What to Do If There Is a Calculation Error on Your Taxes After Filing
Hudson, NH Resident Discovers His Mistake
If you discover a mistake in the calculations on your tax return after filing, the IRS will often catch this mistake and make the necessary adjustments to the calculations. There is no need to file an amendment for mathematical errors in your tax return. You will want to make the changes on your end to determine how this will affect your final tax numbers. This can mean that your refund will be larger than expected, smaller, or it could mean that you will end up owing the IRS money. If there is a significant change, particularly in what you owe on your taxes, you will receive a notice in the mail from the IRS indicating the difference.
For incorrectly filed tax returns that include significant changes, such as adjusting your filing status, correcting income, or using more deductions and credits, you will need to file an amended tax return. This can be done using IRS Form 1040-X Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
A Hudson resident was in a panic because he discovered a miscalculation on his end after filing his tax return with the IRS. In a panic, he contacted the team at Merrimack Tax Associates for advice.
What to Do If the Error Affects Your Tax Refund or You Owe Money
It isn’t uncommon for the IRS to receive tax returns with mathematical errors. These numbers are all checked and will be automatically corrected if a mistake in the calculations is found. The problem can be when this significantly impacts the final numbers on your tax return, particularly when you owe the IRS money. You will receive a notification of this adjustment and if there is an outstanding balance on your tax bill, you will need to pay this difference. If you still receive a refund of a different amount than you had anticipated, you will still receive this money, but you will also receive notification of the disparity. This way if you did not notice the miscalculation, you will be aware of why there is now a discrepancy in your final refund amount.
The Hudson resident’s error, while affecting his final numbers, meant that he would still receive a refund from the IRS. To avoid any problems in the future, he has made plans to leave all future tax filings in the capable hands of the Merrimack Tax Associates team.