Tax mistake? You can make amends

Ask for your refund or lose it

If you don't file your tax return within three years and you're owed money, sorry. You don't qualify to get it back.

Everyone -- even the government -- will agree that you overpaid and that the IRS should have sent you your refund. But they won't and, under the law, you can't make them. In fact, you can't even use that "refund" to offset taxes for future years; it's lost forever.

That's the nature of the statute of limitations. It limits the time both you and the IRS have to make changes. The IRS has publicized the fact that it's holding billions of dollars in unclaimed taxes.

If you haven't filed . . . file! There are penalties for not filing, even if you don't owe any money. If you have filed and received a corrected or late 1099, file an amended return. The IRS computers are going to be looking for those corrected numbers.

If you found out that you missed a deduction or a credit two years ago, file an amended return. And make sure they give you the interest owed for holding your money. (Of course, that interest will be taxable.)

Updated April 21, 2009

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