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I know, I know -- you've got better things to do with your time.
So here's an incentive to make it worth your time: If I offered you a little part-time job that paid about $140 per hour, would you be interested? I think so.
Well, that's how you should look at task of filing an amended tax return. Do math:
You discover $1,000 of unreported deductions on your return from Year 2000, 2001 or 2002. So you do research, prepare proper forms (or have your accountant do it), and send them off to IRS.
If you are in 35% tax bracket (say, 30% federal plus 5% state), you will get a $350 refund for your efforts. And even if it took you 2.5 hours of paperwork drudgery, Uncle Same just paid you a cool $140/hour. Not bad, eh?
To file an amended federal income tax return, here are links to necessary forms:
Form 1040X -- in pdf format: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040x.pdf
Form 1040X -- in "fill-in" pdf format: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-fill/f1040x.pdf
IRS instructions for Form 1040X: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040x.pdf
You should also file an amended state return (assuming your state has an income tax). For a link to a database of all state income tax forms, check out: http:/ axes.yahoo.com/stateforms.html
Don't forget: if you're able to find $1,000 worth of unreported deductions on one previously filed return (resulting in tax savings of $350), there's a good chance same situation exists for other 2 "open" years.
End result: $350 x 3 = $1,050 in total tax savings . . .
. . .Hmm, mmm, good! Now that's a tasty little morsel!
Wayne M. Davies is author of the new eBook, "The Tax Reduction Toolkit: 29 Little-Known Legal Loopholes That Will Reduce Your Taxes By Thousands (For Small Business Owners and Self-Employed People Only!) Don't file another tax return until you visit: http://www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com/toolkit.html