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Level 4

Question

E-File was rejected because of "duplicate" 1099-R forms.

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
March 30, 2021
41 replies
0 views

My software (loaded from CD) is current with regards to updates. The "duplicate" 1009-R forms are NOT duplicates, but two of the six used (all from the same payer FEIN) do have the same distribution amount and tax withheld. However, each of the six has a unique Line 2 of the Payer's Name, and the Account number in Box 12 for each is unique. Prior years' e-filings have had this same situation and e-file has never failed before. Is this an issue on the IRS end of things, or a bug in the TurboTax file submitted to them? Obviously the internal identifier for each doesn't include all the unique identifiers for each of the six forms, but I can't tell from here if it's on the submitting end, or the receiving end of the e-file process.

I did attempt re-e-filing without making any changes, but it's too soon to tell if it will reject again. If it does, can I simply update the distribution amount for one of them to add a penny (currently shows zero cents) to force uniqueness without affecting the actual distribution amount after rounding?

macuser_22

Alumni - Champ

What is the reject code?

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**

SoozAuthor

Level 4

There was no reason code provided.

macuser_22

Alumni - Champ

Then what makes you think it was rejected?

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**

brett d

Level 2

I'm also having the same issue - rejected due to a 'duplicate 1099-R'. I tried to resubmit with adding account numbers to the 3 1099-Rs that were from same Payer but different amounts, but I got another rejection today. The other 2 1099-Rs are same payer, same amount, but 1 for me and 1 for my spouse.

I was also thinking of adding a penny.

Please let us know what you find out / decide. Thanks!

rupj78

Level 2

Just got off the phone with TurboTax rep - they claimed the issue is on the receiving side for the IRS.

Recommended solution was to print out forms and mail, instead of e-filing....

SoozAuthor

Level 4

Not surprising that it’s on the receiving side...Turbo Tax could consider updating its Federal Review process to catch this situation and give a warning.

i know print & mail is an option, but I prefer e-file since I get my refund faster. And, I don’t trust the USPS even with tracking !!!

ki19

Level 2

Well hallelujah that others are having the same problem, I was going crazy the last 24 hours after I filed yesterday and got rejected, trying to figure this out! Thanks to all the posters !

Will monitor this thread to see if turbotax or IRS offer a real resolution (filing by paper is ridiculous!), but I'll see if the "add a penny solution" keeps working for people.

SoozAuthor

Level 4

Hi everybody - to those of you who used the “add a penny” method to get your e-file to transmit successfully:

Remember this isn’t a “fix” but rather a temporary workaround. Only time will tell if the IRS decides that your return doesn’t match the info provided by your payer (yes, they do match the two to make sure we didn’t forget to report anything). Please hang onto your documentation along with your filing copy for your records in case questions come up later.

One penny added to zero cents will not affect the dollar amount when it’s rounded, nor will it affect the tax amount due. So, all should be OK - but just in case!

ngozman

Level 4

This is absolutely correct. The IRS will match info it received from brokers with our returns. I don’t think that this kind of mismatch will cause an audit. Now I am thinking that it is not TT problem because some other e-filers have it too. So, if is IRS problem we should be fine.

kagiyama

Level 2

I too have had the exact same problem. E-file return rejected with no error code, but when logging back into TT, it says the problem is duplicate 1009-Rs (same text that @TomKiel posted). I have a similar situation to most. Eight 1099-Rs, from three different payers, but the closest thing to "duplicate" are identical distribution amounts for me and my wife from the same payer. In previous years this has never been an issue. I originally E-filed this past Sunday night, and received the rejection Monday morning, so a slightly earlier, but similar timeframe to @Sooz original post.

Thinking there was some sort of subtle data corruption, I deleted the 1099-Rs with identical amounts, but different recipients, and resubmitted on Tuesday morning. Same rejection message less than 90 minutes later. Thinking maybe it had to do with the other 1099Rs from other payers, or the sequence in which I entered, I deleted and manually re-entered (instead of importing) all 1009-Rs Wednesday afternoon. I was hopeful when I did not get an immediate rejection, but alas, early Thursday morning the same rejection.

I guess I'll try the one penny work around. I vaguely recall some other situation from several years ago where I kept getting Turbo Tax errors (not IRS rejections) that was solved by a $0.01 adjustment. Never got a "special" envelope from the IRS on that one. However, I have had a couple situations over a couple decades where forgetting to insert a zero in a blank field resulted in a "special" envelope even though there was no tax liability involved.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback and suggestions.

madas

Level 2

same problem here, rejected three times, every time I delete and re-enter (manually, import, even changed the payer name slightly). All same result. I'll try the $0.01 since it seems to work for others. not sure it TT or IRS issue though, it is hard to tell. but it should have been fixed by now, its been 4 days.

kagiyama

Level 2

Sure enough, the "one penny" work around" took care of things. Return was accepted in less than 30 minutes.

