GeoffreyG
New Member

After you file

Mistakes happen, and that is unfortunate.

You are a resident of Georgia, working and living in the state of Georgia, correct?  If true, did you also file a state tax return in North Carolina by error?  If the responses to those questions are yes, then the following answer will apply to you.  If instead you live in Georgia but work in North Carolina, then this answer will not apply to you.  In that instance it is recommended that you post a new question here on the TurboTax answer exchange detailing that fact.

However, in your particular situation, if you lived and worked in Georgia, it appears that you will need to:

  • File (an original) Georgia state tax return
  • File (an amended) North Carolina state tax return, to repay any refund they might send you, or to claim back any money that you may have calculated as an income tax-to-pay, if they do not mail you a correction letter
  • Do nothing with your federal tax return, assuming that it is correct, as you originally filed it

It is also very possible that the North Carolina Department of Revenue will find the filing mistake, and mail a correction letter to you, since your reported wage withholding data would not match their records (assuming that you did not work in North Carolina, but worked in Georgia instead and had state income tax withheld there).  In any event, you will want to wait and see what the North Carolina Department of Revenue does before responding to them.  It will probably require an amended state tax return, as indicated above, a written response to their correction letter, or at least a phone call to them (1-877-252-3052).

While you are waiting for some action from North Carolina:  the receipt of a refund, processing your original (mistaken) return, or receipt of a department of revenue notice -- you can and should still file an original tax return in Georgia.

To do that, you can create a new TurboTax account, and re-enter your exact federal information as you did before, but this time making sure that you tell the program you are a Georgia resident (not North Carolina).  You'll then be able to complete a Georgia state tax return.  You may be able to e-file the Georgia state return alone, without the federal tax return; but if the program will not allow you to do so, then you may have to chose the file-by-mail option, which will give you the ability to print just (an original) Georgia tax return and file that copy only.  You do not need to, nor should you, file another federal tax return, since you have already filed one.

It's also possible that, in doing the above, the program may ask you to upgrade from the Free version in order to print your Georgia state tax return.  If that happens to you, it's an issue that will have to be considered.  You always have the additional option of filling out your state tax return manually, based on your federal tax numbers, by downloading the appropriate blank tax forms and instruction booklet from the Georgia Department of Revenue.

Thanks for asking this important question, and we hope that you are able to get everything corrected.



View solution in original post