1040x for new credit after IRS Unemployment adjustment was paid - shows wrong information

[paul-d]

2020 return was filed in early-March, prior to the Unemployment exclusion updates.  There was a small refund, which was paid in late-March.

Then in July, IRS sent an additional refund due to removal of my $5K of Unemployment Income (an additional $600 refund was received by direct deposit).

The reduced AGI makes me eligible for $200 Retirement Savings credit, so I need to amend to claim that.

But the 1040X generated by TurboTax is claiming BOTH the Unemployment Adjustment amount AND the Retirement Savings amount - for a total additional refund of $800, which is not correct.

Column A of the 1040X is supposed to show "Original Amount reported, or as previously adjusted".  But I do not see any way to tell the software that the IRS has already adjusted the return for the Unemployment.  I expect that I should only be claiming the additional $200 for the Retirement Savings credit.  

QUESTION -- How do I generate a 1040X with updated numbers in Column A, as they are AFTER the IRS made the Unemployment adjustment?  Or am I really supposed to claim that amount again, and let the IRS figure out how much of it they already paid to me?

[Critter-3]

Due to the unusual situation this year your column A should reflect the correction as made by the IRS ... so this will take a bit of finagling ...

1) undo the amendment --- see instructions below

2) remove the form 8880 by going thru the interview and removing the retirement contribution trigger OR indicate you are a student in the 8880 input screen ... either will do.

3) review the return ... does the 1040 now reflect only the unemployment change ?

4) if so then close the program and log back in ... click on the amendment option 

5) reverse step 2 to put the credit back

6) review the 1040X ... is it now correct ? 

Column A should have the figures from the original return + the correction ,   Column C the corrected figures and Column B the differences between the other 2 which needs an explanation on page 2 of the form 1040X.

If you completed it correctly you will see an entry on either line 16 OR 18:

On line 16 should be the amount you paid with your original return. 

On line 18 should be the amount of your original refund + the corrected amount  you received.

Then you will see your extra refund on line 22 OR  the new balance due you need to pay on line 20.

How do I cancel or undo an amended return in TurboTax Online?

If you started amending your tax return by accident and would like to cancel the amendment:

1. Open your return if it’s not already open.
2. In the left menu select Cancel amend.
3. Select Yes, I want to cancel my amended return.

 

 

How do I cancel or undo an amended return in the TurboTax CD/Download software?

If you started amending your federal return by accident and would like to cancel the amendment, follow this process to correctly "unamend" your federal return:

1. Open your return.
2. Switch to Forms Mode (Windows instructions | Mac instructions).
3. In the left pane, select Form 1040X.
   • Windows: After the form is generated in the right pane, click the Delete Form button at the bottom of the window.
   • Mac: From the Forms menu, select Remove Form 1040X.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to remove the 1040X from your return
5. Important: Go back through the TurboTax interview and undo any changes you made after you selected the option to amend your 2018 return, as merely deleting the 1040X will not undo those manual entries for you.

State Amendments

The best way to "unamend" your state return is to go through your state return from the beginning and keep your eyes peeled for amend-related screens or questions.

The amend question usually appears right at the beginning or towards the end of the state interview (never in the middle).

[paul-d]

Critter-3, Thanks for the quick response.  But I'm still having a problem ---

I completed Step 1 (delete the in-progress amendment)

But for Step 2, I do not see any way in Turbo Tax Online (Free Edition) to make changes to my already efiled/accepted return, other than by creating an amendment (which doesn't happen until step 4).

What is the procedure with Turbo Tax Online (Free Edition) to get back to the interview questions after the return has already been filed/accepted (a few months ago)?  

[VolvoGirl]

Click on Add a State to let you back into your return.

From Tax Home (the first screen you see after you sign in), scroll down to Your tax returns & documents. You may have to select Show to open the drop down.

Select 2020, and then select Add a State (you're not actually adding a state, this is just the workaround).

[paul-d]

VolvoGirl - thanks for the additional information.   That allowed me to progress farther - but I still can't get the correct numbers into the 1040X...

In step 2 - using the Add State button was successful in allowing me to make an edit to the existing Federal return information.  The return then showed the total refund amount as the sum of (Original Refund) + (IRS Adjustment for Unemployment) + (newly eligible Retirement Savings Credit).

As Critter-3 had suggested, I indicated that I am a student, which removed the $200 Retirement Savings Credit.  The amount shown for the refund now is exactly the Original Refund + IRS Unemployment Adjustment.

So far, all is good.  Signed out from Turbo Tax to save all that information, and then signed in again.

The home screen shows only my original refund amount.  But I went into the Amend Return function anyway to see what it would show.  

When entering Amend Return, the top of the screen briefly shows the Refund amount - it showed Original Refund + Unemployment Adjustment - so I was hopeful that this was going to work.   Then it sets the baseline refund amount to $0.

But, once I get into the actual amendment screens and make a change to claim the Retirement Savings Credit, the refund amount jumps to the sum of (IRS Unemployment Adjustment) + (Retirement Savings Credit).  So I'm back to square 1.

It appears that Turbo Tax kind of knows that the Unemployment Adjustment has been made already, but loses track of this once I actually make a change in the Amendment.  

Unless someone has other suggestions, it looks like I will have to Paper File this amendment.

[paul-d]

Just an update for anyone else looking to amend and efile an IRS-corrected return.  Here is how we finally got this to work ...

Two amendment steps are required:

Step 1 - amend the return to match ONLY what the IRS adjusted - in this case, they corrected only the Unemployment Exclusion amount, so we need to create an amended return that only has that correction (method to do that is described earlier in the thread).

DO NOT electronically file this first amended return.  Tell TurboTax that this will be paper filed.  But DO NOT actually paper file it.  

TurboTax now thinks that the most recent return filed with the IRS has values that match the IRS adjustment.

STEP 2 - (which can be done immediately after Step 1).  Start another amended return.

Now make whatever other adjustments are needed for credits or other changes that were not part of the IRS corrected information.

Complete the process for that amendment, and this time you CAN tell TurboTax to electronically file Amendment #2.  

We did this in September.  The amended return #2 was accepted by the IRS.  That was 16 weeks ago and we are still waiting (along with something like 6 million other taxpayers).  But this 2-step process does appear to allow you to efile an amendment after the IRS has made some kind of adjustment to the original return.

I hope that helps a few other people.