Amended Returns: What forms or schedules must be attached?

[panamax]

Will the IRS accept an amended return with just the pertinent schedules or must I send in the entire return that Turbo Tax creates?

[DoninGA]

Only the Form 1040-X and any forms and/or schedules which were changed by the amendment.  Nothing more.

[fanfare · Accepted solution]

Attach the schedule or form(s), if any, that you used to figure your revised tax (Line 6). Don’t attach worksheets.

If any forms specify an attachment, put all those attachments at the end in the same order as the forms they go with.

Include any new/corrected tax document only if it shows federal tax withheld,

Do not include your old 1040, nor your revised 1040 because the Form 1040-X reflects any changes there and becomes your new tax return.

[UPDATE: See below]

@panamax 

[panamax]

I just noticed that the amended return I prepared on 14 March does not have a 1040X designation. The TurboTax cover sheet is written in such a way that it  leaves me to to believe a 1040x is attached. Only a 1040SR is attached.  What do I do?

[DoninGA]

@panamax If the Form 1040-X was not included then you did not amend the tax return.

Go back and remove any of your changes and save the tax return.  Then use this procedure to amend the return - 

Click on Federal Taxes (Personal using Home & Business)

Click on Other Tax Situations

Under Other Tax Forms

On Amend a return, click the start button

When completed with the amended return you will need to save the return with a unique file name.  Click on File at the top left of the desktop program screen.  Click on Save as...

[fanfare]

Instructions for Form 1040-X (12/2025)

New attachment requirement.

For paper-filed Forms 1040-X, you must attach, to your completed Form 1040-X, a completed and updated Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, with your changes. 

@panamax 

[panamax]

I will restate that I am using Windows Desktop Version of Home and Business. 

I have been using Turbo Tax since 2004.  

I did click on Amend a Filed Return (Refile a Return That Has Been Accepted by the IRS).

The process was simple.  The printed product makes it confusing because the cover sheet in the second block

says, 

" Your amended tax return - Form 1040-X. Remember to sign and date the return.
Be sure to attach all forms or schedules that changed to your amended return." 

BUT

The first viewable page is a1040-SR, not a 1040X.  

Above that page there are 2 blank pages.

Could it be that is where the 1040X is supposed to be and the program has a bug or has not been updated?

That is the only sense I can make out of this.  Need a Turbo Tax tech employee to look at this and provide an answer, PLEASE.

Thanks

[CatinaT1]

Are you still having this issue? 

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[bobzafool2]

Can anyone help with these questions about amending a 1040:

1. Should the "completed and updated " 1040 that the instructions to 1040-X now say must be attached to the 1040-X be signed and dated?

2. If the 1040 attached to the 1040-X should be signed and dated too, should it be dated the actual date it is signed (rather than, for example, the date the original return was signed)?

3. Should the 1040 attached to the 1040-X include all necessary forms and schedules as if it was the original filing, including even forms and schedules that have no changes?

4. If the "completed and updated" 1040 attached to the 1040-X should include all forms and schedules, should the only the changed forms and schedules  be attached again after that?

5. Does it make a difference (are the different requirements) if the amended return is filed by mail rather than electronically in order to include, for example, a supplemental statement to a form that Turbotax does not  provide a  way to include in the return?

Thank you if you know and can provide the answers to any of these questions.

[fanfare]

The latest Form 1040-X has no signature line.

Since  Form 1040-X combined with your updated 1040 become your new tax return,

the 1040 should be signed with today's date.

The signing date of the old return is not relevant.

The old rule of attaching pages that contributed to new calculation of tax, or otherwise changed or were added appears to remain.

Otherwise, the new instructions would state "send every page".

@bobzafool2 

[bobzafool2]

Thanks for your reply. I'm amending a 2024 return and the form 1040-X my turbotax generates has signature and date lines. 

[fanfare]

The requirement to attach updated 1040 applies to 2025

Under the previous rules:

Refer to the Instructions for what is to be attached to Form 1040-X.

That is - only forms that are new or changed due to your amendment.
You must find these by visual inspection, TurboTax won't break them out for you even when it is working.

Do not include your old 1040, nor your revised 1040 because the Form 1040-X reflects any changes there and becomes your new tax return.

@bobzafool2 

[bobzafool2]

If I am amending now in 2026, should I not follow the instructions issued in 2025 and in effect now, even if I am amending a return from 2024 or any other earlier year?

[fanfare]

Your inference seems reasonable.

I looked at the form and instructions again.

I see that Form 1040-X does have a signature line.

Not sure why I did not see it months ago.

It is not clear if both 1040-X and 1040 must be signed and dated.

In the past only 1040-X was signed when submitting a document with a signature line.

IRS says:  "Form 1040-X isn't considered a valid return unless you sign it in
accordance with the requirements in these instructions."

Obviously, signing both won't hurt because the 1040 is the updated 1040.

@bobzafool2