Posted the other day about the Saver’s Credit which caused me to do a quick return review. Turns out I didn’t report my Roth IRA contributions on Form 8880 on last year’s return. My 457 contributions were on there, but they were below the $2,000 limit so I didn’t get the full credit. I can get an additional $90 back if I amended my 2007 return and included those Roth contributions.
My returns have been fairly simple since I started working and have never had to amend a return. The process is fairly simple once you understand the forms involved. The 1040X is used to explain the differences between your original return and your amended numbers. Since the increased credit only changed a few lines it was easy enough to fill out by hand. I filled out an updated 1040 and 8880 with the correct numbers and double checked everything. Just need to send it in and I should have my $90 in a month or so.
Amending a return isn’t a horrible experience, but it is a little time consuming. It took me almost 3 hours to figure everything out and get the forms reprinted. I almost didn’t bother with the amended return thinking it wouldn’t be worth the effort. If the difference was lower then I might not of, but $90 isn’t an insignificant amount of money. For 2008 I’ll be a little more careful and double check the actual forms before e-filing to avoid amending another return. TurboTax does a pretty darn good job of filling all the forms out, but I know my tax situation best and what strategies to use.