Why do I owe money when I Increased Traditional IRA contributions in ammended Tax Return?

[kainui]

Why do I owe money when I Increased Traditional IRA contributions in ammended Tax Return?

I only changed one thing in my amended tax return: increased Traditional IRA contributions, and now it is saying I am both getting a refund and owing money. 

To give a broad example, rather than going into specifics, I owed over 1000 when I submitted my tax return, which i paid, and then when I contributed over 3000 to my traditional IRA, and amended, turbotax quoted me saying I would have to pay over 500, and I would simultaneously get a refund of a little over 500. I looked at the tax document TurboTax prepared and it wrote an amount to pay over 500, when it was actually to pay -500. And the new refund is not being listed on the turbotax dashboard - will that be posted at some point? 

Does that make sense to be given a refund and owing, after owing before? 

In another sense, pre-tax contributions are supposed to be pre-tax, so that you would later. I'm confused why I would have to pay more now, if I will be taxed on that later too given it was pre-tax. I used turbotax premium which was not an option for product to select so i chose deluxe for purpose of this. 

[VolvoGirl · Accepted solution]

Not sure what you are seeing where.  Maybe this will help?

The amended return is only for the difference you get back or owe.  I think the cover sheet shows what the original return WOULD have been if you did it right the first time.

Go by the actual 1040X.  Line 18 should be your original refund amount and line 22 should be your additional refund.  If you paid on your original return it will be on line 16.  If there is an amount owed with the amendment, it will be on line 20.

If you have a tax due, do not send the 1040V.  Just include a check with the 1040X.  Ignore the 1040V.  That is for the original return or what the original return would have been if it didn’t need correcting.  Don’t pay the amount on the 1040V.  Pay the amount on the actual 1040X line 20.

And by adding a deduction it will reduce your income and you might not be getting as much credits as before.  It can affect many things.

[kainui]

Hi, Thanks, I think that helps. If so, I would owe 0. It's hard to find information on this. Could I ask your source about this?

[DawnC]

Compare your original filed Form 1040 to the amended return 1040X.    The bottom of the Form 1040X has all the lines mentioned above.  

Instructions for 1040X -  TurboTax does all of this automatically.    I would ignore messages you see on screen while preparing the amendment and instead focus on the numbers that are actually on the 1040X.

[kainui]

Thank you! Nice to get confirmation via two responses with similar answers.