Why is my federal amended refund only $124 when i am removing 10,200 of taxable income (UI) since i filed before the American Rescue Plan? I am in the 12% bracket

[fanfare]

"i am removing 10,200 of taxable income (UI)"

Are you?

the tax break is phased out then goes to zero for high earners (high AGI).

How much did you make in 2020 ?

[fanfare]

review your Form 1040-X to verify a difference in Column B of $10,200 for AGI.

[jbit3-9]

My AGI prior to the amended return was roughly 78k between my wife and I with 19k from unemployment 

[jbit3-9]

I realized too that I filed jointly with my wife so in theory it should be up to 20400 is that correct?

[rjs]

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@jbit3-9 wrote:

I realized too that I filed jointly with my wife so in theory it should be up to 20400 is that correct?

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It's not necessarily "up to $20,400." It's up to $10,200 per person. The exclusion is calculated separately for each person. If you received unemployment benefits, up to $10,200 of your unemployment can be excluded. If your wife also received unemployment, up to $10,200 of her unemployment can be excluded.

Here's an example to illustrate what I'm saying. Suppose you received $20,000 of unemployment, and your wife received $5,000 of unemployment. You can exclude $10,200 of your unemployment, and the entire $5,000 of your wife's unemployment. So your total exclusion is $15,200, not $20,400, even though the two of you together received $25,000 of unemployment.

If only one of you received unemployment, your maximum exclusion is $10,200, even though you are filing jointly.

[fanfare]

you should not be amending unless the reduced AGI qualifies you for some other additional credit(s) that were not there before.

IRS is doing the recalculation for all taxpayer with unemployment compensation reported..

[jbit3-9]

That all makes sense regarding the up to 20400 only my wife received UI so only 10200 would apply.  

I have read some articles that the IRS is automatically sending refunds so I think I’ll hold off on doing an amended return for now.

Thank you for all the help!