Amended Return Strangeness

[Robe0965]

I misread instructions and failed to report income on sale of my primary residence.  The gain on the sale was less that the minimum so it made no difference in my AGI.  When I recognized the omission I went through the process of filling out an amended return on Turbotax.  The resulting1040X, amended return, showed my "original amount" AGI as $3600 dollars below AGI as reported on my original 1040.  It then showed the "net change" as $3600 and the "corrected amount" as the same as on my origional 1040.  So the income was the same on both 1040s, but the amount of tax I owed was $850, in addition to what I already paid.  Does this have something to do with the stimulus payments of $3600 I received, and since the sale of another property put me over the top limit for receiving the full amount, the $850 is what I have to return.  I called Turbotax, and they were not able to answer this question.  The 1040X has no worksheets that explain this change.  

[ThomasM125]

It sounds like the gain on your house is not taxable, since it is under that tax-free portion of $500,000 (joint return) or $250,000 (single). If so, then your tax should not change when you file the amended return. 

I'm not sure why the tax due has changed, but it may not be necessary to file the amended return if your tax will not change. You are not required to report the sale of your primary residence if you have no taxable gain to report on its sale. 

The worse that could happen to you is you will get a notice from the IRS about it, to which you can respond that it is not at taxable, so that is why you did not report it.

[Robe0965]

Thanks for your reply.   I appreciate your time.

In my explanation of my situation I did not state that I received a 1099S for the proceeds from the sale.  This is where I misunderstood, or did not read carefully the instructions.  Because the sale was under the $500,000 limit, I thought I did not have to report the income.  However, on second reading I thought that I had to report the sale even if it wasn't under the limit because of having received a 1099S, thus the amended return.

I am still not clear why the amended return shows me owing $835 dollars even though my taxable income is still the same.  Is it possible that there is a "bug" in the TurboTax program?

[AmyC]

Yes, the sale of the house changes unearned income. The stimulus does not have to be repaid.

None of this may apply to you and you don't need to file. Thomas is right, if you had not received a 1099-S, you would not have to report it and none of this would matter. You can always wait for an IRS letter in a few years and show them that you made less than $500,000 profit and the sale has no impact on your return.

I wonder if you hit some area that created a change in one of the following areas. Again, there should be no real impact on your taxes.

What is the Child Tax Credit?

What is the Additional Child Tax Credit?

You can visit the IRS interactive tool for Child Tax Credit. or visit IRS Pub 972 Child Tax Credit for more details.

The EIC is for MFJ with AGI below $56,844.  See EITC, Earned Income Tax Credit, Questions and Answers | IRS. Investment income would knock you