Tax Year Prior to 2020: Should I filed an amendment to my 2018 tax return?

[mirandag13]

I received a letter from the IRS stating that changes were made to my 2018 Form 1040 and in turn, received an adjusted refund amount. An error was believed to have been made on the EIC portion on my tax return. When I looked back at my documents, I forgot to check the box stating that my son was under the age of 24 last year (he's 3). Since I see no other issue, could that be the reason for the adjusted refund? If I simply need to go back and check a box, I will proceed to amend my return. 

[KarenL]

It might be the case.  I would definitely suggest trying to amend to see if it results in the proper credit.  However, if your credit was reduced for a different reason, it may not work.  Read the letter from the IRS carefully, and if you believe amending will result in the original refund amount, go ahead and proceed.   Also, this link has the instructions on How to Amend.  Good luck! 

[Opus 17]

This is tricky.  The IRS already adjusted your file, you don't need to amend to make the change they already made for you.  It sounds like you should have gotten more money?  In that case, you don't need to do anything unless you want your tax return to match what the IRS has on file.

If you think the adjustment is wrong, you have to start the amended return using the version already on file with the IRS, which includes the change they said they were making.  

(Also, you filed by hand?  turbotax would not have made that mistake.)