Amended Return

[Ndrwrly2]

If you file a return where you owe the IRS but missed a qualifying credit and have to amend (which would result in a refund)- do you pay what's owed on the original return to avoid issues or do you do nothing and wait for the amendment to be processed since you are technically owed a refund?

[DoninGA]

Pay what is owed on the original tax return.  When the IRS processes your tax return and the payment has been debited from your account then amend the tax return.

The payment will be entered on the amended return and any refund on the return will include the payment you made.

An amended return, Form 1040-X, can only be printed and mailed to the IRS if the original tax return was not e-filed. The IRS will take up to 20 weeks or longer to process an amended tax return.

Before starting to amend the tax return, wait for the tax refund to be received or the taxes due to be paid and processed by the IRS.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for amending a tax return - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/amend-change-correct-return-a...

[Critter-3]

You should not amend the return until the original balance due has been paid  and the original return is fully processed  however  there is nothing stopping you from filing the amendment now.  However you must make sure that line 16 on the 1040X reflects the amount you actually did pay with the original return or the rest of the 1040X will not be correct. FYI ... the program assumes you did pay the full balance due from the original filing ... if you do/did not then you must manually fix line 16.  

Look at the form 1040X …

Column A should have the figures from the original return, 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. If you paid nothing already then this line should be zero.

On line 18 should be the amount of your original refund you received.  If you have not received your refund yet then you need to wait for it.  If the refund changes from what you expected then this line must reflect that change.

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

[Ndrwrly2]

Line 16 does show taxes paid to IRS which were not. Is it possible to manually update this to zero in the software and submit another amended or will this cause a bigger debacle? 

The 1040X does show what I should be refunded on line 34 so wouldn't I need that number on line 16 to arrive to that amount?

Additionally, it doesn't make sense to pay now what I don't really owe. Will they hit me with penalty since it appears the e-file of the amended hasn't even been received on Where's My Amended website?

Thank you

[Critter-3]

If you have already filed the 1040X with an incorrect amount paid on line 16 then there is nothing you can do at this time but WAIT for the IRS  to process the original return to note the payment that was not made and then to process the amended return ... they should correct the line 16 amount automatically.   Do NOT send yet another amended return as this will only make things worse.

In the meantime print off a copy of the 1040X and manually correct the line 16 amount then complete the rest of the form to see if you really do have a refund on the amended return or just owe less.  Simply follow the line instructions on the form ... they are simple math entries.