Let's say you just ran across a receipt for a $200 charitable donation that you forgot to deduct from your income taxes. Or maybe you realized after a dinner conversation with friends that filing jointly with your spouse, instead of separately, would have saved you money.

Don't sit around pouting. You can reverse your mistake by filing an amended return on Form 1040X.

"Just because you initially overlooked a money-saving tax credit or deduction ... doesn't mean the opportunity to claim that credit or deduction is lost," said Jennifer Jenkins, spokeswoman for the IRS in Western Pennsylvania.

In general, amended returns must be filed within three years from the due date of the original return. For example, this year's filing deadline was April 17, so the deadline for filing an amended return would be April 17, 2015.

For taxpayers who filed for an extension, the clock would start ticking from the date the IRS received the return.

Whether it's worth filing an amended return is an individual decision.

"Every dollar can count. But so does your time involved in completing your forms," Ms. Jenkins said.

Unlike tax credits, which typically reduce a filer's tax liability dollar for dollar, the value of tax deductions depend on the filer's tax bracket.

For a taxpayer with a median household income of just under $52,000, typically paying about 13 percent in federal taxes, a $200 deduction would be worth a refund of about $26. For households earning more money and in higher tax brackets, the $200 deduction would be worth more.

There are some mistakes that don't warrant filing an amended return, such as simple math errors.

IRS computers fix math errors and either increase the refund or notify the taxpayer that more money is owed, Ms. Jenkins said.

Likewise, there's no need for taxpayers to refile because they forgot to include a tax form, such as a W-2. The agency normally will contact taxpayers for missing forms if needed, Ms. Jenkins said.

On the other hand, taxpayers should immediately file an amendment if they forgot to include the income from a W-2 on the tax return. Correcting the mistake quickly could save on penalties and interest.

"The important thing is that the income is being reported," Ms. Jenkins said.

Taxpayers claiming an additional refund should wait until receiving the original refund before filing a 1040X.

Be sure to identify the year of the return being amended at the top of the form. Amendments for more than one tax year must be prepared on separate forms and mailed in separate envelopes. The 1040X can not be filed electronically.

To avoid having to file an amended return, it helps to keep tax-related paperwork in one place, Ms. Jenkins said.

This time of year is a good time to catch up for next year's filing season, she said.

"Try to get everything in place so you don't have a great quantity of papers that you are trying to organize at the end of the year."

The IRS projects it will receive about 200,000 amended returns from Pennsylvanians this year. That's about 3 percent of the some 6.2 million individual federal tax returns filed statewide.

For more information on amended returns or to print a copy of Form 1040X, go to www.irs.gov and click the link for Forms and Publications. To get the form and instruction booklet by mail, call the IRS forms and publications hotline at 1-800-829-3676. Information also is available at the IRS YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUjC0avoZ_I.

(c)2012 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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