Question: The IRS said I owed them for an issue on an old tax return which I amended (recently). However, they took my refund check and charged me high amounts of fees and interest. How likely is it that they will refund me back my refund? How long is the process? Also, after the amendment goes through do they take all the fees and interest away? The amount they say I owed back was a little over $2000.00 and now it is over $6000.00. Thanks for your advice (in advance). – Desiree in California
Jacob Dayan, Co-Founder of Community Tax, responds…
Once your amendment processes, the IRS should retroactively adjust any penalties and interest back to match your amended return and will issue a refund to you on any funds paid towards the amended tax year within the last 24 months.
If your amended return shows that you do not owe any additional tax for the year in question, you should expect to see all penalties and interest removed and your entire refund returned to you within 6-10 months of filing the 1040X. The IRS could also send you a notice requesting additional information regarding your figures on your amended return. Be sure to check for any IRS letters and respond to their requests timely.
What is Form 1040X?
Form 1040X is the IRS form you file for an amended tax return. It’s mostly similar to the standard Form 1040, with an added space to explain why you’re filing an amended return.
Checking your amended tax return status
It’s important to be aware that you cannot file Form 1040X online; you must mail in the amended tax return. The IRS states that it can take up to three weeks for the amended return to even appear in their system. Then they say it can take up to 16 weeks to process the amended return.
After three weeks, you can check the status of your return through the IRS website at Where’s My Amended Return?
You’ll need your Social Security Number, date of birth and zip code to locate your records. There are three possible statuses that you’ll see:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Received | The IRS has received your Form 1040X; it’s in their system and being processed |
| Adjusted | The IRS has applied the information from your amended return to your account. |
| Completed | The IRS has fully processed your amended return and if there is no additional balance, they issued your amended tax return refund. |
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Once the status shows as completed, there’s no further way to check the status of your refund
With normal tax returns, the IRS has a Where’s My Refund tool that allows you to check the status of your refund. But this technology is not available with an amended tax return refund. The other downside with an amended tax return is that you cannot receive a refund electronically through direct deposit. The IRS will mail a check to the address you use on the amended return. This means it could take up to 6 weeks to receive your check once they send it.
Unfortunately, you usually just have to be patient. The IRS will only take calls about the status of an amended tax return refund if it’s been 12 weeks since the official receipt of Form 1040X. If it has been 12 weeks, then you can call their hotline at 1-800-829-1040.
