how to amend a tax return
form 1040 x has three columns a b and c under column a the figure that was reported in the original or last amended tax form is recorded the taxpayer will need to input the adjusted or correct number in column c the difference between columns a and c is reflected in column b the adjustments made to a tax return will either result in a tax refund balance due or no tax change the taxpayer also has to explain what changes they are making and the reasons for making each change in a section provided on the back of form 1040 x disadvantages of an amended tax returnthe drawback of filing an amended tax return is that form 1040 x cannot be submitted electronically for every tax year although the irs has recently started accepting e filed amended returns for tax year 2019 1213 if filling out the form manually the taxpayer has to mail the printed out document to the irs service center that processed the original tax form the irs manually processes amended returns and the process can take 16 weeks or even longer if the amended return is not signed is incomplete has errors requires additional information needs clearance by the irs bankruptcy department has been routed to another specialized area or has been affected by identity fraud 14there is however a three year statute of limitations for issuing tax refund checks therefore the taxpayer must file any amended returns that will result in a tax refund within three years after the date they filed the original tax return 6 an amended return filed to account for additional income or overstated deductions does not fall under any such statute and can be filed at any time you can correct errors on an amended tax return you can claim a refund you were owed even if you didn t file for it you can correct for circumstances that changed since you originally filed 