2002 Tax Help Archives  

Instructions for Form 1040X (Revised 1102) 2002 Tax Year

Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return

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This is archived information that pertains only to the 2002 Tax Year. If you
are looking for information for the current tax year, go to the Tax Prep Help Area.

Tax Liability

Line 6

Enter your income tax before subtracting any credits. Figure the tax on the taxable income reported on line 5, column C. Attach the appropriate schedule or form(s). Include on line 6 any additional taxes from Form 4972, Tax on Lump-Sum Distributions, and any recapture of education credits. For 2000-2002, also include on line 6 any alternative minimum tax.

Indicate the method you used to figure the tax shown in column C. For example, if you used the Tax Tables, enter Tables. If you used the Tax Rate Schedules, enter TRS. If you used Schedule D (Form 1040), enter Sch. D. If you used the Capital Gain Tax Worksheet, enter CGTW.

Line 7

Enter your total credits, such as:

  • Credit for child and dependent care expenses.
  • Credit for the elderly or the disabled.
  • Education credits.
  • Retirement savings contributions credit.
  • Child tax credit.
  • Adoption credit.
  • Credit for prior year minimum tax.

Do not include credits from Form 2439, Notice to Shareholder of Undistributed Long-Term Capital Gains, Form 4136, Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels, and, for 2002, Form 8885, Health Insurance Credit For Eligible Recipients. Instead, use line 15 for these credits.

To find the corresponding lines on the return you are amending, use the chart on page 6 for the appropriate year.

Line 9

Include other taxes such as:

  • Alternative minimum tax (for 1999).
  • Self-employment tax.
  • Tax on early distributions from qualified retirement plans and distributions from Archer MSAs.
  • Advance earned income credit payments.
  • Recapture taxes (for example, recapture of investment credit or low-income housing credit).
  • Tax from Form 4970, Tax on Accumulation Distribution of Trusts.
  • Household employment taxes. If you are changing these taxes, attach Schedule H (Form 1040) and enter in Part II of Form 1040X the date the error was discovered. If you are changing the wages paid to an employee for whom you filed Form W-2, you must also file Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement, and Form W-3c, Transmittal of Corrected Wage and Tax Statements.

To find the corresponding lines on the return you are amending, use the chart on page 6 for the appropriate year.

Payments

Lines 11 Through 16

To find the corresponding lines on the return you are amending, use the chart on page 6 for the appropriate year.

Line 11.   If you are changing these amounts, attach to the front of Form 1040X a copy of all additional or corrected Forms W-2 or 1099-R you received after you filed your original return. Enter in column B any additional amounts shown on these forms as Federal income tax withheld.

Line 12.   Enter the estimated tax payments you claimed on your original return. If you filed Form 1040-C, U.S. Departing Alien Income Tax Return, include the amount you paid as the balance due with that return.

Line 13.   If you are amending your return to claim the earned income credit (EIC) and you have a qualifying child, attach Schedule EIC (Form 1040A or 1040). For a tax year before 2002, enter the amount of any nontaxable earned income in Part II of Form 1040X. For 1999 and 2000, also enter the type of nontaxable earned income.

CAUTION: If your EIC was reduced or disallowed for a tax year after 1996, see the Instructions for Form 8862, Information To Claim Earned Income Credit After Disallowance, to find out if you must also file that form to claim the credit.

Line 14.   If you are amending your return to claim the additional child tax credit, attach Form 8812.

Line 15.   If you are amending your return to claim a credit on this line, attach Copy B of Form 2439, Form 4136, or, for 2002, Form 8885.

CAUTION: You cannot amend your return to show an increase in the number of gallons previously reported on Form 4136. See Pub. 378, Fuel Tax Credits and Refunds, for details on when you may amend your income tax return to claim other fuel tax credits.

Line 16.   Enter any amount paid with Form 4868, 2688, or 2350. Also include any amount paid with a credit card used to get an extension of time to file. But do not include the convenience fee you were charged. For 2000-2002, also include any amount paid by electronic funds withdrawal.

Line 17

Enter the amount of tax you paid from the Amount You Owe line on your original return. Also, include any additional tax that may have resulted if your original return was changed or examined. Do not include payments of interest or penalties.

Refund or Amount You Owe

Line 19

Enter the overpayment from your original return. You must enter that amount because any additional refund you claim on Form 1040X will be sent separately from any refund you have not yet received from your original return.

If your original return was changed by the IRS and the result was an additional overpayment of tax, also include that amount on line 19. Do not include interest you received on any refund.

To find the corresponding lines on the return you are amending, use the chart on page 6 for the appropriate year.

Lines 20 and 21

If line 20 is negative, treat it as a positive amount and add it to the amount on line 10, column C. Enter the result on line 21. This is the amount you owe.

Send Form 1040X with a check or money order for the full amount payable to the United States Treasury. Do not send cash. On your payment, put your name, address, daytime phone number, and SSN. Also, enter the tax year and type of return you are amending (for example, 2001 Form 1040). We will figure any interest due and send you a bill.

To help process your payment, enter the amount on the right side of the check like this: $ XXX.XX. Do not use dashes or lines (for example, do not enter $ XXX - or $ XXX 00/100).

What if you cannot pay?   If you cannot pay the full amount shown on line 21, you may ask to make monthly installment payments. You may have up to 60 months to pay. See Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request, for more information.

