Amending returns for 2019 & 2020

[Chancy 6,241]

Now that I finally have my SSN, we are planning to amend our tax filings for the previous tax years.  Some background --

• We were married in 2019.  Other than visits, we lived in different countries while waiting for my spouse visa.
• USC husband filed as HOH for 2019.  He had 1 dependent child in college.  Child also filed taxes, as Single.
• Husband filed as MFS for 2020.

 

The plan is to change our filing status to MFJ for both 2019 & 2020.  Can someone please confirm or correct my assumptions below?

• I cannot claim recovery credit (ie. stimulus checks) for the previous tax years because my SSN was issued only in 2021.
• For 2019, we can file as MFJ, with 1 dependent.  Child does not need to amend her own 2019 filing.
• We will need to send a statement electing to treat me as a US tax resident starting 2019.
• After filing our amended returns with the above statement, we may e-file our 2021 tax return.

 

Also, since I'm electing to be a tax resident from 2019, do I need to file FBAR for 2019 & 2020?

 

My husband is shocked that we can get more than $5k in additional refunds by amending our filing to MFJ.  I'm looking for an accountant to review our amended returns before filing, and to assure my husband that it's all legit ("Yes, honey, it's ok for us to get that much money back from the government..." 😆).

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Chancy
formatting

[millefleur 5,046]

3 hours ago, Chancy said:

My husband is shocked that we can get more than $5k in additional refunds by amending our filing to MFJ.  I'm looking for an accountant to review our amended returns before filing, and to assure my husband that it's all legit ("Yes, honey, it's ok for us to get that much money back from the government..." 😆).

Nothing wrong with getting back what is rightfully yours!

 

Not sure about the other q's as I've never amended a tax return before. Hopefully someone with experience can chime in.

[JeanneAdil 6,489]

Even non Citizens living in US during this time did not qualify for stimulus check

your spouse was not a LPR during this time

 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/questions-and-answers-about-the-first-economic-impact-payment-topic-a-eligibility

 

A1. Generally, you were eligible for the first Economic Impact Payment if you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien, 

 

 

You were not eligible for the first  payment if any of the following apply to you:

• You were claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer’s return (for example, a child or student who may be claimed on a parent’s return or a dependent parent who may be claimed on an adult child’s return).
• You are a nonresident alien.
• You do not have a Social Security number that is valid for employment.

 

Another site says if IRS sends this to u after u amend taxes,  u need to return the money as they can take it plus penalities and interest from your next year's returns /  do they?   who knows 

Edited December 24, 2021 by JeanneAdil

[Wuozopo 4,293]

@Chancy

 

I think everything you stated is correct if I am understanding what you said.  Several things to help you/me clarify—
 

By sending that statement, you are a resident alien to the IRS for tax purposes back to 2019 tax year, so I don’t agree with the previous post indicating you wouldn’t qualify for stimulus based on being a nonresident alien. You are correct that you are not eligible but that’s not the reason. 
 

Tax return years and stimulus, recovery, credits, etc

2019 tax return- nothing on recovery, etc. Regular return. You can file jointly as a resident alien (see above).

 

2020 tax return- Recovery Rebate Credit. Two stimulus checks were likely issued early to your husband based on previous tax returns. If so, his 2020 return would not allow any further claims because he already got his early. An amended return adding you wouldn’t give you a stimulus because IRS rules state your had to have a SSN issued by the 2020 filing deadline (April 2021). Or if he didn’t qualify for the maximum rebate credit based on salary, he could qualify on the amended return because a joint return ups the income threshold. 

 

2021 tax return- Economic Impact Payment. That was also issued early so he can’t claim his portion on the tax return, if he already received it. You can claim your portion because you have a SSN issued before the 2021 filing deadline (April 2022).

 

FBAR

I would say yes, file a FBAR for 2019, 2020 for the reason you stated.

 

Who Must File

A United States person, including a citizen, resident, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust and estate, must file an FBAR to report: 1) a financial interest in or signature or other authority over at least one financial account located outside the United States if  2) the aggregate value of those foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year reported.

The IRS often uses the term “US person” to include resident aliens, which you are electing to be for 2019, 2020. I wouldn’t worry about FBAR being late. I filed several years all together in the same mailing (when they were still done on paper). 

 

The additional refunds by amending

I can’t speak to this, not seeing what you did. You do need to complete a start-from-scratch new return filing jointly which you use to get the correct numbers for the 1040x Column C.  Any foreign income you had abroad, including salary or investment earnings, goes on the new joint version. Did you do that?

 

[Merica-n 65]

On 12/24/2021 at 9:45 AM, Chancy said:

• For 2019, we can file as MFJ, with 1 dependent.  Child does not need to amend her own 2019 filing.

