Tax returns in the United States

Amended return[edit]

A taxpayer who finds a mistake on a previously filed individual income tax return can file corrections with Form 1040X.


In the United States, taxpayers may file an amended return with the Internal Revenue Service to correct errors reported on a previously paid tax return. Typically a taxpayer does not need to file an amended return if he or she has math errors as the IRS will make the necessary corrections. For individuals, amended returns are filed using Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. In some cases taxpayers may use Form 1045, for example, to carry back a Net Operating Loss to a prior tax period. Form 1045 is generally processed much faster than Form 1040X.

Privacy and public disclosure[edit]

Tax return laws generally prohibit disclosure of any information gathered on a state tax return.^[10] Likewise, the federal government may not (with certain exceptions) disclose tax return information without the filer's permission,^[11] and each federal agency is also limited in how it can share such information with other federal agencies.^[10]


Occasionally there have been efforts in Congress to require tax returns to be open to public inspection. For example, Senators Robert M. La Follette and George W. Norris supported such legislation, applicable to both individual and corporate returns, and public disclosure for wealthy taxpayers was required from 1923 to 1926.^[12][13] Presidential candidates have sometimes voluntarily released their tax returns.


The IRS occasionally has seen "Fifth Amendment" returns from people who accurately report their annual income and tax liability but refuse to reveal the source of the funds on the grounds that such a statement would tend to incriminate the individual.

Federal laws requiring the filing of income tax returns: