IRS Expects Millions of Amended Tax Returns

The Internal Revenue Service anticipates that nearly 5 million taxpayers will amend their returns by filing Form 1040X this year.

Nearly 46 million returns were electronically filed from home computers as of April 18, more than the total from home computers for all of 2013. The IRS said Friday that it has received more than 131 million tax returns, of which 88 percent were e-filed.

Taxpayers who need to amend their returns should file this form only after filing the original return, the IRS noted. Generally, for a tax credit or refund, taxpayers must file Form 1040X within three years, including extensions, after the date they filed their original return or within two years after the date they paid the tax, whichever is later. For most people, this means that returns for tax-year 2011 or later can still be amended. 

This year, many same-sex couples may want to consider filing amended returns. A same-sex couple, legally married in a state or foreign country that recognizes their marriage, is now considered married for tax purposes. This is true regardless of whether or not the couple lives in a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage.

For tax returns originally filed before Sept. 16, 2013, legally married same sex couples have the option of filing amended return to change their filing status to married filing separately or married filing jointly. But they are not required to change their filing status on a prior return, even if they amend that return for another reason. In either case, their amended return must be consistent with the filing status they have chosen. Further details are available on IRS.gov.

As all amended returns must be filed on paper, allow up to 12 weeks for Form 1040X to be processed.  Starting 3 weeks after filing their amended returns, taxpayers can use the “Where’s My Amended Tax Return?” tool on IRS.gov to check the status.