# Amended tax returns

Once a tax period has been filed with the authority, a missing or wrong tax record can't simply be written into it. Tax gathers those discrepancies into **amended returns** — one open draft per jurisdiction and filing period at a time — so you can review them, get them signed off, and keep a record of what you amended.

:::warning
**Fours does not file the amendment.** Submitting an amended return marks Fours' own record as submitted. Nothing is sent to your tax provider or to any tax authority — you file the amended return yourself, through your provider or with the authority.
:::

---

## When a period counts as filed

Fours receives no filing confirmations from your provider or from tax authorities, so it decides for itself whether a finding's period is filed. A period counts as filed when either is true:

- **The provider has locked the tax document.**
- **The filing deadline has passed** for the jurisdiction's filing frequency (dates in UTC):

| Filing frequency | Period | Counts as filed from |
|------------------|--------|----------------------|
| **Monthly** | a month, e.g. *March 2026* | the 20th of the following month |
| **Quarterly** | a quarter, e.g. *Q1 2026* | the last day of the month after the quarter ends |
| **Annually** | a year, e.g. *2026* | January 31 of the following year |

Each jurisdiction's frequency is set under **Tax registrations** in [Settings](/revenue/tax/set-up-tax/#tax-registrations); any jurisdiction left unset is treated as **Monthly**. These deadlines are simplified estimates, not each authority's real calendar — in particular, a period you filed *before* its deadline is not treated as filed until the provider locks its documents or the deadline passes.

A finding in a filed period offers no correction that writes to the provider: its **Recommended** card reads *Period already filed* and offers **Flag for amendment** instead. The Audit tab also shows a banner when a run contains filed-period findings.

## Flag a finding

1. Open the finding from the [Audit tab](/revenue/tax/audits-and-findings/), or select **Review →** next to it in the filing calendar.
2. In the **Recommended** card, review **Originally filed**, **Corrected**, and the difference, then select **Flag for amendment**.

Flagging needs the Admin or Editor role and is available on Uncovered and Ambiguous findings (and Needs review findings from older audits) that have a known jurisdiction. It writes nothing to the provider. The finding joins the **Draft** amended return for its jurisdiction and filing period, which is created if it doesn't exist yet. A finding can be flagged only once, and every finding in one return must be in the same currency.

The figures are copied from the finding when you flag it — a later audit does not change them — and the return keeps the filing frequency that applied at that moment.

## Filing calendar

**Tax → Sales Tax → Amended returns** opens with the **Filing calendar**: every discrepancy in a filed period, grouped by jurisdiction.

![The Amended returns tab: the Filing calendar with California (two discrepancies, both flagged) and New York (one discrepancy, Take actions), then the Amended returns list with its summary line, status filters, Submit all, and a Draft return for California, August 2026 showing Originally filed, Corrected, and Additional owed](images/amended-returns.png)

| Column | Shows |
|--------|-------|
| **Jurisdiction** | The jurisdiction and its code, such as *US-CA*. |
| **Tax type** | Sales Tax, VAT, GST/HST, GST, or Consumption Tax. |
| **Filing frequency** | From your tax registrations; **Unknown** when the stored value is not valid. |
| **Discrepancies** | How many discrepancies, and how many are already flagged. |

The button on each row — **Take actions**, **Flagged**, or **Submitted**, by how far its discrepancies have got — expands the row. Each discrepancy reads *Recorded* (what the provider has) *→ should be* (what Fours has), with the amount still owed when the correct figure is higher. **Review →** opens the finding so you can flag it.

The calendar draws on completed audit runs — the latest run's verdict wins when several cover the same invoice — and on the 50 most recent runs only, so discrepancies found only by older runs don't appear.

