Need to make a change?

 Big surprise, the IRS has a form for you.

What is the 1040X form and what happens when you submit one to the IRS? M.M., Indianapolis  

The 1040X form is used for corrections to Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ. If you filed one of these annual income tax forms within the past three years and find you made an error, or left out some information, or wish to change some information you entered, you can file the 1040X form to make the changes.  

If there is more than one 1040 form you need to change, you should file a separate 1040X form for each year.  

Situations that warrant the filing of a 1040X include the following:  

• You forgot to take some tax deductions.  

• You neglected to record some income.  

• You discovered that you would have paid less tax if you had claimed a different filing status (such as Head of Household instead of Single).  

• You realized only after filing the return that you had the right to claim someone as a dependent.  

If you discover a math error upon reviewing last year's tax return - for example you added your deductions incorrectly, or you miscalculated the tax - you don't have to file a 1040X. The IRS performs a math check of all tax returns that are filed, and this is the type of error you can rely on the IRS to catch. In this situation, you will receive a notice from the IRS telling you they have changed an amount on your tax return.  

The 1040X should only be filed after you have filed the original return, and it must be filed within three years after the date you filed the original return or within two years of the date on which you paid the tax for the original return, whichever is later. If you filed the original return before the April 15 due date, the three year period begins on April 15 of the year in which you filed.  

The 1040X has three columns for numbers. In the first column, you show the numbers that were reported on your original income tax return. In the second column, you show the amount of change(s) you are making. In the third column you show the corrected amounts. After correcting the amounts from your original return, you recalculate the tax on the 1040X and either pay the additional tax owed when you file the 1040X, or the IRS will send you a refund.  

If you are filing the 1040X because your wages were reported incorrectly on the original 1040, you should attach a copy of the corrected W-2 Form with the 1040X. If any of the supporting schedules from your original 1040 need to be changed (for example, if you discovered you didn't report all of your mortgage interest with your itemized deductions on Schedule A), you will need to prepared corrected supporting schedules and attach those to the 1040X when you file it.  

There is a place on the back of the 1040X where you need to enter an explanation of the change you made. An example of an appropriate explanation might be, "I received a corrected form from my mortgage company which showed that I paid more interest on my mortgage in 1998 that the amount I originally reported. The additional amount of interest I paid was $1,250." The amount you describe in the explanation should agree with the amount in the second column of the 1040X.  

The 1040X gets mailed to the same address where you will file your tax return for 2000. This address may not be the same address where you filed the original 1040, because the IRS mailing addresses have changed this year. When you get the 1040X form, look in the instructions for the correct mailing address based on the state in which you live.  

You should expect the IRS to take two to three months to process your 1040X. You won't hear from the IRS during this period of time.  

You can download a copy of the 1040X and the accompanying instructions from the IRS's Web site on the Internet at www.irs.gov, or here at Fun with Taxes (click here).  If you're the more traditional type, the IRS will mail you a copy of the form if you call 800-TAX-FORM.