As long as the child correctly stated dependent of someone else on the tax return for every year that he/she was a dependent of someone else, this should not impact her return.

 

On 12/24/2021 at 9:45 AM, Chancy said:

Also, since I'm electing to be a tax resident from 2019, do I need to file FBAR for 2019 & 2020?

The election shouldn't create an FBAR requirement.  According to your timeline you entered the USA in 2021, so you were a non-resident alien and are making the section 6013 election for a resident outside of the country.  According to FinCEN this doesn't impact whether you are a resident for FBAR purposes, so if you had no FBAR requirement before, you don't suddenly have an FBAR requirement.

 

On 12/24/2021 at 9:45 AM, Chancy said:

My husband is shocked that we can get more than $5k in additional refunds by amending our filing to MFJ.  I'm looking for an accountant to review our amended returns before filing, and to assure my husband that it's all legit ("Yes, honey, it's ok for us to get that much money back from the government..." 😆).

It's also important to pay attention to the validly issued ssn requirements on any education or child/dependent credits/deductions etc.  Since your SSN was issued after the filing deadline, you might not qualify for certain credits etc, but generally people in this situation are just entering their SSN and proceeding as normal.  It's important to see if there's a way to select this in whatever software you use or carefully review any large credits/deductions shown on the new return for any timing requirements.

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Merica-n

[Wuozopo 4,293]

An edit to this that I posted. I forgot that the 2020 filing deadline was extended by a month. 

 

An amended return adding you wouldn’t give you a stimulus because IRS rules state you had to have a SSN issued by the 2020 filing deadline (April 2021 May 17, 2021). 

[Chancy 6,241]

Thank you all for your input!

 

On 12/26/2021 at 10:38 AM, Wuozopo said:

Any foreign income you had abroad, including salary or investment earnings, goes on the new joint version. Did you do that?

 

Yup!  It's easy in our case since I did not have any employment income for those tax years, so not much change to our household income figures.  That also explains why changing our filing status to MFJ makes such a big difference in our refunds.  But my husband is still nervous as he's not used to such a big refund.

 

[top_secret 2,402]

On 1/2/2022 at 2:45 PM, Chancy said:

Yup!  It's easy in our case since I did not have any employment income for those tax years, so not much change to our household income figures.  That also explains why changing our filing status to MFJ makes such a big difference in our refunds.  But my husband is still nervous as he's not used to such a big refund.

The difference in taxes can be HUGE and should definitely be treated seriously.  Our difference in taxes for 2020 alone was over $10,000 greater return as MFJ vs MFS.  Just toggling the checkbox in TurboTax between MFJ or MFS changes the little TurboTax return ticker over $10,000 before your eyes.

[Chancy 6,241]

[UPDATE]  We filed our returns and amendments based on the plan outlined in my original post above.  All self-prepared using online tax software.  Status updates --

• 2021 tax return:  E-filed in March 2022.  Refund deposited directly to our account after 8 calendar days.
• 2020 amendment:  Sent our 1040X form & supporting documents via 1st-class mail in March 2022.  Status on IRS.gov showed as "Received" after 24 days.  From "Received" to "Adjusted" took 223 days.  Refund check arrived in the mail after 3 days.  Check was dated 2 days before the "Adjusted" date on IRS.gov.
• 2019 amendment:  Sent in the same package as our 2020 documents.  Status on IRS.gov showed as "Received" after 24 days.  Still pending.

Fun fact -- Our 2020 refund check included interest earned, which was 6% on top of our expected refund!  Much higher than the 0.01% we get from our savings account 😜

 

[Chancy 6,241]

Status updates --

• 2020 amendment:  Status on IRS.gov finally showed as "Completed" 244 days after "Received" date.  We also got a refund notice in the mail the week after we got our refund check.
• 2019 amendment:  Refund check arrived in the mail 250 days after "Received" date.  Check was dated 3 days before delivered date.  Refund notice arrived 2 days before the check.  Status on IRS.gov still shows as "Received".

Our 2019 refund check included 10% interest on top of our expected refund.  So we earned ~3% interest per year on the 2019 & 2020 refund money the IRS held for us.  This tidbit actually pushed us to close our savings account that earned a lousy 0.01% interest, and open a high-yield savings account that currently offers 3% interest a year.

 

Anyway, our 2021/2020/2019 taxes saga is finally done!  On to 2022 taxes next month.  Happy holidays, bigger refunds, and better interest rates to all! 🎉

 

[iwannaplay54 985]

On 12/24/2021 at 9:45 AM, Chancy said:

Now that I finally have my SSN, we are planning to amend our tax filings for the previous tax years.  Some background --

• We were married in 2019.  Other than visits, we lived in different countries while waiting for my spouse visa.
• USC husband filed as HOH for 2019.  He had 1 dependent child in college.  Child also filed taxes, as Single.
• Husband filed as MFS for 2020.

