Tax amendment and penalty

[balNgita]

Hello,

I filed my tax return for 2019 in March 2020, in which I owe an amount. And I filed an amendment for the same return in April 2040, in which I get a refund. My amendment has not been processed yet. And, yesterday I got a letter from IRS notifying me of the interest and penalty. Should I wait for the amendment to be processed to get refund or should I pay the tax that is due now? 

[VolvoGirl]

Did you pay the tax due on the first return?  You are suppose to pay it.  The amended return assumes it was paid on 1040X line 16.  Yes pay it to stop the interest from accruing.

In normal times it takes up to 16 weeks or more to process an Amended 1040X return.  But these are not normal times.

Sorry the IRS has limited staff due to Covid-19.  They just started opening the mail in June that's been stacking up. Back in March the IRS closed their processing centers and stopped processing mailed tax returns.  An IRS spokesperson recently said that they have about 11 million pieces of unopened mail.  So you have to keep waiting.

See this IRS page for the latest information

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-operations-during-covid-19-mission-critical-functions-continue

Then once they start opening the mail, After 3 weeks you can track it here,    

https://www.irs.gov/filing/individuals/amended-returns-form-1040-x-/wheres-my-amended-return-1