I think I messed up my taxes - wrong refund amount after submitting

Your situation sounds stressful, but try not to panic! This is actually more common than you might think. When you see a dramatic change like that without making amendments, it's usually because the tax software detected a discrepancy between what you initially entered and information the IRS received. Tax software companies often run background verification after you submit that can trigger these updates. For the SSDI income, that's generally not fully taxable unless you have other substantial income. Only about 85% is potentially taxable, and many people on SSDI don't owe taxes on their benefits at all. Here's what I'd recommend: First, check if your original return properly included your SSDI income. Second, look at the form you received from your disability insurance provider - is this a separate long-term disability payment from a private insurer? If so, some of that might be taxable depending on how the premiums were paid. Don't worry about multiple amendment attempts. The IRS processes the most recent one, and they take several weeks longer than regular returns to process.

I had almost the exact same issue last year with disability payments! After trying to make sense of the confusing IRS notices and spending hours on hold, I finally tried taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which literally saved me thousands. I uploaded my tax documents, including that confusing disability form, and it immediately highlighted that my insurance benefits were being incorrectly classified as fully taxable income when they shouldn't have been. The tool explained how disability income taxation depends entirely on who paid the premiums and whether they were paid with pre-tax or post-tax dollars. Their analysis showed exactly where my return went wrong and gave me step-by-step instructions for fixing it. Best part was they could tell from my forms that I had paid the premiums myself with post-tax dollars, so most of that income wasn't taxable at all!

Ok so I actually tried taxr.ai after posting my skeptical comment and holy crap it was eye-opening! I uploaded my tax forms and discovered I've been incorrectly reporting my disability payments for THREE YEARS. No wonder my taxes never made sense. The system specifically identified that I should have been using Form 8889 for some health savings account distributions I never knew were tax-free, and it showed exactly how my disability payments should be categorized based on who paid the premiums. I was able to fix my current return and now I'm working on filing amendments for previous years. Honestly cant believe how much money I've been overpaying. Thanks for recommending this - wish I'd known about it sooner!

Have you tried reaching the IRS directly? I know it seems impossible these days, but there's actually a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that I used when I was in a similar situation with amended returns. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was stuck in amendment limbo for months with no updates on the IRS portal. After trying to call for weeks and constantly getting the "high call volume" message, I tried Claimyr out of desperation. They somehow got me in the IRS phone queue and I got a callback from an actual IRS agent within 2 hours. The agent was able to see both of my amendment attempts in their system (even though the website showed nothing) and explained exactly what was happening. Turned out my first amendment was processing but stalled because of a missing form, and they were able to resolve it right on the phone.

I need to eat my words here. After leaving that skeptical comment, I was still desperate with my own amended return issues, so I tried Claimyr anyway. I genuinely couldn't believe it when my phone rang just 47 minutes later with an actual IRS agent on the line. The agent was able to see both of my amendments in their system (even though the "Where's My Amended Return" tool showed nothing). She explained that my first amendment had been received but was missing a required Schedule C, which is why it went into review. She guided me through exactly what I needed to submit to resolve everything. I've spent MONTHS trying to get this information and finally got it handled in one call. Seriously worth it for the peace of mind alone.

Have you checked the "Where's My Amended Return" tool on the IRS website? It's separate from the regular refund status checker. It takes about 3 weeks for amendments to show up there after you submit them. Also, if your disability payments were from a private insurer and you paid the premiums yourself with after-tax money, those benefits should be TAX-FREE. That could explain the huge discrepancy you're seeing.

Quick tip from a former tax preparer: Make sure you're reporting your SSDI and private disability correctly on separate lines. SSDI goes on one line of your tax return and private disability insurance payments go elsewhere depending on taxability. Also, amendments take FOREVER right now - the IRS is still processing some from 2021! One trick is to call early morning (right when they open) or try the "local taxpayer advocate" office in your area. They can often access more detailed information than what shows online.