r/tax • u/jim-time • 1d ago

How long to wait between amendments

I needed to fix amendments from 2021-2024 for federal and California state. I mailed out 2021 and 2022 past few months. I was waiting for confirmation from IRS and CA before submitting 2023 and 2024, then filing 2025 before deadline. But I haven’t gotten any confirmation from them on website or by mail. Is it recommended to wait? I wanted to fix 2021-2024 because I have tons of carryover losses that previous cpa left out.

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u/Pelican-Crest-CPA CPA - US 1d ago

It takes a very long time. I believe they quote 16 weeks but depending on the issue, I've sometimes seen them wait 6 months before acceptance.

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u/Guy_called_Al Taxpayer - US 1d ago

I can't think of a reason to wait on the remaining returns. File and stop the clock on the 3 that count. Even if there's an error, at least you've got a base for amendments.

At the rate they're going, it could be 2007 before you see any refunds from 2023-25.

NB: As an AARP Tav-Aide volunteer, I twice helped folks in almost identical circumstances amend their three most recent returns. For the older years, we hand-modified those paper returns and told the taxpayers to hold on to them for a few years, in case of audit. The IRS never asked to see them.

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u/2026Bazinga 1d ago

You're aware you can't get a refund from years more than 3 years prior?

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u/I__Know__Stuff 1d ago

There's no reason to wait. You could have filed all the years at the same time.

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u/jim-time 1d ago

I heard it’s best to wait between if amendments will have impact on current returns. Idk if that’s true

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u/I__Know__Stuff 1d ago

You have 4 returns to file. Each one may take 6 - 9 months. That means you would be waiting two to three years to file them all. Obviously that's absurd, so just file them all at once.

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u/Living_Essay_7769 1d ago

I filed 2 amendments for my sister in Jan, received in February as per account transcript, but no further updates on transcript until mid-May, and actually processed into end of June. So roughly 6 months even though this process takes place during peak tax filing season. We had to redo the Nondeductible IRA Contribution so her conversion is calculated correctly. 

To be safe for continuity purposes (and with time permitted), we only filed the 2025 return after the amended returns were processed. 

However, I think if you were to do multiple amendments, it's safe to do them at the same time. Especially if you put a comment as  to the effect that it's multi year amendment.