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Get your taxes done using TurboTax
@YUIXO9 I am not @Opus17, but I hope these comments are helpful. Whether or not you can return the bonus before the end of 2020 is a matter of your company's policy. If the company will allow you to do so, and your finances allow you to take care of this within 2020, it is advantageous to do so because it will reduce the amount of complication involved with "Claim of Right" repayments.
However, if you find out that the company will not allow you to make the repayment, you may be able to take a step this year to prepare for it. You can prepare a tax return that excludes the bonus income, and print that out as a sample. This way you can know the amount of tax you would owe on the reduced amount of income. You will subtract the reduced amount of tax liability from the tax amount you will actually end up owing, and save that number for 2021's return. That way, if you have to repay bonus in 2021, you will have the option to claim either a reduction of income in 2021 for the claim of right repayment, or a tax credit for the difference it would have made in 2020 on your return. You can use the method that results in a more favorable tax treatment.
This procedure is described at the following link: IRS Claim of Right Procedure, Section 1341
One caveat: If the repayment is made in 2021, the amount must be greater than $3000, or else no tax benefit can be obtained.
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