I'm starting to think this is more of a TurboTax issue. I found a thread I used in 2019 https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/retirement/discussion/i-have-the-same-issue-turbotax-has-a-bug-the-suggest/01/331647#M28945 where TurboTax kept giving an "out of balance" error and the I had to go into Forms mode and do a similar one penny trick.

Glad to be done with this and thanks again for everyone sharing.

ngozman

Level 4

I was just wondering how IRS can even tell that there are duplicate 1099-R.

It is perfectly fine for the person to have two IRA accounts with the same broker and withdraw the same amount from both. 1099-R will be identical but not duplicates because accounts are different. But account number is not part of 1099-R.

Besides, before we send our returns brokers already sent all 1099-R to IRS and no rejects.

Very strange...

madas

Level 2

The $0.1 worked for me as well. Return was accepted after three rejections. thanks for the suggestion

evolent

Level 2

Exactly the same issue here. It's stupid that people are forced to change their information by a penny in order to placate a broken system when we are paying hundreds of dollars for filing through TT.

cet_tn

Level 2

Same issue here. Duplicate 1099-R forms. Just received my second rejection notice. Apparently I'll have to submit my return the old-fashioned way, by mail.

SoozAuthor

Level 4

@cet_tn
if you add one penny to the distribution amount of one of your “duplicates” and re-file, it should allow it to go through. So far everyone who’s tried that (in this conversation) has had success.

just hang onto your documentation along with your other tax records just in case any questions come up later.

cet_tn

Level 2

Thank you! Just resubmitted it.

slptx

Level 2

My pension comes from a company that sold last year and the 1099s are exactly the same amounts, but from different companies, name, addresses, etc. My filing keeps getting rejected. Is there any workaround that I can do to make this work?

JohnB5677

Level 15

First, be absolutely sure that you did get the correct distribution, and that they are not duplicates. However, from time to time you do actually get to forms that report identical income. This is unusual, so it gets flagged.

A simple way to resolve this is to add $1 to one 1099-R, and subtract $1 from the other. Your taxable income is identical and it bypasses the issue of identical forms.

This is how to post a 1099-R

Login to your TurboTax Account
Click "Wages & Income" on the top
Scroll down to "IRA, 401(k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R)"
Answer "Yes" to the question "Did You Have Any of These Types of Income?"
Click "I'll Type it Myself"
Choose "Form 1099-R, Withdrawal of Money from 401(k) Retirement Plans, Pensions, IRAs, etc."
Click "Continue"
From here TurboTax will walk you through entering your Form 1099-R

@slptx

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post. **Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

SoozAuthor

Level 4

@JohnB5677

I somewhat disagree with you with regards to “prevention”

1. Users should not have to alter the information any form provided them by a payer

2. if this condition raises a “flag”, it should do so when you create and save your forms, NOT after TurboTax has “reviewed” your return, deemed it error-free, and attempted the e-file

3. this condition is not as unusual as you stated, and others in this thread have said they had the same condition in previous years and it did NOT cause filing errors previously. I will have the same situation every year until my broker decides to change the composition of my income source(s). That is not up to me.

perhaps a better solution is for TurboTax to perform more edits and throw an error - or at least a warning - if this condition exists at “save” time. Even better, it should identify the pieces of information on the form that as a combination can assure a unique entry without having to manipulate the reported amounts! That way, they will never create a file to be transmitted that has “duplicate” data for the IRS.

The sooner a potential error is caught, the better. And it prevents us users from having heart palpitations from seeing “IRS” and “REJECTED” in an email.

mrcool202

Level 2

I just received the dreaded "Tax Return was Rejected" email. The reason for the rejection was "duplicated 1099-R". My wife and I both had the exact same distribution amount from each of our IRA's from the same institution. My ASSUMPTION is that the IRS system checks are only looking for duplicates using FEIN + dollar amount. I am GUESSING that the IRS does not look at SSN, Name, or other fields for duplicates. I added .01 (1 penny) to the distribution and taxable distribution amount (Box 1 and Box 2) of the suspect "duplicate" 1099-R". I resubmitted the e-filed return and 15 minutes later received the blessed "e-file accepted" email.

Ben7795

Level 2

My wife and I have a 1099-r from a long term care insurer that is in the same amount. The fee is not taxable as it is paid to the insurer. the tax ID used was mine and my wife and the return was rejected twice. How do I fix it?

Clubnev

Level 4

For most of us, including myself, add one cent to one of the 1099’s and resubmit. This isn’t an official solution but it’s worked for most of us.

BGScott

Level 2

My two cents:

Adding a penny to one of our same-payer-same-amount-two-persons "duplicates" worked for IRS acceptance, but TTax (using CD version) still tags it "needs revision."

INTUIT THIS NEEDS TO BE REMEDIATED.

And BTW, FIX THE LANGUAGE that describes "Backdoor" high-AGI traditional to Roth conversions because your semantics are so odd that I have to spend an hour every year making sure again that I'm choosing the right labels. Just add a phrase like "if you did a "backdoor Roth, choose this."