Amending process question.

[Dardafed]

Hello, I filled jointly with my spouse and it was accepted and I received my refund. A few days later my spouse received another W-2 she forgot about. I amended the return and the federal was accepted but I haven't heard anything about the state. We filled jointly but I amended it sure to it costing drastically more to file jointly so I changed it to married filing separately. My questions are...

1) Does my spouse need to wait to file until my amended return is approved? I already paid the money I owed.

2) Should I file an extension for both of us since April 15th is approaching or just my spouse?

[DavidD66]

If  I understand correctly, you filed a joint return for 2024.  You then filed a separate return for yourself for 2024. Your wife has not yet filed her separate return.  If that is correct, your wife can go ahead and file her return as MFS.  If she does not file before April 15 she should file an amended return.  

FYI, Because you changed from Married Filing Joint to Married Filing Separate before the due date, it is OK.  However, once you file a joint return, you can't choose to file separate returns for that year after the due date of the return.

[Dardafed]

Thank you for your response! Correct, I filed an amended return for myself. To confirm, my spouse doesn't have to wait until the MFJ amended federal return gets approved before filing MFS in the State of Ohio?

As for myself, I only filed my amended federal return. It was suggested that I wait to file an amended state return until the federal is approved. Do you know if this is true?

[AnnetteB6]

Your spouse can go ahead and prepare the return using the Married Filing Separate filing status.  However, if it is electronically filed before the amended return is in the system, then the return will be rejected by the IRS since the Social Security number will have already been filed on a return for 2024.  

If that happens, just wait a bit and try again.  If it has not gone through before close to the tax deadline, then mailing the tax return may be the best option to get it done by April 15th.  

@Dardafed