Retroactive Revoking of Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

Hello Tax Experts,

I'm at it again, and after doing some research and mucking about with forms and online tax services, I've decided that, if possible, I should amend my 2009 and 2010 US Tax Returns as I've left a lot of money on the table, especially for 2009.  Essentially, I took the easy way out originally, and just filled out form 2555-EZ.  However, if I take FTC I should get over $3000 back in 2009 and $1300 for 2010. 

The benefit for 2011 will likely be mitigated as I'll have a large capital gain from stocks I recently sold in the US and will probably be forced into an AMT situation (with my exchange rate inflated wages). However, found out today that there will be a new addition to the family come early 2012   ;D , so probably worth the risk of not being able to exclude my income for the next 5 years.   

So, my question, is this allowed?  Can I amend a previous filing and revoke the FEI exclusion? I'm not really ammending so much as completely redoing everything and was wondering if this is commonly done or frowned upon by the IRS? 

Thanks for any of your thoughts. 

-Sam

Amendments are made using form 1040X. Be sure to understand the instructions completely before proceeding. Professional help is advised.

And, congratulations!

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040x.pdf

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040x.pdf

Thanks for the links and the congratulations. I've actually already filled a 1040x before for 2009 as originally I had used the FEI exclusion but also claimed the Making Work Pay credit as I didn't complete the worksheet properly.  The probably didn't go over the amended form too thoroughly as I was giving money back.

I'm rethinking my strategy anyway, as all this has implications for UK taxes too, obviously.  I'm about £20 short of the £2000 un remitted foreign income for this UK tax year (2011/12).  Claiming these US tax refunds would obviously put me over that, so I may put the amended US tax returns off until the next UK tax year, when I'm unlikely to have such a big capital gain in the US. Then, and correct me if I'm wrong, I get the best of both, i.e., refund of less than £2000 to US account that stays in US so I don't have to tell HMRC thus avoiding UK tax. 

Is that what they call tax planning?