Form 8453 has box checked for mailing Form 8949

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
April 8, 2026
2 replies
259 views

I paid my final tax due using the IRS Direct Pay. When I was ready to e-file, Turbo Tax only had the option to debit bank account, pay by credit card or mail check. It did not have the option for Tax due already paid by Direct Pay. So I picked "mail check". So Turbotax printed the form 8453 and by default it checks the box for Form 8949 to be mailed, even though I had no sale transactions entered in summary form. Turbotax AI tells me that as I paid my taxes electronically, IRS will process my Form 8949 with the efiled return and there is no separat eForm 8949 requirement.

If I have paid tax due on April 15th using Direct Pay before efiling, where do I enter it in Turbotax so that the Form 8453 is not generated?

Is Turbotax AI correct that I do not need to mail in the Form 8949 even though Form 8453 indicates it does?

Best answer by DavidD66

Form 8453 being generated and paying your tax online via IRS Direct Pay don't have anything to do with each other. Indicating you paid by mail and paying online is fine and doesn't require any entry in TurboTax. If Form 8453 was generated even though you didn't enter any summary transactions, there may some information that is triggering it. Did you import your Form 1099-B? If so, that could be the reason. You can review the adjustment codes used on Form 8949 Line 1 f. If there is a code M, it indicates multiple transactions and requires Form 8453 and Form 8949 (with all transactions listed) or Form 1099-B be mailed.

DavidD66Answer

Level 15

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NitabaiAuthor

Level 4

Thanks that makes sense. However the AI response in Turbotax was that the Form 8453 was generated because I chose to pay taxes by mailing check and therefore the Form 8949 box was checked on 8453 by default per IRS requirements. It also said that if I paid the taxes by Direct Pay, I need not mail in the Form 8453.

The AI response seems wrong and I do need to mail in the Form 8453 for the one account that had transactions reported in summary for short term gains with adjustments. The long term gains were reported directly on Schedule D Line 8 a bypassing Form 8949 and hence I dont need to provide details for the long term transactions on this account.