I Realized I Overpaid My Taxes: Should I Amend My 2023 Tax Return?

A Reddit user realized he had made a small mistake on his 2023 tax return. His error meant that he ended up paying an extra $106 in income taxes. Now he was not sure whether or not he should amend his return.

So, should the Redditor alert the IRS to the error and get his money back that he overpaid? 

Amending a tax return is easy and quick

As many Reddit posters pointed out, it is pretty quick and simple to amend a tax return when you have made a mistake. The IRS said that you might want to do so if:

• You chose the wrong filing status
• Your income, deductions, or credits changed
• You put the wrong number of dependents down, or your dependents changed
• You realized that you overpaid or underpaid your tax liability

If you are owed a refund, like this Reddit poster is, then you have until the later of three years from the time that you filed your original return or two years from the time that you paid taxes to amend your return. You just need to submit Form 1040-X, which the IRS said you can do online or on paper.  Most tax software programs will allow you to submit an amended return, and you are actually allowed to send in up to three amended returns for the same tax filing year. 

When you amend your return and are owed a refund, you can ask for the money to be sent to you via direct deposit. You should know that it is probably going to take several months for the IRS to process your return and give you your additional refund back. However, the actual process of submitting the amended return should be pretty quick.

Several Reddit posters chimed in on the thread and said they submitted an amended return, and the process took an hour or less. As many commenters to the original thread pointed out, spending about an hour to do the paperwork is likely worth it to collect the $106 the IRS owes. 

Getting the right professional help will enable you to avoid errors

As the Redditor’s situation shows, taxes can be complicated, and if you make mistakes, you may end up sending the IRS more money than you should. If this happens, the best case scenario is that you discover the issue like this poster did and you take action to correct it. The worst case scenario is that you don’t ever realize you made an error and you end up out the money forever.

You don’t want to waste your hard-earned money paying extra taxes, so it can be a good idea to get help completing your forms. Many financial advisors can work with you to create a plan to minimize your taxes due. Financial advisors can also sometimes prepare your taxes for you or help you find a CPA who will. It can be worth getting this professional advice so you can make sure you don’t pay more tax than is required, and you can make better use of your hard-earned money instead. 

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