How to Amend an Individual 1040X Return in ProConnect™ Tax Online

Have you ever completed and filed a return for a client, only to have the client come back with more information, or filed a return and then noticed a minuscule mistake that slipped by? When you contact support only to find out you cannot stop the filing, you are left asking yourself, “What do I do now?”

This is when filing an amended return comes into play. The filing of the 1040X will allow you to find that mistake, add the extra information and submit the return with updated information. Here’s how to do this in Intuit® ProConnect™ Tax Online.

In all cases, make sure you keep the information that was originally filed by either printing a PDF copy of the existing return or making a copy of the return you are amending.

To print the return as a PDF, go to the “File Return” tab within the client, and then select the “View/Print Return” PDF option on the left side toolbar. Please be aware that ProConnect Tax Online will require you to have purchased a return to be able to print this, which shouldn’t be an issue because you have already filed. Next, select the “Return Actions” menu found in the top right of the program to get the option to copy the return. If you select this and went back to your client list, you should find a file with the same name of the return plus “Copy” at the end. This allows you to distinguish between the originally filed return and the new return.

You would then navigate back to the return that we originally filed. If you were to try and file an amended return of the copy, ProConnect Tax Online would try to make you use one of your purchased returns to do so, but if you use the originally filed return, the amended filing will be part of the initial return used when printing/filing the return. The copy can be kept to keep a record of the existing file with the details that were initially sent.

Next, open up the original return and navigate to the “Input Return” tab and then the “Miscellaneous Forms” section in the list displayed on the left-hand side. From this list of miscellaneous forms, you should be able to select “General Information and Federal (1040X),” which will give you the input screen that we need to complete.

The first step is to mark the current return as being amended, which will be a matter of selecting the check box. You can also indicate whether you are looking to amend the state return/s if states are associated on the return. If you have more than one state due to be amended, you will need to select the small plus sign situated next to the input field. This will give you a more detailed input field, in which you would enter “1” as the amount; make sure the desired state is showing in the “State” column.

You also have the ability to amend the previous year return using the current year return. To do this, you would enter the year you are looking to amend in the “Year to Amend” field. Please be aware that this automatically defaults to the current tax year and is not necessary to enter if you are amending the current year.

Now that the return has been marked as being amended, you are required to enter certain information pertinent to the data under the “Federal Income Tax Return” section. You’ll need to enter the amounts that were originally reported on the filed return into the amended return section. This is where the PDF you printed of the original return can be used to gather this required information. The reason to do this is so that when you update the return with the correct amounts, the system can make the correct calculations, using the new input and original input. Please note that you’re given a “Correct Amount” column in this section as well; this is strictly an override function and used when you are amending a prior year return in the current year program. When used, this column’s fields will override any program calculation.

Once the “As Originally Reported” amounts are entered, make the changes to the appropriate sections of the return, and ProConnect Tax Online will automatically calculate the difference.

You can review your return under the “Check Returns” tab to make sure the amended return looks as you wish. If it does, then you can continue to the “File Return” tab and print the amended return. The reason you will be required to print this is due to an amended 1040 return not being capable of being e-filed at this time. Once printed, you can manually paper file the amended return.

Congratulations, you have just amended the return!

Editor’s note: For more information about how to amend returns, read “How to Navigate Amending Returns for Your Client” and “Correcting Mistakes and Submitting Amended Returns” on the Tax Pro Center.