Should have filed taxes married/joint. Already efiled married/separate.

January 29, 2016 12:07 AM

My spouse efiled our US federal and state tax returns as married/separate. I haven't filed mine yet. We did some re-calculations and realized we'd get a bigger refund filing married/joint. How do we get the IRS to delete/reject the already efiled return or amend things so we can file the married/joint one correctly?
posted by ao4047 to Work & Money (1 answer total)

Best answer: For the federal, file jointly on paper and mark the return (write on the top) "superseding return." If it is filed before April 15 it will take the place of the first return. Your refund will take a little bit longer b/c of the paper filing and there may be annoying bureaucratic issues (letters asking for clarification, etc). You could instead also file your return as MFS then, after April 15, both file an amended return and change the status to MFJ. Again, the additional return will be delayed, possibly by 6-12 months.

See if your state has a similar superseding return procedure. They will have an amended return option, but may restrict changes to filing status.

Joint is almost always beneficial over separate, for the vast majority of couples.
posted by melissasaurus at 12:35 AM on January 29, 2016 [2 favorites]