Should I send an amended tax payment when my return is still pending? Will the IRS take my amended tax balance out of my pending return?

[laura46]

In verifying requested information on my 2020 return, I found an error and needed to amend. The amendment shows I owe money. Do I include a check for the payment? Will I still get my original return? Or should I not send payment under the assumption that the IRS will take the payment out of my original refund?

[VolvoGirl]

Stop.  Wait.  Do not amend until the IRS is done processing the original return and you get the first refund.  Then the amended return is only for the difference you owe back.

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.

[rjs]

What do you mean by "verifying requested information"? Did you get a notice from the IRS asking for more information? If so, follow the instructions in the notice for what you should do, and be sure to respond by the deadline in the notice. If the instructions in the IRS notice aren't clear, call the contact number in the notice. Send your response by certified mail, with a return receipt, so you will have proof that the IRS received it.

Do not file an amended return unless the IRS notice tells you to do that. If it does tell you to file an amended return, send the amended return to where the notice says to send it, which may be different from where you would send it if your were filing it on your own initiative. Include any other information or attachments that the notice says to include.

[fanfare]

The longer you wait the more interest you owe on your outstanding balance.

I called the IRS amended return number and asked exactly this question.

The IRS person, who seemed competent, said absolutely, file the amended return ASAP.

If you don't like that, at least pay what you owe now via IRS direct pay.

Meanwhile the UCE refund is being calculated outside of the amended return pipeline by  a separate computer system.

Use your own judgement and common sense.

[laura46]

I'm a dope and didn't sign my original return. I got a form back from the IRS requesting the signature and to "explain the source of earned income you used to compute your earned income credit" and to attach a W-2 or 1099 to support it.

I get paid via PayPal, which doesn't issue a 1099 to anyone who made less than $20,000 (like me). When I pulled my transaction history to use as my proof, I realized that I reported my income wrong. Not by much, but I figured I should correct it?

If not, how should I prove my income? PayPal doesn't match my original return. (And thank you for the help!)

[laura46]

The IRS hasn't processed my original return. They need a signature (I'm a dummy lol) and some proof of my income even though I don't receive a 1099. The "proof" I pulled, my PayPal transaction history, is a couple hundred dollars off from the reported income on my original return. 

Should I send the PayPal info and wait for the IRS to tell me to amend?

Line 18 is my original return, but it has not been paid to me. Line 22 and 16 is 0, but Line 20 has an amount due. Line 18 is more than Line 20, so I'm not sure how much I owe or am due. Haven't dealt with a 1040V yet. Thank you @rjs for your help! 

[fanfare · Accepted solution]

First, sign your 1040. do not make any other changes

If you filed N dollars but your PayPal history shows N + 200 dollars,

send the details with a note of explanation and IRS will adjust your income up.

Also mention that there is no 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC.

Don't pay now. If you owe, IRS will send you a bill.

Let them do the arithmetic.