Advantages of the new Schedule X February 2018 Tax News

You are now able to e-file 2017 individual amended returns with the new Schedule X

In the January 2018 Tax News we announced the introduction of the new Schedule X, California Explanation of Amended Return Changes, which replaces Form 540X, Amended Individual Income Tax Return, for tax years 2017 or later.

One significant advantage with the new Schedule X is taxpayers and tax professionals are now able to e-file 2017 individual amended returns if the tax software used to prepare the return supports it. We received a number of requests for a list of tax software providers who support this e-file enhancement in their products.

As of January 2, 2018, the following software vendors support individual amended return e-file capability:

• Advanced Tax Solutions
• Drake Software
• Jackson Hewitt
• Petz Enterprises
• TaxAct
• Taxslayer
• Thomson Reuters
• Universal Tax System-ATX

Over the last year, we greatly improved the processing timeframes for individual amended returns. These gains were based on process improvements inherent with the Return Analysis applications as well as a significant cross-training effort to support quicker processing. We expect that the improvements resulting from implementation of Schedule X will allow us to maintain, and potentially further improve, the processing improvements we’ve made in the last year.

Finally, the Schedule X enables the taxpayer to apply a refund due to their 2018 estimated tax. For details on how to apply a 2017 refund to 2018 estimated tax, please see amended return instructions in the Form 540 or Form 540 NR booklet or the Schedule X instructions. We will also be exploring ways to enhance the Schedule X to allow estimated tax transfers to tax years after 2018.