Made a Mistake? Form 1040X To the Rescue

Uh-oh! You were slipping that W-2 copy into the drawer when it caught your eye.

How could you have missed that when you did your final filing review and hit "send" or dropped your tax return in the mail? What can you do about it now?

As it turns out, plenty.

The complexity of the tax code, coupled with the frantic lives most of us lead, means there is ample opportunity for tax-filing mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes could cost you, like forgetting to include income earned on an investment account. Other times, it might lower your tax bill, such as when you run across a forgotten receipt for a generous charitable contribution you made.

Either way, the Internal Revenue Service provides second chances to get your tax return right with Form 1040X.

This X-File is Normal

There's nothing supernatural about this X-file.

For a tax form, the 1040X is pretty easy to complete. Basically, the IRS wants to know what you originally reported, what your corrected numbers are and why you are making the changes. There's also a section for adding or subtracting personal exemptions in case there was some confusion as to whether you properly counted someone as a dependent.

And, in most cases, you can change your filing status, which could get you a bigger refund. For example, a new divorcee filed this year as a single taxpayer. But that cost her some tax money because she has custody of the kids. She should have filed as a head of household, which would have given her a larger standard deduction.

These are the kind of things you can correct with a 1040X.

Couples who filed separately also can change a return to married filing jointly so they can get some tax breaks not allowed to separate filers. They can't, however, do the reverse. Changing from joint to separate filing after a return's deadline has passed is not allowed.

When the IRS Benefits

Taxpayers also should be diligent about correcting their returns, even if it means they end up paying a bit more in taxes.

Why? Because it's a pretty safe bet that the IRS is going to discover your error eventually.

If it's a simple addition or subtraction mistake, there's no need to amend the return. The IRS says its computers will detect the error, notify you and adjust your return automatically.

But if it's something bigger -- you overlooked a Form 1099 for $1,500 you got from a freelance house-painting job -- and you catch and correct it first, it could save you from paying even more to the IRS.

The IRS may not penalize you for this honest mistake, but it sure will collect some interest on the proper amount you didn't pay on time in the first place. The sooner you correct the error, the less interest you'll pay.

"We had one preparer who filed a client's return," says Jackie Perlman, CPA and principal tax research analyst with The Tax Institute at H&R Block, "and then the employer informed the person that he would be getting a corrected W-2, so it had to be refiled.

"You just want to be sure you have a correct return," she says, "whether it's in your favor or not."

Year-Round Amended Filing Season

Such corrections are a year-round occurrence, but tax professionals say the need to amend a return often is discovered during the following year's filing season.

"Sometimes when you're having next year's return prepared," says Perlman, "the professional says, 'Oh, you didn't tell me about that last time.'"

Then there's the case where a little more knowledge can mean more tax-filing work.

"We've had people take income tax courses to help them do their own returns and pick up items where they could or should amend a return," Perlman says.

Amending Time Limits

But don't go searching through old files for ancient tax returns in the hopes of possibly eking out a few more refund dollars.

The IRS generally gives taxpayers three years after the original return's filing date to make any changes with a Form 1040X. If you filed early, you get three years from the return's due date to correct any errors.

Your window to amend closes a bit if you didn't pay all the tax you owed when you filed. In this case, you must revise your return within two years of the day that you finally paid your full bill to Uncle Sam. If, however, the two-years-since-payment date arrives after the standard three-year time limit, the IRS says you can amend your return using the deadline that comes later. Similarly, if you paid your taxes late, but not that late, and the three-year grace period provides you more revision time, you can use it.

As for the actual filing, even if you regularly e-file, you'll have to send in a paper Form 1040X. The IRS is not yet equipped to handle this form electronically. Be sure to pay attention to the mailing addresses in the form's instruction book. Amended returns don't always go to the same IRS service center that processes regular returns.

Remember, too, that your state tax liability might be affected by a change you make on your federal return. So double check your state tax records for the year that you're amending your federal return to see if changes need to be made at the state (or local) level.

Getting it Right Pays Off

But don't automatically reject filing an amended return out of fear of inviting an IRS audit.

Sure, the IRS will take a close look at an amended return that's netting you a refund. And that means tax agents could conceivably look at your original tax paperwork in the process.

So why, ask hesitant amended filers, should they invite the extra attention, especially if they file just within the three-year amendment limit -- the same time period after which the original Form 1040 would be off the tax examination radar?

"An amended return might just draw attention to a return," says Perlman. "But, really, people shouldn't be concerned. The main thing with tax filing is to get it right."

And that means getting it right any time.