no stimulus because accountant filed us wrong - MFJ instead of MFS

[mxkid23]

This post is fueled by some jealousy I guess of everyone waving their "free" $1400 around today... So my accountant messed up last year, I was very mad last year but it didn't seem like it was going to be a huge deal, until all of these stimulus checks rolled in.

He filed me and my wife as joint, rather than separate as we had discussed and agreed to do.

The problem is we waited a few extra weeks to file and did an extension, because if we would have filed before the deadline my wife would have not got a stimulus because I make too much. (we keep VERY separate finances though). So waiting was going to let her get hers..

regardless, he said because it was passed the deadline then, he couldn't go back and amend that. it ended up costing us not getting a stimulus. He made it right by basically saying he'll refund me what I paid for his services that year and next year will be free.. ok.. whatever close enough.

fast forward now we've got 2 more stimulus since then.. that we got 0 for. Had we filed separate like we should have, I would have still got 0 but my wife would have got $600 and $1400.. so thats now 2 grand she didn't get because he screwed up.

Any ideas on anything we can or should do here?

[JotikaT2]

The only way to correct this to amend your 2019 tax returns to file as Married Filing Separately. 

How to amend my return?

You can file your 2020 tax return based upon your information once you prepare and mail in your amended 2019 return.  It may take longer to process both returns but it will enable your spouse to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on the 2020 income tax return if she meets the requirements.

The amount of the Rebate Recovery Credit is based upon your actual 2020 income tax return you file.  Therefore, if you meet the criteria for the credit, you will receive it when you prepare your 2020 income tax return.  The credit is intended to give those who should have received a stimulus payment but never did a tax credit on their tax returns.  Any excess credit is then refunded to you if there is an overpayment on your tax return.

Please see the attached link for more information on who can claim the credit.

Recovery Rebate Credit eligibility

[rjs]

You should go back and talk to the accountant about it. It sounds like he was reasonable about making good on the first missed stimulus payment. First ask him to figure out how much more tax the two of you would have paid in total if you had filed separately, and how much more he would have charged for preparing two tax returns instead of one. If the additional tax and accountant's fees would have been more than $2,000, you are better off the way it is. If not, ask him to figure out a way to make up for the amount you lost. But the amount you lost is not the full $2,000 of stimulus payments. It's only the difference between $2,000 and the extra tax and accountant's fees that you would have paid if you had filed separately. There might also be a way to recover the third stimulus payment later on. Ask the accountant about that, too.

It's too late to amend your 2019 tax return to change from MFJ to MFS. You can't do that after the due date of the return.