Amended return, went from owing to refund, IRS disagrees

[Anonymous]

I filed my 2017 tax return before the Bipartisan Budget Act was passed and the result was that I owed $3,756.

Then after the law changed, I amended my return to claim the mortgage interest deduction, and TurboTax showed that I would receive a REFUND of $293. It appeared I had gone from being in the red to being in the black as far as my tax obligation.

Now I'm getting billed by the IRS for $3482.  They just took what I owed on the initial return and subtracted the $293 "refund". This was not at all the impression I got from the TurboTax software and I'm very disappointed. Now I called TurboTax and have been on hold for a half an hour. What is going on?

[Lisa995 · Accepted solution]

Did you pay the amount that was due on the original return?    Amended returns assume that tax has already been paid (or any refund has already been received) and the amended return only shows the difference between the original and what you corrected.

Look at Line 16 of the 1040X, that's the line that shows what was paid with the original return.  If that line has a dollar amount but you didn't pay that, then the IRS is correct and you still have a balance due.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the prompt reply.