Filed 2006 Return, Accepted, but forgot W2?

Question

I filed my federal and state income taxes on 1/30, and my return was accepted by both agencies.

However, today, 2/1 I received an additional W2. I had completely forgotten I worked for this company and it was brief and the beginning of last year. The difference is about $200 in their favor on each return.

I know I have to file a 1040X, but my return was scheduled to be direct deposited next Friday. Is there any chance they still would, and I just send back the difference? Can I call them to try and get them to release the approval so I can put the new w2 info in, or will they adjust it automatically without a huge wait?

This was an honest mistake and I am so sorry, I just had made some arrangements to pay bills with the refund and hope it will work out. Does anyone have a similar experience?

Answer 1

Since your return has been accepted, it's already been through the first stage of verification, so your refund will probably be deposited on schedule.

Yes, you'll need to file the 1040X and send them the difference with the 1040X. If you don't they'll catch up to you eventually and bill you for the additional tax plus interest and possibly penalties, but that could take months if not a year or more. Get it done before April 17 and you'll be fine.

Answer 2

Just file the amended returns and pay the difference with them. You have until April 17th this year to do that without penalty. As far as the IRS is concerned, this is a non-event. They probably get a few million amended returns every year for exactly that reason.

It will be much later in the year before the IRS gets around to matching up returns with the source documents so it's not very likely that your refund will be delayed.

In the unlikely event that the IRS bounces your return back for the error, just correct it and re-file. This is NOT very likely to happen, though.

Answer 3

This happened to us in 2004. My husband received one W2 in mid-February, and we had already filed and gotten our refund. As long as you file the 1040X by April 17 and pay anything you owe them, you won't get in trouble.