You'll eventually get a notice from the IRS requesting the missing form. Other mistakes, such as omitting income or deductions, or deciding you're eligible for a credit you didn't claim may require amending your return. To do this, you'll need to complete Form 1040X.
Use a registered tax agent to ensure your tax return is amended properly. If amending your individual tax return is something you're nervous about or you simply don't have the time, then you're not alone. Our tax agents are here to help you and ensure there are no more issues with your tax return.
Making a mistake or unintentionally forgetting to report income or take a deduction isn't the end of the world. In fact, the IRS receives many incomplete returns each tax year, which is why it allows you to make corrections by filing an amended return on Form 1040-X.
To Correct a Tax Return Mistake, File an Amendment
Your next move: file an amended tax return. Simply put, an amended return is usually filed because something was incomplete, incorrect or omitted from the original tax return.
Use Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, and follow the instructions. You should amend your return if you reported certain items incorrectly on the original return, such as filing status, dependents, total income, deductions or credits.
In cases of negligence or disregard of the rules or regulations, the accuracy-related penalty is 20% of the portion of the underpayment of tax that happened because of negligence or disregard.
If you catch missing information on your tax return before the IRS does, then you should file an amended tax return. You'll use Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Tax Return.
An IRS notice may alert you to a mistake on your tax return or that it's being audited. You can verify the information that was processed by the IRS by viewing a transcript of the return to compare it to the return you may have signed or approved. You can access your tax records through your account.
Taxpayers may need to file an amended return if they filed with missing or incorrect info. If they receive the missing or corrected Form W-2 or Form 1099-R after filing their return and the information differs from their previous estimate, they must file Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
Failing to lodge is a criminal offence and once convicted by the court you could face additional fines and/or imprisonment for up to 12 months.
When the amount of the refund (paper check or direct deposit) is different than what was expected, indicating the IRS changed the amount, a notice explaining the adjustment is mailed to your address of record. Please review the information in the notice to determine if the change to the refund is correct.
Reclaiming a deduction
For the most part, expenses must be deducted in the year in which they incur on that year's tax return. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however usually, to claim a missed deduction requires filing an amended tax return within three years of the year's deadline.
Luckily, the government has a limited amount of time in which it can file a criminal charge against you for tax evasion. If the IRS chooses to pursue charges, this must be done within six years after the date the tax return was due.
If you don't file an amended return within three years of filing the original return (or within two years after paying the taxes based on the original return), you'll miss your chance to get a refund. The more you owe the IRS or the more the IRS owes you, the more careful you should be to avoid missing that deadline.
High income
As you'd expect, the higher your income, the more likely you will get attention from the IRS as the IRS typically targets people making $500,000 or more at higher-than-average rates.
Taxpayers should use Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to correct a previously filed Form 1040-series return or to change amounts previously adjusted by the IRS. Taxpayers can file Form 1040-X electronically for their 2020, 2021 or 2022 Forms 1040 or 1040-SR.
The Bottom Line
Even though the IRS does not check all tax refunds, it is a large agency with a wide reach that has a variety of means of catching tax cheats and liars. The penalties for avoiding or lying about taxes are severe.
“The time frame the IRS has to reach out to you about certain mistakes can be anywhere from 3 years to forever,” Cagan explained. “Usually if there is a critical number that doesn't match, you won't even be able to e-file your tax return as it will bounce right back.” A critical number could be a W-2 you forgot.
The Failure to File penalty is 5% of the unpaid taxes for each month or part of a month that a tax return is late. The penalty won't exceed 25% of your unpaid taxes.
What if you've sent in your income tax return and then discover you made a mistake? You can make things right by filing an amended tax return using Form 1040-X. You can make changes to a tax return to capture a tax break you missed the first time around or to correct an error that might increase your tax.
Use your online account to immediately view your AGI on the Tax Records tab. If you're a new user, have your photo identification ready. Use Get Transcript by Mail. You can also request a transcript by mail by calling our automated phone transcript service at 800-908-9946.
If you made a mistake on your tax return, you need to correct it with the IRS. To correct the error, you would need to file an amended return with the IRS. If you fail to correct the mistake, you may be charged penalties and interest. You can file the amended return yourself or have a professional prepare it for you.
However, the IRS may find those errors and send you a notice. See the “Received a Notice” below, if you do receive a notice before filing a corrected return. if it is after the current year filing date: you will need to file a Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.