Should I Amend My Tax Return for A Small Amount?

What if you’ve already filed your taxes well before the deadline but realized after tax day that you accidentally left something out? If that’s the case, you might find yourself wondering when exactly you are required to amend your return, especially if the change is minimal.

Do You Need to Amend Your Tax Return?

First, make sure you really need to amend your tax return. If you’ve made minor math errors, the IRS says that they will handle those adjustments automatically without requiring a Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.

However, if you need to report additional income (such as from wages, unemployment, retirement, investments, etc), or change your filing status, claim missed tax credits or deductions, then you will need to amend your tax return. Lastly, you will only have to amend your return has already been accepted by the IRS.  If your return is still pending, it might still be rejected. In this case, just make your required changes and try filing your return again.

How to Amend Your Tax Return

In order to file a Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, you will need to either print and sign the return and then mail it, or you may be able to electronically file your amended return for 2023. E-filing your amended return will save on some delivery time since it can take up to 20 weeks to process amended returns after the IRS receives them. For amendments for tax year 2020, 2021, and 2022, you will need to print and mail your tax return in.

If you’re amending a tax return and happen to be expecting a bigger tax refund, the IRS advises that you wait for the original tax refund check to come in before sending in your amended return. In this case, you may cash the check received from the original return while waiting for your additional tax refund. You can conveniently check the status of your amended return and your additional refund with the IRS using the Where’s My Amended Return tool.  

Correcting a Tax Return

Another situation where you do not have to file an amended tax return is if you already e-filed your tax return and just received a document reporting income. If you did, your e-filed tax return may be rejected by the IRS and not accepted due to the necessary correction needed. Instead of having to amend your tax return, all you need to do is add the previously missed forms, fix the reject error on your tax return and then e-file the return again. If you use TurboTax, we will guide you through correcting the reject status on your tax return. 

Lastly, remember when you amend your federal tax return you may need to amend your state tax return since some states follow federal tax law. When using TurboTax, the changes made to your federal return will automatically transfer to your state return, making the process simple.

As always, TurboTax has you covered. There’s no need to worry if you do have to file an amended tax return. No matter what moves you made last year, TurboTax will make them count on your taxes. Whether you want to do your taxes yourself or have a TurboTax expert file for you, we’ll make sure you get every dollar you deserve and your biggest possible refund – guaranteed.