William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence

The IRS reported in its 2014-56 NewsWire that 131 million tax returns were filed by the deadline of April 15 for the tax year of 2013.  88% of these tax returns were e-filed of which 35% (almost 46 million returns) were filed by taxpayers from home computers.

But the IRS disclosed that it expects nearly 5 million of these taxpayers to file amendments to their returns by filing Form 1040X during 2014.  Generally, for a credit or refund, taxpayers must file Form 1040X within 3 years, including extensions, after the date they filed their original return or within 2 years after the date they paid the tax, whichever is later. For most people, this means that returns for tax-year 2011 or later can still be amended.

Thus far, the IRS has released 94,809,000 refunds averaging $2,686 each.  In all, the IRS has had to return almost $255 billion to taxpayers in the form of refunds of access tax withholdings.

Same Sex Couples Amending Returns

The IRS alerted same-sex couples to consider filing amended returns for past years.  A same sex couple, legally married in a state or foreign country that recognizes their marriage, is now considered married for tax purposes. This is true regardless of whether or not the couple lives in a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage.

For returns originally filed before Sept. 16, 2013, legally married same sex couples have the option of filing amended return to change their filing status to married filing separately or married filing jointly. But they are not required to change their filing status on a prior return, even if they amend that return for another reason. In either case, their amended return must be consistent with the filing status they have chosen.

If a taxpayer still owes tax for the year 2013, then read https://profwilliambyrnes.com/2014/04/15/4-tax-tips-if-you-cant-pay-the-full-amount-of-taxes-on-time/