I need to amend farmer's 2005 tax return. Farmers are required to file by March 1 to keep from paying estimates and I have his 2008 return ready to file. Can I still amend 2005 up to April 15th, or does it need to be in the mail before the 2008 return is sent?
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Go ahead
and file his 2008 return whenever you and he agree. It has no bearing on his 2005 amend. Your deadline to amend a return and get a refund is three years to the day from the due date of the original return. (Forget about the fact that you filed the original return by March 1 to avoid having to make the fourth estimated tax payment. The due date for the return was 4/15 unless 4/15 fell on a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal Holiday that year in which case the due date was the next business day.) Note that this deadline is the deadline even if it happens to fall on a Saturday or Sunday or Federal Holiday. Also remember that you may have trouble getting a postmark on any of those days so you may need to either mail the Friday before or use an alternative service to the PO.
Personally I would use either certified mail return receipt requested or one of the recognized delivery services and I would keep the paperwork from the shipping until well after I had acknowledgment from the IRS that they got the amend and it was in time.
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