## Take a return to submitted

Below the calendar, **Amended returns** lists one card per jurisdiction and period, filterable by status. Each card shows the jurisdiction, period, and status; the filing frequency, tax type, number of records, and the due date; and three figures: **Originally filed**, **Corrected**, and **Additional owed**. **View details** opens the return on its own page.

```d2
direction: right
draft: "Draft"
pending: "Pending sign-off"
signed: "Signed off"
submitted: "Submitted\nrecord-keeping only"
draft -> pending: "creator requests sign-off"
pending -> signed: "named approver signs off"
signed -> submitted: "Submit"
draft -> submitted: "Submit (no sign-off)"
```

1. **Request sign-off (optional).** The member who created the return selects **Request sign-off first**, chooses an approver in **Send to** — any other current member of the organization — and selects **Send for sign-off**. The return must hold at least one record. It becomes **Pending sign-off**.
2. **Sign off.** Only the named approver sees **Approve & sign off**; they can add an optional **Sign-off note** and confirm. Everyone else sees that the return is waiting on that person. The return becomes **Signed off** and records who signed off, when, and the note.
3. **Submit.** Select **Submit** on a **Draft** or **Signed off** return that has at least one record, or **Submit all** to submit every such return at once. A return waiting for sign-off is not submitted. The card then reads *"Submitted — recorded in Fours (nothing sent to the provider or authority)."*
4. **File the amendment yourself** with your tax provider or the authority.

**Who can do what.** Flagging, requesting sign-off, and submitting need the **Admin** or **Editor** role. Signing off needs no particular role — only being the approver named on that return. Sign-off is optional: an Admin or Editor can submit a draft directly.

:::caution
A return can't be sent back. There is no way to reject a return waiting for sign-off, return it to draft, remove a finding from it, or delete it, and a submitted return stays submitted. After a return leaves **Draft**, a new flag for the same jurisdiction and period starts a new draft.
:::

## KPI calculation formulas

The same formulas apply to findings from every audited channel — AWS, Azure, GCP, and Snowflake. All money figures are **taxable amounts** (revenue excluding tax, as defined in [What an audit reads](/revenue/tax/audits-and-findings/#what-an-audit-reads)), not tax: **Additional owed** is additional taxable revenue to declare, not the tax due on it.

| KPI | Applies to | Formula | Calculation details |
|-----|------------|---------|---------------------|
| **Originally filed** (per return) | AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake | `sum of the taxable amounts in the provider records for the return's findings` | An Uncovered finding has no provider record and contributes 0. Copied from each finding when it was flagged; in the return's single currency. |
| **Corrected** (per return) | AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake | `sum of the taxable amounts Fours holds for the return's findings` | Copied when flagged; the return's currency. |
| **Additional owed** (per return) | AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake | `Corrected − Originally filed` | Can be negative when more was filed than Fours holds. Exact decimal arithmetic. |
| Discrepancy line (*Recorded … → should be … · +… owed*, filing calendar) | AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake | `owed = Fours' taxable amount − provider's taxable amount` | Shown only when positive. |
| Discrepancies and flagged counts (filing calendar) | AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake | `number of filed-period discrepancies in the jurisdiction; number of them already flagged` | Uncovered, Ambiguous, and Needs review findings in filed periods, across the completed runs among the 50 most recent. |
| Summary line (*N amendments · N jurisdictions*, then *Originally filed … · owed …* per currency) | AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake | `amendments = returns shown; jurisdictions = distinct jurisdictions among them; Originally filed = sum of Originally filed; owed = sum of each return's Additional owed, counting a negative one as 0` | Only the returns visible under the current status filter. One segment per currency; currencies are never added together. Because negative amounts count as 0, *owed* can be higher than the sum of the cards' **Additional owed**. |
| Status filter counts (All, Draft, Pending sign-off, Signed off, Submitted) | AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake | `number of returns with that status` | — |
| **Submit all** *N* | AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake | `number of Draft and Signed off returns with at least one record` | Counts all returns, whatever status filter is selected. |
| Amended returns tab badge | AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake | `number of Draft + Pending sign-off returns` | — |

## Related

- [Audits and findings](/revenue/tax/audits-and-findings/) — where filed-period findings come from.
- [Corrections](/revenue/tax/corrections/) — fixing findings in open periods.
- [Set up Tax](/revenue/tax/set-up-tax/#tax-registrations) — setting each jurisdiction's filing frequency.