Submitted the wrong forms and ended up paying more in taxes

[user123450]

I submitted the wrong forms and ended up paying more in taxes. I used turbotax to submit my taxes as a resident for tax purposes (which I’ve done for years), but there were changes to my residency last year and I didn’t realize that my status changed to a non-resident for tax purposes, so I should’ve used something like sprintax. Since I filed taxes as a resident, I reported income I shouldn’t have and ended up paying more taxes. Although in my case, I received a smaller refund than the one I should’ve received. Should I try to amend my taxes?

[DawnC]

Yes, you should.  If you are amending your return, you need to send the corrected 1040NR attached to the Form 1040X.  They would need to be mailed.  

The refunds will not be the same on the nonresident returns you will need to file.

You can use the steps here below to amend from 1040 resident return and file a correct 1040NR (nonresident return).    You will need to have your correct tax return prepared as a 1040NR.   Please visit the TurboTax/Sprintax site for guidance.  

Print your 1040NR in Sprintax; do not e-file it..  You must mail the 1040NR along with the amended return Form 1040X. 

To amend and file the correct return, do the following:   

1. Enter your name, current address, and social security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) on the front of Form 1040X.  
2. Don’t enter any other information on page 1.  Also, don’t complete Parts I or II on page 2 of Form 1040X.  
3. Enter in Part III the reason why you are filing Form 1040X.   
4. Complete a new or corrected return, Form 1040NR,  
5. Across the top of the new or corrected return, write “Amended.”   
6. Attach the new or corrected return to the back of Form 1040X.  

**Make sure you check the box to show the tax year that you are amending on Form 1040X.   

Form 1040X  

1040X Instructions 

[user123450]

Thanks! 1) should I follow the same steps for state taxes? 2) what's the deadline for me to do this?

[RobertB4444]

1. Yes

2. There is no real deadline.  However, you have three years from the original filing date to get a refund if you are owed one.

@user123450 

[user123450]

Thank you so much! To confirm:

1) there is no deadline for both federal and state taxes to submit my amendment?

2) the 3 year deadline to receive my refund is also for state taxes?

3) If I filed in Feb-2025, does that mean that I can submit my amendment by Feb-2028? If so, is there a specific month to submit it for both federal and state purposes?

4) If I decide to wait 3 years to submit my amendment to receive my refund, do I submit my tax return next year the regular way? or does having a pending amendment change anything in the tax filing process?

[RobertB4444]

1. I shouldn't have said no deadline.  The IRS doesn't recognize tax returns going back more than 7 years - those are closed years.  So I guess there is a seven year deadline from the date that you filed.  Three years in order to get a refund that was owed.

2. States are all different.  What state?

3. Yes, three years from the date that you filed.  No specific month for federal purposes.  I doubt it for state.

4. Yes.  Each tax year is a separate account.  So having amended returns for prior years has no bearing on other years' taxes.

@user123450 

[user123450]

Thanks again! When it comes to state taxes, I had to submit taxes for CA and NY. Would I need to amend my state taxes considering the following?

1) CA taxes: I wasn't a resident in CA, so I included that information when filing with turbotax and turbotax told me I'd life as a non-resident. Does that mean that I'd have to amend my taxes? I'm not sure if Turbotax and Sprintax provide different tax forms for state taxes

2) I was assigned as a part-time NY resident by turbotax. In that case, would I have to submit an amendment?

[RobertB4444]

Both California and New York use your total income to figure the tax for you as a resident or non-resident.  

So since the only reason you are amending is because you are changing your federal residence status then you won't need to amend NY or CA because unless your actual income changes they have already figured your tax based on the original information you entered.  

@user123450 

[user123450]

Thank you for the explanation and all your help! I really appreciate it. So, I'll only amend the Federal tax.

Can you please help me with some final questions?

1) I assume that filing an amendment to change my status from resident to nonresident for tax purposes can be a complicated process. Do you have any final advice or tips for going through it?

2) Would this amendment impact negatively any of my future tax filings?

3) In my case, I received a refund this year with my current forms. However, I'd have to receive an additional refund because I reported interest income from savings accounts, which I understand shouldn't be reported as a nonresident for tax purposes. Since I already received a refund this year, would I need to return it before applying for a larger refund?

3) Do you know how long it typically takes the IRS to review an amended return? In my case, since I overpaid in taxes, would Sprintax be sufficient to file the amendment, or should I consider hiring a tax expert instead?

4) To confirm, I can file an amendment at any time of the year, right?

5) Would I need to do something else with the forms I already filed this year? Or would it be enough to just follow the process Sprintax suggests? 

[RobertB4444]

1. I really don't.  The resident/non-resident stuff is difficult and uses two different forms.  Just file the one you should have filed originally.

2. The correct return should never impact anything negatively.

3. If you used Sprintax originally then the change should be able to be handled by that program.  The IRS takes their time with amended returns.  It can take years.  Here is a tool to track your return after you have submitted it.

4. Yes.

5. The forms that you already submitted can't be changed.  The only changes come from new forms that you are submitting.

@user123450 

[user123450]

Thanks Robert, and I apologize but I listed question 3 twice, my question was: 

* In my case, I received a refund this year with my current forms. However, I'd have to receive an additional refund because I reported interest income from savings accounts, which I understand shouldn't be reported as a nonresident for tax purposes. Since I already received a refund this year, would I need to return it before applying for a larger refund? Or would the IRS just review the difference between tax paid and tax owed?

* You also mentioned that I should use sprintax since I used it originally, but I didn't. I used Turbotax for the forms that need to be amended, so I planned to use Sprintax to submit the new forms. I assume this plan works, but please let me know if you disagree

* Finally, you mentioned that the amendment can be complicated because of the change from resident to nonresident, is that still true if I overpaid taxes? Do you recommend hiring an expert to file the amendment for this type of case? Especially since the IRS review could take years

[RobertB4444]

1.  The IRS will make the adjustment.

2.  Sprintax is still fine but since you didn't file with them originally you will have to mail in the returns.

3.  Citizenship stuff is always complicated.  Only you know how comfortable you are with doing your taxes by yourself.  But there are experts who can help in Sprintax.

@user123450 

[user123450]

Thank you for all you help. I don't think it's related to citizenship since I had to file forms as a nonresident with Sprintax years ago (as a student), before having to move to turbotax when I was considered a resident for tax purposes. But I'll submit the amendment by the 3 year deadline to get the refund I should've received.

Thanks!

[RobertB4444]

Thank you for joining us for the event today!

@user123450