 

The plan is to change our filing status to MFJ for both 2019 & 2020.  Can someone please confirm or correct my assumptions below?

• I cannot claim recovery credit (ie. stimulus checks) for the previous tax years because my SSN was issued only in 2021.
• For 2019, we can file as MFJ, with 1 dependent.  Child does not need to amend her own 2019 filing.
• We will need to send a statement electing to treat me as a US tax resident starting 2019.
• After filing our amended returns with the above statement, we may e-file our 2021 tax return.

 

Also, since I'm electing to be a tax resident from 2019, do I need to file FBAR for 2019 & 2020?

 

My husband is shocked that we can get more than $5k in additional refunds by amending our filing to MFJ.  I'm looking for an accountant to review our amended returns before filing, and to assure my husband that it's all legit ("Yes, honey, it's ok for us to get that much money back from the government..." 😆).

 

I’m not shocked.  The tax difference is huge.  Very wise decision.

 

 

[Chancy 6,241]

On 12/22/2022 at 6:55 PM, Chancy said:

we earned ~3% interest per year on the 2019 & 2020 refund money the IRS held for us.

 

I thought we were done with this, but this week we got another letter from the IRS.  It was a 1099-INT!  With a reminder that the interest we got from the IRS is taxable income that should be included in our 2022 tax filing.  We shouldn't have been surprised, but we totally did overlook this.  Good thing we procrastinated on our tax filing plans last weekend or else we would have needed to file another amendment 😆

 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

9 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

I thought we were done with this, but this week we got another letter from the IRS.  It was a 1099-INT!  With a reminder that the interest we got from the IRS is taxable income that should be included in our 2022 tax filing.  We shouldn't have been surprised, but we totally did overlook this.  Good thing we procrastinated on our tax filing plans last weekend or else we would have needed to file another amendment 😆

 

I think you are done with the previous years. Your 1099-INT is new for2022 filing. Generally those have until Jan 31 to arrive. Had you already filed,, your 2022 likely would have gone through as normal and any refunds paid. Then in a year you would have had a letter audit for 2022 saying you missed a 1099-INT and we have calculated you owe $xx. And it would have told you how to pay. If the interest was a small amount it may not have even bumped you up to owing additional.

 

That was my experience with a relative’s return. The interest item was something new so not remembered. The 1099 arrived in March(!?} while the return had been filed in Feb. He just stuck the late 1099 notice in a folder and ignored it. It was a year later before the IRS followed up with a letter audit saying interest had not been reported with their calculation of what was due. It’s kind of a soft audit when the IRS computer catches a discrepancy in their reports and what the return reported. 

[Chancy 6,241]

Status of IRS account transcripts as of today, more than a month after getting our additional refund checks --

• 2020 amendment:  Still not reflected.  My spouse originally filed as "MFS", so IRS shows my account transcript as "N/A".
• 2019 amendment:  Already reflected in account transcript and record of account transcript.  Both now show our "MFJ" filing status and my (truncated) name & SSN.

[JerseyDomRep1 8]

On 12/24/2021 at 10:45 AM, Chancy said:

Now that I finally have my SSN, we are planning to amend our tax filings for the previous tax years.  Some background --

• We were married in 2019.  Other than visits, we lived in different countries while waiting for my spouse visa.
• USC husband filed as HOH for 2019.  He had 1 dependent child in college.  Child also filed taxes, as Single.
• Husband filed as MFS for 2020.

 

The plan is to change our filing status to MFJ for both 2019 & 2020.  Can someone please confirm or correct my assumptions below?

• I cannot claim recovery credit (ie. stimulus checks) for the previous tax years because my SSN was issued only in 2021.
• For 2019, we can file as MFJ, with 1 dependent.  Child does not need to amend her own 2019 filing.
• We will need to send a statement electing to treat me as a US tax resident starting 2019.
• After filing our amended returns with the above statement, we may e-file our 2021 tax return.

 

Also, since I'm electing to be a tax resident from 2019, do I need to file FBAR for 2019 & 2020?

 

My husband is shocked that we can get more than $5k in additional refunds by amending our filing to MFJ.  I'm looking for an accountant to review our amended returns before filing, and to assure my husband that it's all legit ("Yes, honey, it's ok for us to get that much money back from the government..." 😆).

 

I’m glad I came across your post thinking of doing this. Recently got approved and been married since May 2021. I believe I can amend last years return and this years once my husband get his visa approved. I also am hoh.