Taxes: File Extension or Amend Later?

[Olav23]

Hi All,

A while back I was given advice on this forum to see a tax accountant after the filing deadline when he would have more time to focus on my situation as opposed to crunch time during tax season.

I've gone ahead and filled in everything and still want to go ahead as planned and see the accountant after the fact.

I am wondering, should I file what I have and then amend it later if he finds any discrepancies, or should I just file an extension now and then just wait until he looks everything over?

Right now I am looking at a 4k refund, so I guess filing an extension would be an interest-free loan to the govt until I get my butt in gear, but if that just makes things easier than amending, I'm willing to do that.

Thanks for any help!

[LOL!]

We always file an extension. We seem to get a corrected 1099 in July or August. It doesn't hurt at all to file an extension. We already got our refund: I simply adjusted the withholding from my paycheck to $1 until I used up my refund amount, then switched back to normal withholding. When I file in October, I will credit my overpayment to my next year's taxes.

[Sandy]

Taking the refund now might get tricky. Depends on your situation. If the refund results in net paid taxes that are at least as high as the previous year, then take the refund, bank it, earn interest, and sort it out later. If you take the refund, but that leaves you with minimal payment and the amendment shows you owe more, you could be hit with interest and penalties. Also, I had an amendment last year which resulted in a refund, after I'd paid extra. The amended return seemed to get lost, it took 6 months, lots of calls, and bringing in the taxpayer advocate to get it all rolling. However, because the delay was theirs, they paid me interest on the refund amount.

OTOH, leaving the refund on the table as an interest free loan is not good. If that is what you do, file the extension, but get it sorted out as quickly as possible.

[SecondCor521]

Note that if both your original and amended returns both result in refunds, the IRS asks you to wait until you receive the first refund before filing for the second. Don't know if that will matter to you or not.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc308.html

2Cor521

[JPatrick]

Back in the days when we were filing a schedule C also known as audit bait we would get the return squeaky clean by April 15 then file an extension.
Why? I believed then as I believe now that if you are audit bait simply based on what forms you file, you reduce your chances of an audit by filing an extension.
Nowadays I only deal with a couple of K-1's so I file by the 15th.
OTOH, I never faced a refund of $4000 either. That's a pretty big loan to be giving your uncle

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPatrick Why? I believed then as I believe now that if you are audit bait simply based on what forms you file, you reduce your chances of an audit by filing an extension.

Wife's tale.... never made a difference... ALL returns are run through a computer to determine what to audit.. and they audit them a couple of years after you file..

You just didn't do anything that required and audit...

[FIRE'd@51]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOL! We always file an extension. We seem to get a corrected 1099 in July or August. It doesn't hurt at all to file an extension. We already got our refund: I simply adjusted the withholding from my paycheck to $1 until I used up my refund amount, then switched back to normal withholding. When I file in October, I will credit my overpayment to my next year's taxes.

Maybe this is "stating the obvious", but if you end up owing money, you will be charged interest back to the original April due date. So if you are not sure you will be getting a refund, you must make sure you pay at least the tax due when you file for the extension in order to avoid the interest charges.