efile state return after federal amendment

[HelenC12]

If you need to e-file your state (not amended state), after you e-filed your federal return and your federal return was accepted by the IRS, select the product you used:

TurboTax Online

TurboTax CD/Download software

If your federal hasn't been accepted, or you printed and mailed it, you won't be able to e-file your state but you can print and mail a paper return.

[Woggly]

That was not the full question.  I e-filed my federal and state returns.  My federal return was accepted but my Alabama state return was rejected with AL40-050.  I need to amend my federal return and change the state tax info in boxes 15-17 on one of my W-2's in order to fix the state reject, but when I start to e-file the amended federal return it says I cannot e-file my AL state return because now it is an amendment.  Why is the corrected state return considered an amendment if AL rejected the original return?  

[CatinaT1]

You don't need to amend anything. Instead, go ahead and make the correction to the W2 and then file your state return. You do not need to amend your Federal return for this since it will not effect your Federal Return.

[Woggly]

Thanks for the info, but unfortunately it is too late.  I tried to update the W-2 on my state return but every time I moved to a different screen it would revert back to match the W-2 from my Federal return. It forced them to match.  I should have waited but there are too many community chat responses that say a federal amendment is needed to fix the problem so I filed the federal amendment even though adding state wages to the W-2 changed nothing at the federal level nor did they affect the amount owned on my state return, but now my new state return is considered to be an amendment that has to be mailed in.  I paid extra for State e-file and now I have to mail my return.

Why was the problem with my AL state return not caught during the TurboTax error check before filing the first time?  TurboTax knows about the AL40-050 error and that Alabama wages on the W-2s have to match the wages on the federal return but it let me file it anyway. 

Will the amount of state tax owed from my original state return still be drafted on the payment date that I selected (14 April) or do I need to send a check along with my amended AL state return?

[AmyC]

You only file an amended return if there is a change in tax liability.  

If you filed an original AL return, you are not supposed to file an amended until all original return items are complete and processed, including payment. Note, filing AL and telling them the earliest date to withdraw is the 14th is not the same as when they may actually take the money - wait patiently.

If the amended state also has no tax change, do not mail it in.

For more, see AL amended information.

[Woggly]

Thank you for the clarification, but my original AL return was rejected with AL40-050.  How can I get away with not filing the amendment when my original state return was not accepted? 

[AmyC]

Oh, you have not filed a return. A rejected return means it was not filed. You must correct the rejection and file an original AL return. Your rejection code means your wages in box 16 of the w2 are not adding up correctly. 

You can change the w2 state amounts to the actual numbers instead of what is listed. The IRS and AL already have a paper copy. You need to input the accurate numbers.

Original - the first accepted tax return

Amended - a correction of an already accepted tax form

[Woggly]

If the rejected return was not filed in Alabama then why does TurboTax say I cannot e-file the corrected return?  Why does TurboTax give me "File by Mail Instructions for Your 2022 Alabama Amended Tax Return"?

[RobertB4444]

Because you created an amended return.  By doing so you told the system that you had filed the original return by mail and it had been accepted.  The system is telling you to mail an amendment because it thinks that is what you need to do.  But if you delete the amended return that you created you will be able to go back and edit the original return and file it electronically.

Here's how to get rid of that amended return.

@Woggly 

[Woggly]

I read the instructions at the link you provided and I do not see an option to Cancel Amend.  This could be because the instructions talk about cancelling an amendment that was started by accident, but I did not merely "start" amending my federal return.  I e-filed the federal amendment and received an email that it was accepted.  What I did not amend was my state return, because my original state return was rejected and never accepted.  Yet TurboTax thought my state return was also an amendment and it would not allow me to e-file the state return again.  So I paid for a state e-file that I did not get.

What I still do not understand is why TurboTax let me file my original Alabama state return to begin with.  It passed through the error checks without identifying the errors that generate the AL40-050 reject.  This is the root of the problem.