I amended my return and now it's saying I owe money but I only reduced my refund so I shouldn't owe anything

[Critter-3]

Nope ... once you apply a refund to the next year's estimates it cannot be undone.  

[kmbham13]

My question has been in a similar boat as these questions.  However, I'm not finding an answer that is fully fitting my situation.

My husband and I filed jointly (as we usually do) and this year saw the most we had pay in the last three years.  When filing our taxes, my husband failed (in words "forgot") to tell me how the company he works for had split their W2s this year into two separate W2s.  Don't ask me why, I still haven't fully figured out.  It was only in the process of filing our school taxes did I find out about it.   So I just filed my amendment but now It says I owe another number.   Can someone please help me make sure I am understanding what I have been reading because the answers never fully cover "I owe X amount originally and now my amended says I owe X amount. "  It might be great to have TurboTax (or any tax helper) to cover this as well.

Examples TurboTax Gives.
TT Scenario 1: "I get $1000 back in my original refund, but now my amended refund says $200."  That means you get $200 more!

TT Scenario 2: "I get $1000 back in my refund, but now my amended refund says $200" That means you really only get $800 refund.

MY SCENARIO: "We paid $577 in federal taxes originally, our amended now says we owe $417."  From the examples TurboTax gives and from what I understand.  Our amended amount is separate from our original amount.  I just want to clarify that by the logic given my husband and I now owe an additional $417 to the original $577 paid.  Is this correct?

[VolvoGirl]

Did you file the original first return and pay the tax due?

You will still get the refund from the first original return or still need to pay the first tax due.  In fact you should not even amend until the first return has fully processed and you get the first refund or your tax due payment has cleared.  

Then the amended return is only for the difference you get back or owe.  I think the cover sheet shows what the original return WOULD have been if you did it right the first time.

Go by the actual 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.

If you have a tax due, do not send the 1040V.  Just include a check with the 1040X.  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.

[Cynthiad66]

@kmbham13 Correct.  You owe the additional amount of $417 because of the amended return.

[Awinters05]

I filed my taxes online and forgot to add a W-2 so I was advised to amend my return. I haven’t recieved my original refund yet and now it wants me to owe the difference in my amendment. Amendments take 16 weeks to process so now not only do i owe but i’m also still waiting for my original refund. This is crazy, why can’t the IRS see the changes and just deduct the difference before depositing our refund?! 

[BillM223]

"why can’t the IRS see the changes and just deduct the difference before depositing our refund?"

The processing of original returns and of amended returns are done by separate areas within the IRS. Thus, for many years, you treated the payment/refund on the original return as separate from that of the amended return.

Because you can amend a return more than once, it is not practical for the IRS to wait to see if you have another amendment coming that they should net your refund/bill against.

2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, especially the IRS who are having to deal with Congress "moving the goalposts" on a daily basis. Each one of these law changes require concomitant changes in the software at the IRS as well as in all sorts of internal processes. Let's look forward to a better 2021.

[cardinals1234]

I did not pay tax when I filed my original.  I requested payment arrangements.  I am now amending my return because of the UCE credit of $10,200 issued because of the ARP passed by congress.  How do I change line 16 on my amended return?

[Critter-3]

The IRS is correcting the returns themselves so you don't need to do any amendments.  They specifically said not to amend for that situation.  It may take until the end of summer to be completed. 

But if you want to change line 16 you must use the downloaded  version and make the change in the forms mode.  

[Jessi01]

This is the exact same thing that I’m going through right now! Did you ever figure out the right thing to do?

[Lizgon12]

This is exactly what happened to me. How did it work out for you? 

[Critter-3]

If you send in an incorrect return the IRS will make the needed changes when processing the return especially on lines 16 & 18.  

[Raykrafvejr]

im having this exact issue right now actually. Can i ask you if yours was resolved? if so, how?

[Lizgon12]

Unfortunately it hasn’t been resolved. My tax advocate was going to send an inquiry to irs to see why they haven’t released my refund. Still haven’t heard back yet. 

[MGuercini]

Has it been resolved yet? Thanks.

[hls234]

What ended up happening?  I am having the same issue now.. Hopefully you will get this even though your comment is from 2019..