An amended return is a revised version of your original tax return.
What Is an Amended Return?
An amended tax return is a document used to revise your original tax return. Depending on the situation, you may need to file an amended tax return to correct mistakes, claim new deductions or credits or add new information. It can also be useful if you had incorrect information when you filed your taxes the first time around. For example, if you didn’t realize at the time that you could have been eligible for a certain tax credit or deduction (or perhaps you forgot about it), and now that additional information is available to you. An amended return can also be helpful if your income for the year changed after filing your taxes the first time around.
What Are the Different Types of Amended Tax Returns?
As mentioned above, there are two situations in which an amended return is filed:
Corrections to income or deductions – In this case, your original tax return is correct, but you have new information about a deduction or income that wasn’t reported correctly on your original return. For example, you may have gotten a raise since filing your taxes.
Changes to the amount of tax due – In this case, your original tax return is incorrect, and you’re amending the return to change the amount of tax due.
How to File an Amended Tax Return
Depending on the specific situation, you may be able to file an amended tax return online, by mail or through a hybrid approach. If you are filling out the return because you forgot to report income or deductions that you should have included, you can file it by mail or through the tax preparation software you used when you filed your original return. If you’re amending your taxes because you made a mistake on your original return, you’ll need to file it by mail. It should be done within a specific time as communicated by tax authorities.
Disadvantages of an Amended Tax Return
The biggest disadvantage to amending your tax return is that the IRS may audit both your original return and your amended return, which could mean an extra and thorough audit. Additionally, the IRS processes amended returns manually which may take over 16 weeks.