Should I send an amendment form to the IRS if I forgot to report freelance income?

Q: I filed my taxes last week without including money my wife received from a freelance editing job (about $1,600). Unlike in years past, the company sent a Form 1099. What amendment form should I send to IRS? Or should I not worry about it? —Dan, Franklin

The following answer was provided by the Mass. Society of CPAs.

A: You need to filed amended federal and state returns on form 1040x and form ca-6. The IRS will eventually match up the unreported 1099 and you will get what I fondly refer to as a "love letter."

The following answer was provided by Mark Misselbeck, CPA, Levine Katz Nannis & Solomon PC, Needham.

A: The company sent a Form 1099MISC because the payments exceeded $ 600 in total for the year. Whether or not the payments exceeded the $ 600 threshold that requires the payor to file a document, you must always report all of your income. In this instance, you should file an amended return - Federally on Form 1040X; MA on Form CA-6 - to report the omitted income. The IRS matches about 98% of the amounts reported to it on the Forms 1099 it receives and will contact taxpayers about amounts reported to it that it can not match to the return. It then shares the results of it inquiries with the state tax department.