Amending an amended return

[decoursey01]

How do I amend an amended return in Pro Connect when I didn't prepare either the original or the amended return?  

I have 3 amended returns for 2016-2018 that were prepared by someone else.  I am asked to enter the information in Pro Connect and then amend the amended return.  

Normally I prepare a return, submit it and then after it is accepted and I need to amend it, I do so.

Here I will only be submitting it once and wasn't quite sure how that works.

Titus

[IRonMaN]

Enter the information into the return so that everything agrees with the first amended return.  After making sure everything is in sync with the amended return, you can then move on like you were amending the return for the first time.

[puravidapto]

There is no difference among amending your own return, amending other people's return, and amend an amended return. The process is the same:

1. You prepare a correct return
2. You create a 1040-X putting in the amounts of the "original" return where "original" means the last state known to the IRS, either amended or the IRS corrected.

If this helps, please read and act on my signature. Thanks. 

[puravidapto]

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@IRonMaN wrote:

Enter the information into the return so that everything agrees with the first amended return.  

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It may not be possible, for example, the original software does not subtract half of self employment income in qualified business income, but your software does, you cannot reproduce the result. Also suppose the first amended return has 10 things wrong, you do not need to repeat the 10 wrong things to produce a correct amended return.

[IRonMaN]

You can't create a correct amended return if your starting point isn't the same as what the latest filed return shows.  Otherwise the refund or balance due on the amended return is not going to be correct.  If absolutely necessary, you override the "original return" to get to the correct starting point.

[puravidapto]

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@IRonMaN wrote:

You can't create a correct amended return if your starting point isn't the same as what the latest filed return shows. 

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That is not true. For example, you need to amend a return where the taxpayer filed form 1040 but should have filed 1040-nr or vice versa. There is no starting point and we do not need the starting point, just follow the process I described in the previous post in this thread.

[IRonMaN]

I guess my vision must be failing me today.  Where was a 1040NR mentioned in the original post?

[puravidapto]

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@IRonMaN wrote:

I guess my vision must be failing me today.  Where was a 1040NR mentioned in the original post?

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Your statement:

You can't create a correct amended return if your starting point isn't the same as what the latest filed return shows. 

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isn't a generic statement? If not, at what conditions the statement applies?

I am making a general statement that you do not need to re-create the wrong return in order to amend it, and it is guaranteed to be able to re-create it. I use an example to support my statement. 

[BobKamman]

Why are you amending returns for which the statute of limitations on refunds has likely passed?  Is it to pay more tax?  When were the original returns filed?  When were the first amended returns filed?  Have they been processed yet?  Does this involve carrybacks and/or carryovers of NOL's or credits?  

The first thing I would do is wait until the first amended returns were processed, and IRS sent an acknowledgment of the computation.  They may have corrected an error already, like failure to claim 1/2 SE tax.  Use the last IRS computation as the starting point, not the last amended return (which you know is wrong, since you are correcting it).