At the end of 2014, I realized I missed some state estimated payments. My yearly income is highly variable and 2014 was a huge year. So I paid an estimate that I knew would easily cover my state liability, and then for good measure, tacked on a huge amount to not have to deal with missing payments in 2015 and figured it was good tax planning b/c of the deduction. The amount I tacked on was around
1/3 my entire tax liability for 2014.I searched around to see if this was OK, but found nothing in the instructions or via internet searching that said you couldn't accelerate state tax payments. On the contrary, the articles I read talked about it as part of good tax planning. A year later and I've discovered it is definitely a problem. As it turned out, 2015 was horrible and half my income is going to be the state tax refund so I received a net benefit from the accelerated payment.
Can I amend my 2014 return to lower the state tax deduction? If so do I lower it by the amount I tacked or the entire amount that resulted in refund? I read on these forums you can't amend a return in this situation to lower the state tax deduction. Also, even if I amend, I'll have to deal with the fact that I have to pick up all that state tax refund in 2015. (There is no issue with AMT as in
2014 I was knee deep in the highest bracket so no AMT and in 2015 I won't be subject to the AMT).Is there anything I can do to remedy the situation?