Amending 2023 return - refund amount not correct, and problems applying refund to future year

[Glen F]

Amending 2023 to reflect lower income. I received a $2000 refund, but with lower income it should be $2500 more ($4500 total). Problems in desktop TurboTax 2023:

The Forms interface does not show a 1040X form, only the original 1040. After lowering the income, the 1040 shows $4500 overpaid, like it doesn't recognize I already received $2000 (even though the running refund at the top of the page correctly shows a $2500 refund). When I enter in the form (no option in the step-by-step) that I want the $2500 applied to next year, it insists on me requesting that $2000 also be refunded again to my bank account. I don't find any way to change or override this behavior. 

The only way I can see the 1040X that will actually be filed is to proceed with filing and preview before pulling the trigger. The PDF preview the  confirms that the filing will be incorrectly asking for too much refund.

How to I get the correct $2500 refund amount applied to a future year? And ideally, how can I make that year 2025 instead of 2024? Because I see the 1040X form asks for a year but the Forms view 1040 does not. (I would settle, however, for applying it to 2024 if I can do that.)

[rjs]

If Form 1040-X is not showing up in forms mode you did not start the amended return correctly. Start over, and follow the instructions at the following link. I think all of your other problems will be resolved when you start the amended return correctly.

How do I amend my federal tax return for a prior year?

I do not recommend applying the refund from the amended return to a future year. It's too likely to lead to errors at the IRS, which would cause more trouble and confusion. If you need to make an estimated tax payment for 2025, make the payment separately and let them send you the full refund from the amended return. You have until April 15 to make a first-quarter estimated tax payment.

[Glen F]

Thanks Champ. The instructions you link to look exactly like what I did to start the amended return, with the regrettable exception that I apparently didn't "save as" so I have no "undo" option. Oops! I'm usually good about that kind of thing.

The problems may have started when I modified the form to apply refund to a future year. Since you don't recommend that anyway, I guess I'll try to manually undo and see if I can make the problem go away.

[Glen F]

@ChampNot asking to apply refund to future year seems to have solved the incorrect amount problem. Now a new one: It was letting me efile but after I pulled the trigger it wants me to correct my signature date to be in 2024 (Jan 1 - Dec 31 specifically). Why would that be? Should I be able to efile?

[rjs · Accepted solution]

No, TurboTax does not support e-filing of returns for past years. You have to print the amended return and file it by mail.