Well, maybe I need the answer fast. I’m not entirely positive.
I used Turbo Tax to file my federal and state (IL) tax returns at the end of February. I got my return and used the money to pay off a couple credit cards.
Then in Mid March I get a 1099-DIV form for some dividends that I apparently got paid last year. It was only $39.67, so not very much.
As the tax deadline is approaching, I was chatting with some friends on the train ride home last night. They started talking and now I’m afraid I might get audited. Granted they are not tax professionals but I’m freaking out a bit.
I started Turbo Tax back up and added it to my federal return and it calculated that I owed $0.
I realize that none you are not my accountant. You are not responsible for any advice you give me.
But I am totally lost with Turbo Tax. Especially with my State Return. It says I have to get my fed return approved and attach it to my state return.
Since Turbo Tax doesn’t think I owe anything, do I really need to file? If so, do I have to file by April 17th? Or can I deal with it next year? And what is up with Illinois’ return?
Amend your return. Omitting a 1099 is red flag city.
I did it once on purpose for $600 (gave false SSN to a vendor - I was young and naive) and they found me anyway and whacked me for more than $600 in penalties and interest.
I only know about Federal taxes. For those, you should file an amended return this year. Technically, the deadline is still the 17th (unless you file an extension), but since you will owe nothing, there will be no penalty if you do it late. But you would probably rather do it before you get a letter from the IRS, and thus on their radar.
It will trigger a letter about two years from now in which the IRS tells you about what you missed and how much they think you owe (including two years’ of interest and whatever penalties may apply). The letter is an automated letter that is generated because your return didn’t match the information the IRS had reported for you.
It is possible that the additional tax due is $0. The IRS might even know this, so you might not get a letter. You could also wait to see if you get a letter
I guess I should qualify this. Many people use the term “audit” to describe any letter from the IRS with corrections or questions about a return. This is not the same definition of “audit” used by the IRS or by tax professionals. Responding to a letter is a piece of cake compared to handling a real audit. My last letter response took half an hour… my last audit took 12 hours of my time, about 100 hours of the client’s time, and we had the IRS camped out in my conference room for three days.
I filed my Federal return with TurboTax a couple of days ago, and it took about 4 hours for it to be accepted. All “accepted” means is that the Feds got it, and didn’t see anything obviously wrong, like no signature. I assume that the process is automated, and can be done on the weekend.
If not, file an extension for your state return. All they really care about is getting their money, and you should have a very good estimate, so just round it up a bit and send it in with the extension.
Not owing money doesn’t change the deadline for filing; it just means that there will be no penalty for late filing. However, until you do file, they have no way of knowing that you don’t owe them money (you might have made a million dollars in tips or something), they only know that you didn’t file a return. Your call as to whether you want to get extra info like that in your file. Me, I’d file an extension. If you’ve already got an almost-complete return done, an extension should only take five minutes to fill out.
As for your other question, I’ve been filing electronically for years, and I don’t understand why you can’t, but when I was doing it by mail, I never got an acknowledgement that my return was accepted. I just assumed that no news was good news.
Too late to edit, but that thing about the IRS allowing six months extra is in the context of filing two extensions, three months each. If you don’t file the extension, you will be flagged as a non-filer. In practice, there may be no penalty, but it’s not something you want in your file in case you have more substantive dealings with them in the future.
One more thing — tax statements like 1099s are required to be sent out by Jan 31. You should find out what happened there.
I have this same question. I did the same thing, filed in February when I had everything. Then, because one of my stocks had given me a couple of new stocks near the end of last year. I didn’t get a 1099 so I didn’t know what to do thinking that I hadn’t made the $10.
The end of February I got the 1099 AND an extra interest payment 1098 form. So I’m technically owed money. However, when I went through Turbo Tax it said I had to make a whole new return. I would have done it before, but it made me start completely over, including my name so I haven’t done it yet.
Does anyone know if there is an easy way to create the amendment? It seems really stupid if I can’t just copy the old one and put in the two new forms.
For those saying you filed electronically, for an amendment you can’t do that, you have to snail mail it in. Another reason I’ve put off doing it.
**Shadowfyre **has filed 2011 taxes already. Therefore the issue of an extension does not apply.
**Shadowfyre **needs to file an amended return, not a late return. An amended return must be filed within 3 years of the filing of the original return. However, if you owe additional tax and do not pay it now, you are liable for interest and penalties when you finally file the amended return.
BTW the 1099 was required to be sent to you by 1/31. Not much you can do about it but you may want to contact the sender about it.
Correct. I have already filed my return for 2011. I only got $40 in dividends in 2011 and it didn’t change my my tax liability. According to Turbo Tax, I owe nothing more to the IRS. And the IRS owes me nothing more.
I’m going to snail mail the Federal 1040X form to reflect the new 1099. Illinois’ 1040X form wants me to send in a date that the Fed 1040X was accepted and the finalization form.
To sum up:
I assume the Feds will send me some kind of letter in snail mail that indicates that the 1040X was accepted. Then I can attach that form to my IL-1040X form and snail mail that into IL.
Since I have already filed my return for 2011 and I owe nothing more (both Fed and State), I have some extra time to get my 1040X forms into the respective governments.*
That all sound about right?
*Though I plan on mailing my Fed 1040X form on Monday. Get the ball rolling ASAP.
This is also as I understand it. The OP’s good to go with filing an amended return later than Tuesday, as long as the amendment would not entail an increased tax liability. Millions of people file amended returns every year, it is NOT a red flag for an audit.