-2050 three weeks after you file your amended return.

If you are due a refund from your original return, wait to get that refund before filing Form 1040X to claim an additional refund. Amended returns take up to 16 weeks to process, so you may very well spend your original refund while you wait for any additional refund.

If you owe more tax, file your Form 1040X and pay the tax as soon as you can to prevent added interest and penalties.

Although all this may not seem too complicated, don’t underestimate the value of professional advise in all your dealings with the IRS.

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