How do you correct an income tax return you’ve already filed? If you forgot to report income, or if you failed to take a deduction that would have reduced your taxes, you can file an amended tax return to correct the oversight.

For example, more than one million taxpayers overpaid their taxes in 2004 because they forgot to deduct state and local sales taxes on their tax returns.

This was a new deduction that year based on a new law that let taxpayers choose to deduct either their state and local income taxes or their state and local sales taxes.

To correct a tax return that’s already been filed, you need to complete and file Form 1040X. The IRS generally allows three years from the original due date of the tax return, including extensions, to submit an amended tax return.

There is no need to fear the IRS just because you file a corrected tax return. It is a very routine matter. The more complicated the tax law becomes, the greater the chance that a previously filed tax return may need to be corrected.

Oversights and missing information are quite common, so don’t feel you are alone if you discover that you need to amend a return.

An amended tax return may result in either a refund or a balance due. In deciding whether or not to file an amended return, you should take into account the amount of money involved. Unless your amended return is requesting a sizable refund, it should not make you any greater an audit target than your original tax return.

And filing a return for a $50 refund would probably waste more of your time than it’s worth.



David Compton is a certified public accountant with offices in Meridian and Birmingham, Ala.