TurboTax won't let me file a federal 2020 amended return electronically

[cwyn]

Turbotax instructions say that I can file my amended return electronically.  But the software is forcing me to mail it.  I am abroad, our return is 60 pages long, and because of the pandemic, it is practically impossibly to mail stuff to the US (both in terms of transit time, reliability, and cost); our printer is also on its last legs, and everything here is about to close for two weeks for the holidays.  We filed our original return electronically; my understanding is that legally we are also supposed to file the amended return electronically.  Is there anything we can do to force Turbotax to allow us to file the return electronically?  (It is letting us file our NY State amended return electronically, no problem.  So it is totally unclear to us why it won't let us file the federal one electronically.)  Hoping someone here might have some advice? 🙂  Thanks for your time!

[Critter-3]

Sorry ... the IRS has ALL efiling closed until mid January  and even when it opens TT doesn't allow efiling of any prior year returns.   In the Print Center choose the "just my return" option for the fed & state ... you only send the 1040X plus any form/schedules that were changed ... you do not send everything and the worksheets are never sent to the IRS so the amount you need to send should be much less than 60 pages. 

[rjs]

If you have a local tax professional who does U.S. tax returns, he or she can probably e-file your 2020 amended return for you. But they will not be able to do it until the IRS reopens e-filing sometime in mid to late January. (They have not yet announced a start date.)

There is no legal requirement to file an amended return electronically, even if the original return was filed electronically.