Question

Do I need to amend my 2020 tax return

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
April 24, 2021
2 replies
0 views

I efiled my 2020 federal and state returns on 3/19/20. I have not paid the tax owed to federal yet. State was a small refund which I have received. Now there is the change of the unemployment deduction which will reduce my federal amount due and increase the state refund. Do I need to file an amended federal return to reduce my amount due, or do I pay the original amount due and wait for the IRS to make the adjustment and send me the refund? I also live in Illinois which requires an amended return to included a federal pro-forma 1040 and schedule 1 showing the computation of the adjusted AGI to make the unemployment adjustment. What do I do?

Amend

T

ToddL99

You do not have to file an amended federal return - the IRS will automatically update your federal return to reflect the change in tax for unemployment compensation.

Since Illinois requires a pro-forma federal return showing the change, you will have to go through the TurboTax amendment process to generate an amended IL return with federal updates - just don't file the federal amendment. Print and file the IL amendment by mail.

See How do I amend my 2020 return?

From the IRS New Exclusion of up to $10,200 of Unemployment Compensation: If you have already filed your 2020 Form 1040 or 1040-SR, there is no need to file an amended return (Form 1040-X) to figure the amount of unemployment compensation to exclude. The IRS will refigure your taxes using the excluded unemployment compensation amount and adjust your account accordingly. The IRS will send any refund amount directly to you.

N

nstebbins1975

i so your telling me that i do not to amend my taxes and just wait for the irs to make the amendment for me

L

linaj20201

The email refers to, other than the unemployment exclusion, if you qualify for any additional credits and deductions due to a lower AGI, you should amend your federal tax return. If the only reason you amend is the unemployment exclusion, you do not need to amend. They will re-calculate your taxes and send you the refund.

For details from the IRS, click here: No amendment

Per IRS, "There is no need for taxpayers to file an amended return unless the calculations make the taxpayer newly eligible for additional federal credits and deductions not already included on the original tax return."

@nstebbins1975

B

BE25

I filed my fed tax return electronically before the update for the UCE hit. The IRS sent me a notice of the UCE adjusted taxes owed. They are simply taking the the figures from 1040 line 24 of the original filing (taxes you owed when you filed your return) and subtracting the figure from 1040 line 24 of the UCE adjusted return (Payments and credits). Then they bill you for the difference. They even neglected to credit the payments I made on my tax return (with holdings and taxes owed on the UCE adjusted return). This is not reflective of the actual taxes owed on the amended tax return that Turbotax generated when the update hit. Eg; your original line 24 is $2000, your UCE adjusted line 24 is $1000. The IRS is saying that you owe $1000 in taxes even though you have paid $500 in with holdings and $200 in taxes owed on the return, both of which the IRS has failed to add to the "Payments and credits". I don't know about anyone else, but I will be filing an amended tax return. Oh, and good luck getting a live person on the IRS phone line, you might as well use a carrier pigeon.

K

kostopst

BE25, did you have any Recovery Rebate Credits? (stimulus money). The UCE adjustment would also increase any RRC that you're owed. Because a lower AGI after the UCE implies a higher RRC.

I agree, the correction you mentioned the IRS did is not the proper tax calculation.