Amending 2011 tax return for Capital Gains (fund, income, stocks, payment)

[mjedwards409]

I would REALLY appreciate any words of wisdom I can get here. Thanks in advance.

I'm going to make this story as short and sweet as possible. In fact, I'll bullet point everything.

-I've always done my own taxes due to the fact that I've never had a very complicated return. (I used Turbo Tax.)

-I got married in 2011, so it was my first tax year "married filing jointly". The return was accepted, and we received our refund.
(Here is where the fun starts)

-My wife's parents gave us a very generous check for a wedding gift. Little did we know, these funds came from various stocks that they bought years back in her name and under her social. So they withdrew the funds and we never reported anything to the IRS.

-We received a notification of adjustment from the IRS in early 2013 for the 2011 tax year. Every dollar that was withdrawn was shown as extra income. (This amounted to about $3K more that we "owed" to the IRS)

- I acted quickly and without researching and I just paid what the IRS was asking. I wasn't going to ask my inlaws for money after they had given us $15K as a gift a year earlier.

Fast forward to now. My wife mentioned that her parents had sent us some tax forms in 2011 and she never told me about them. I took a look at everything and the long term capital gains on these funds were actually a LOSS. I called the IRS, and they confirmed that even though I agreed to the adjustment and made payment, they will still give me a refund if I file an amended return.

So here is my question: How difficult is the amended return process for someone who is not very experienced with tax filing and NOT AT ALL experienced with capital gains? My fear is I will make a mistake on the 1040X, wait the 8-12 weeks for the IRS to review, and have to start all over again. Is it going to be worth it just to pay H&R Block or someone to do this for me and just cut my losses and save the aggravation?

Thanks so much for any advice here!

[John7777]

It shouldn't be difficult to fill out the amended return. On the other hand, I don't think H&R Block would charge you a lot to do it, and you wouldn't have to worry about it. That's what I do. Last year they charged me $275 to do my whole return. Not bad, considering the fact that I tend to procrastinate.