If you think that you have given wrong information in your income tax return after being accepted by the IRS, file for a tax amendment or amend the accepted federal or state tax return. This will allow you to make changes, corrections, or add information to your tax return. Putting incorrect tax amount while filing the income tax return can compel you paying more tax, in other words, can make your incur income tax debt. So filing an amended tax return and modifying the information is extremely important in order to stay away from debt.
Given the two options, filing amendment or amending the tax return, people often wonder which one they should go for. If you feel that you need to include more tax information to your income tax return or need to make some changes to the tax return after the latter is being filed and accepted by the IRS, file a tax amendment or amend the tax return using the Form 1040X. However, be careful while filling out the form since the IRS exercise extra vigilance when reviewing the form. So complete the form and put in the correct information.
Now the question arises when is the best time to file an amended tax return. You should file an amended tax return only when you feel the need to make changes to an already accepted tax return. The changes you can make to the income tax return is filing status, dependant information, credits, deductions, income and many others. To file an amendment you need to contact your state tax agency who will provide you with an application. But efile.com will soon implement a service that will allow you to complete state tax return online. This will reduce your mistakes as it will do the math for you and will ensure on your behalf that you have completed the file properly.
A tax amendment can be filed within three years after you have filed the original tax return or within two years after you have paid the tax, whichever comes later. However, if you still owe the taxes, you can file an amended even after three years of your original tax return.
In this context, we should look into the fact that how long the federal tax amendment Form 1040X takes to get processed. After you mail in your federal tax amendment Form 1040X to the IRS, it will take between 8 to 12 weeks to get processed. To caution you, a tax amendment must be filed by email and not through efile. So take a print of your completed Form 1040X and mail it to the IRS address, mentioned on the form.
You mail also download Form 1040X, Amended Individual Income Tax Return and fill it out with Adobe Reader. After you complete it, print the form and mail to the mailing address given in the form.
In conclusion, if you find that you have put in wrong information while filing the income tax return, file for a tax amendment following the above mentioned steps. This will let you modify your information and prevent you from paying more tax amount.