I'm contemplating trying to do a superceding return in the wake of the student loan forgiveness announcement. But I'm concerned that it may not work? In my situation, spouse and I file separate timely 6-month automatic extension for the 2021 return, so the original due date for us is October 15, 2022, which hasn't come yet and e-filing is still open. Spouse, however, already filed a married filing separately return and got a refund, while I haven't filed anything yet. The superceding return intended here is to change this to a marriage filing jointly return, and there will be an additional refund due in addition to student loan forgiveness eligibility. Will e-filing a MFJ even work in this situation, or does it have to be a mailed paper return at this point? Will they just figure out to reduce the requested refund by the amount they already paid, or (if mailing) should I include correspondence to explain what we're doing? I don't want this processed as a 1040X amended return (albeit one filed before the extension due date) because that is usually handled by IRS as a request for an account adjustment, not as a return filing, and it will leave me on record with no return filed. And I don't think the student loan forgiveness program is going to be smart enough to consider eligibility based on amended returns, which can be filed up to 3 years after the due date... Comments?
