Timing for 2018 Federal Amended Tax Return & State Return

[elysianfields]

Hello Fellow Mustachians!

In 2018 I repaid my employer some pay which I had received but to which I wasn't entitled.  Although I asked several times for a corrected 2018 W-2, I didn't receive it.  After reading the IRS guidance in Publications 17 & 525 on repayments, I entered the repaid amount on line 21 of Schedule 1 and filed my Federal taxes via FreeFileFillableForms.  I didn't submit my State return yet, because I need something not available in State FFFF.

Sure enough, now my employer has issued a corrected 2018 W-2, and I also found an error in calculating my tax on the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gains Worksheet.

Clearly I need to submit an amended Federal return.

Should I wait for the IRS to kick my original return back (due to W-2 mismatch or tax miscalculation), or should I file the amendment forthwith?

Thanks in advance,

Elysian

[Abe]

It's better to submit a corrected one prior to the April 15th deadline. I had a similar situation (corrected W-2) and ended up filing an amended return for both federal and state.

If you end up owing more taxes because of the correction (even if you were getting a refund and now getting a smaller one), then you be charged penalties for failure to pay on time. Conversely, if they owe you more after the correction, then delaying correcting the return will delay receiving the extra refund.

[elysianfields]

Following up for others who might find themselves in this situation:

- The IRS processed my refund quickly, thanks FFFF!
- I submitted an amended Federal return via certified letter, return receipt requested (sometimes they don't respond otherwise), well ahead of the April 15 deadline;
- I paid my Federal tax due via EFTPS on April 16;
- I submitted my State return on paper, using the data from and sending them a copy of my amended Federal return, again certified letter, return receipt requested.

Both my state and the Feds have acknowledged receipt of our returns, but I haven't seen the refund from my state return yet.  Processing our federal amended return will take up to 16 weeks (zounds!).