Lines 23 and 24

The refund amount on line 23 will be sent separately from any refund you claimed on your original return (see the instructions for line 19). We will figure the interest and include it in your refund.

Enter on line 24 the amount, if any, from line 22 you want applied to your estimated tax for next year. Also, enter that tax year. No interest will be paid on this amount. You cannot change the election to apply part or all of the overpayment on line 22 to next year's estimated tax.

Paid Preparer

Generally, anyone you pay to prepare your return must sign it by hand in the space provided. Signature stamps or labels cannot be used. The preparer must give you a copy of the return for your records. Someone who prepares your return but does not charge you should not sign.

Exemptions (Part I)

Line 30

You may have to use the Deduction for Exemptions Worksheet in the Form 1040 instructions to figure the amount to enter on line 30. To find out if you do, see the instructions for line 4. If you do not have to use that worksheet, multiply the applicable dollar amount on line 30 by the number of exemptions on line 29.

Line 31

If you are adding more than six dependents, attach a statement with the required information.

Column (b).   You must enter each dependent's social security number (SSN). If your dependent child was born and died in the tax year you are amending and you do not have an SSN for the child, you may attach a copy of the child's birth certificate instead and enter Died in column (b).

Be sure the name and SSN entered agree with the dependent's social security card. Otherwise, at the time we process your return, we may disallow the exemption claimed for the dependent and reduce or disallow any other tax benefits (such as the child tax credit and earned income credit) based on that dependent.

Note.   For details on how to get an SSN or correct a name or number, see the 2002 Form 1040 or Form 1040A instructions.

Column (d).   Check the box in column (d) if your dependent is also a qualifying child for the child tax credit. See the Form 1040 or 1040A instructions for the year you are amending to find out who is a qualifying child.

Children who did not live with you due to divorce or separation.   If you are claiming a child who did not live with you under the rules for children of divorced or separated parents, attach Form 8332, Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, or similar statement. But see Exception below.

If your divorce decree or separation agreement went into effect after 1984, you may attach certain pages from the decree or agreement instead of Form 8332. To be able to do this, the decree or agreement must state:

  1. You can claim the child as your dependent without regard to any condition, such as payment of support, and
  2. The other parent will not claim the child as a dependent, and
  3. The years for which the claim is released.

Attach the following pages from the decree or agreement:

  • Cover page (include the other parent's SSN on that page), and
  • The pages that include all of the information identified in 1 through 3 above, and
  • Signature page with the other parent's signature and date of agreement.

For more details, see Pub. 501.

Exception. You do not have to attach Form 8332 or similar statement if your divorce decree or written separation agreement went into effect before 1985 and it states that you can claim the child as your dependent.

Presidential Election Campaign Fund (Part III)

You may use Form 1040X to have $3 go to the fund if you (or your spouse on a joint return) did not do so on your original return. This must be done within 20½ months after the original due date for filing the return. For calendar year 2002, this period ends on December 31, 2004. A Yes designation cannot be changed.

Charts

Use the chart for the year you are amending to find the corresponding lines on your return.

CAUTION: Be sure to include write-in amounts from the return you are amending.



2002
IF you are completing Form 1040X... THEN the corresponding line(s) on the 2002 Form...
1040 is: 1040A is: 1040EZ is:
Line 1 35 21 4
Line 7 45-53 29-34 N/A
Line 9 56-60 37 N/A
Lines 11-16 62-68 39-42 7 and 8
Line 19 70 44 11a

2001
IF you are completing Form 1040X... THEN the corresponding line(s) on the 2001 Form...
1040 is: 1040A is: 1040EZ is:
Line 1 33 19 4
Line 7 43-50 27-32 7
Line 9 53-57 35 N/A
Lines 11-16 59-61a and 62-65 37-39a and 40 8 and 9a
Line 19 67 42 12a

2000
IF you are completing Form 1040X... THEN the corresponding line(s) on the 2000 Form...
1040 is: 1040A is: 1040EZ is:
Line 1 33 19 4
Line 7 43-49 27-31 N/A
Line 9 52-56 34 N/A
Lines 11-16 58-60a and 61-64 36-38a and 39 7 and 8a
Line 19 66 41 11a

1999
IF you are completing Form 1040X... THEN the corresponding line(s) on the 1999 Form...
1040 is: 1040A is: 1040EZ is:
Line 1 33 18 4
Line 7 41-47 26-30 N/A
Line 9 50-55 33 N/A
Lines 11-16 57-59a and 60-63 35-37a and 38 7 and 8a
Line 19 65 40 11a

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice.

We ask for the information on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United States. You are required to give us the information. We need it to ensure that you are complying with these laws and to allow us to figure and collect the right amount of tax.

You are not required to provide the information requested on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax returns and return information are confidential, as required by section 6103.

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on individual circumstances. The estimated average time is:

Recordkeeping 1 hr., 18 min.
Learning about the law or the form 28 min.
Preparing the form 1 hr., 11 min.
Copying, assembling, and sending the form to the IRS 34 min.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time estimates or suggestions for making this form simpler, we would be happy to hear from you. You can write to the Tax Forms Committee, Western Area Distribution Center, Rancho Cordova, CA 95743-0001. Do not send the form to this address. Instead, see Where To File on page 1.

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