In going through records to get ready for next year's tax filing, I discovered that on my 2008 return I under-reported interest income by about $400.
The 1099-INT that I received from the payer -- which I assume he sent to the IRS as well -- does not match the amount that I reported.
So far I haven't gotten any notice of deficiency.
Should I file an amended return?
I would.
It's still early for the IRS to be mailing out notices, but it's a really good chance they will, so bite the bullet, send in the amended return.
Or wait, receive the notice, and then pay the extra amount.
The latter has the advantage of being a bit easier. And you won't have to prepare a 1040X, since the IRS will effectively have computed your additional amount for you. But they have been known to get the amount wrong, so calculate it yourself.
Also, the sooner you pay the additional tax, the less interest you will owe. The clock runs from the date the return was originally due (April 15, 2009) to the date paid.
Katie in San Diego
and you probably won't. We are not privy to the cut off figure IRS uses, but it could well be high enough that you won't be bothered by IRS, especially if you're in either the 10 or 15% bracket.
I know, IRS used to have the reputation of going after the last penny, but times have changed.
You certainly may, or wait it out as others have said.
ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA
...Now if you live in a revenue-starved state (California is at the top of that list), that's a different issue.... ;-)
I used to find the State of California much more efficient at catching federal errors than the IRS. It would only take them months to send out a letter of missing income compared to sometimes over a year for the IRS.
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