Amended return questions

There is absolutely no requirement to amend your tax return, as long as when you originally filed it, you believe it to be correct. There may be practical reasons when you'd want to amend it - that depends on your situation and judgement.

I disagree.

If you realize later that you made a mistake, it doesn't matter that you originally believed it to be correct.

E.g. you find a 1099 that you missed when originally filing.

Maybe I misunderstood, but if the difference is only 25 cents and it doesn't change the amount of tax due, I doubt that failure to file an amended return would result in any problem whatsoever.

I disagree. The first reply is correct. There is nothing in the Title 26 statutes that requires the filing of an amended return. Regulation Sections 451 and 461 that deal with income and deductions use the word "should" if you discover an understatement of income or overstatement of a deduction. But "should" does not mean "required".

"If a taxpayer ascertains that an item should have been included in gross income in a prior taxable year, he should, if within the period of limitation, file an amended return and pay any additional tax due. Similarly, if a taxpayer ascertains that an item was improperly included in gross income in a prior taxable year, he should, if within the period of limitation, file claim for credit or refund of any overpayment of tax arising therefrom."

The Supreme Court case Badaracco vs Comm'r, 1984 states it quite succinctly that there is no requirement to amend:

"Zellerbach Paper Co. v. Helvering, 293 U.S. 172 (1934), which petitioners cite, affords no support for their argument. The Court in Zellerbach held that an original return, despite its inaccuracy, was a "return" for limitations purposes, so that the filing of an amended return did not start a new period of limitations running. In the instant cases, the original returns similarly purported to be returns, were sworn to as such, and appeared on their faces to constitute endeavors to satisfy the law. Although those returns, in fact, were not honest, the holding in Zellerbach does not render them nullities. To be sure, current Regulations, in several places, e. g., Treas. Reg.

301.6211-1(a), 301.6402-3(a), 1.451-1(a), and 1.461-1(a)(3)(i) (1983), do refer to an amended return, as does 6213(g)(1) of the Code itself, 26 U.S.C. 6213(g)(1) (1976 ed., Supp. V). None of these provisions, however, requires the filing of such a return. It does not follow from all this that an amended return becomes "the return" for purposes of 6501(a).

Does this just mean you don't have to file an amended return, or does it also mean you don't have to pay the additional tax you owe?

What about when the IRS discovers a discrepancy, and sends me a notice of underpayment? This has happened when I missed a 1099, but or course their computer didn't.