I mailed in an amendment and I have NOT already received the original refund...

[emilyf1987]

I wrote this question in a different way yesterday and didn't quite get the answer I was looking for. I am seeing everywhere that I should not mail an amended return until after receiving my original refund.

Well I did it anyway (because I didn't know). What does this mean?

The reason I did it was because of the new thing where they are checking against what employers report. We had mistakenly under-reported and owed $21. The IRS cashed the check we mailed back. My original refund still says processing (with no status bar) and nothing is in WMAR.

Bottom line. What if you DID mail it in even though it's not recommended?

Thanks

[AnthonyC · Accepted solution]

There shouldn't be any problem with sending the amended return even though you didn't receive the original refund.  The reason it is recommended that you don't is because you don't want to have to amend again if there is a problem found during the processing of your original return.  So, it shouldn't have a practical effect on the processing of either return, but could open you up to a bigger headache down the road if a problem is found.

The IRS was holding all refunds that claimed EIC or Additional Child Tax Credit until at least Feb 15th, so that may have been what was really the hold up (I looked at your other question).  If so, then you should see some movement on your refund status within the next week or so.  Also, it takes at least 3 weeks (and probably longer at this time of year) for an amended return to show up in WMAR, so I wouldn't worry too much about that right now.  But, they will cash your check much faster (of course).