CP14 for taxes based on Original return, no tax due based on amend return

[Expat9]

Hello,

I filed my 2019 tax return on time as married filing separately and based on that return I owed $5,000 to IRS. This done before the deadline of Apr 15 2020.

After that I filed an amendment (paper filing) to change the filing status to 'married filing jointly' - and based on the change in status I only owed $1000 to IRS.

I mailed the amended return (certified mail) and also paid the $1000 I owed based on the amended return (payment was done online). My amended return has not yet been acknowledged by IRS, I checked their tracking tool as well.

Today I have received the notice CP14 from IRS asking me to pay the remainder of taxes owed based on the original return $4,000 plus the penalty & interest; also stating that each month that I don't pay this amount will attract monthly penalty + interest.

My question is: as I have already sent them the amendment & I don't owe any more taxes based on the amended return; do I still have to pay the taxes based on my original return and just wait for IRS to process my amended return & send me a refund?

OR - should I disregard the CP14 and just wait for IRS to process my amended return?

Thank you for your time & help on this.

[VolvoGirl]

Yes you owe the original tax due.  In fact you should not amend until the fully process the first return and you paid the first tax due.

The amended return Assumes you paid the original tax due.  

  Then the amended return is only for the difference you get back or owe.   You can confirm this by printing your amendment and looking at the 1040X. Line 18 should be your original refund amount and line 22 should be your additional refund.  If you paid on your original return it will be on line 16.  If there is an amount owed with the amendment, it will be on line 20.

[VolvoGirl]

And they haven't even opened your mailed amended return yet so they don't know if you owe more or get a refund.  You had a 1,000 tax due on the amended return?  That doesn't sound right.   If you changed to Joint you probably should have a refund on the amended return.  Did you get a 1040X?  Did you do the amended return right?

[Expat9]

Thank you so much for the quick response.

I believe the reason it showed $1,000 due on the amended return was because I had still not paid the tax due based on original return. So instead of $5,000 on the original return, it showed I only owed $1,000 - which is essentially a reduction in the total tax owed.

[VolvoGirl]

Does the amended return show you owe 1,000 on line 20?  Is the first tax due on line 16?   Did you pay the 1,000 based on the 1040X line 20 or did you get a voucher to pay 1,000?  You should not use any vouchers that print out.   Ignore the 1040V.  That is for the original return or what the original return would have been if it didn’t need correcting.  Don’t pay the amount on the 1040V.  Pay the amount on the actual 1040X.