2019 Federal Return Rejected due to Spouse AGI

[charisma6577]

In 2018, my husband and I filed our taxes Married, Separately.  He passed away in 2019, so I am now filing Married, Jointly at the suggestion of TurboTax.  However, my return keeps getting rejected due to my late husband's AGI not matching what the IRS has on file for 2018.  I am taking the AGI directly from his accepted 2018 tax return, what am I doing wrong?  

[CatinaT1]

The IRS uses your prior year AGI to combat fraud. 

You can find your 2018 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) by:

• Looking at line 7 on page 2 of your 2018 Form 1040; or
• You can request a transcript of your 2018 tax return from the IRS to ensure you have the right number. You can request your transcript online at the following link: Get Transcript 

Check these items as well to ensure you have the correct number.  If you:

• Filed late last year after mid-November or your return was processed after that time—try entering 0.
• Amended your return last year—make sure you’re using the AGI from your original return, not the amended one. (If you only have a 1040X form, it’s on line 1, column A).
• Rounded your AGI to the nearest dollar—be sure to round up when it’s 50 cents or more and down when it’s 49 cents or less.
• Filed with your spouse last year—you and your spouse have the same 2018 AGI. (Don’t split the AGI amount or enter 0 for one of you).

Unfortunately, without the correct number, your only option would be to print and mail in your return. 

This article will give you instruction on how to print and mail your return.

[charisma6577]

Thank you for your attempted response, but I have copies of the transcripts, I have his 2018 return and I am entering the AGI exactly as it is listed on the return and the transcripts.  Unfortunately it is still getting rejected.  I have called the IRS, I upgraded to TurboTax Deluxe...I've tried everything.  

[CatinaT1]

Sorry it is not working for you.

Sometimes it is a situation beyond your control that prevents your return from being e-filed. In this case, your only option would be to print and mail in your return. This article will give you instruction on how to print and mail your return.

[waltert]

My return keeps getting rejected even though I filed my returns for several years past with TurboTax so my AGI and my wife's AGI ( she died in October 2019) should have been submitted to the IRS and I confirmed again that the proper number was (or should have been) submitted by TurboTax efile so I don't understand why  it is getting rejected for my wife's AGI. Suggesting that I file by mail is a bit ridiculous since TurboTax has all last years information which should be adequate to accept my deceased wife's identity. They have her social security numbers as well which should be a better identifier.

[mmangino]

I wonder if this is due to a spouse being deceased. I had the same issue as well

[WedgeA]

Same thing happened to me.  And the same situation (lost my wife last year). Looking more closely at the error getting returned, it says:

IND-032-04 - 'SpousePriorYearPIN' or 'SpousePriorYearAGIAmt' in the Return Header must match the e-File database.

I think it's not about the Prior year AGI (like TurboTax lists) but about the missing SpousePriorYearPIN which the software does not give any option to re-send.  Is there anyway an Admin can confirm this?  And if so, can it be corrected in the software?

[KarenJ2]

I am sorry for your loss.

Please see a response from Carl to a similar question.

If you filed a joint return in 2018, then you can do the same for 2019 also. The IRS says you can. That way, you get to take your spouse's standard deduction for the entire year, even if they passed one minute after midnight on new year's eve.

When completing the return, DO NOT under any circumstances change the order in which the joint filers are listed on the return. If you do, then the return will be rejected by the IRS computers.

Also, when going through the personal information for each joint filer, make sure to check the box for "This tax filer passed away in 2019" for the deceased spouse.

Now, the IRS gets their SSN/Name/Status information from the social security administration computers every year. So it's perfectly possible that when you go to e-file your joint return, it will be rejected by the IRS computers with an "SSN LOCKED" rejection message. If that happens, then you have no choice but to print, sign and mail the return to the IRS.

If a refund is due and you want that refund deposited to a bank account by the IRS, then that account *MUST* have both of your names on it. If it does not, then the bank is required to reject the refund back to the IRS, and this will delay your refund by months.  So don't close any bank accounts yet, that have both of your names on it, if you want any refund due to go to that account.

E-file rejection errors IND-018 and IND-019: In Care Of Name required for deceased taxpayer

[Edited 02.18.20 | 12:49 PM]

[rjs]

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@WedgeA wrote:

Same thing happened to me.  And the same situation (lost my wife last year). Looking more closely at the error getting returned, it says:

IND-032-04 - 'SpousePriorYearPIN' or 'SpousePriorYearAGIAmt' in the Return Header must match the e-File database.

I think it's not about the Prior year AGI (like TurboTax lists) but about the missing SpousePriorYearPIN which the software does not give any option to re-send.  Is there anyway an Admin can confirm this?  And if so, can it be corrected in the software?

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@WedgeA  The message comes from the IRS, not from TurboTax. E-filing requires either the prior year PIN or the prior year AGI, not both. That's why the message says that the PIN "or" the AGI must match the e-File database.

There have been a few posts about this. I am beginning to think that the IRS might have a bug related to the prior-year AGI for a deceased spouse.

[mmangino]

@rjs So if that's the case, who is responsible for getting it fixed? It seems like Intuit needs to be working with the IRS on this.

@KarenJ2 That doesn't solve the problem for me. How do we get real support on this issue?

[rjs]

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@mmangino wrote:

@rjs So if that's the case, who is responsible for getting it fixed? It seems like Intuit needs to be working with the IRS on this.

If it's an IRS problem, it might just not get fixed. The IRS has another problem with e-filing for deceased taxpayers. It's mentioned in the long answer from Carl that KarenJ2 quoted above. That problem is that sometimes an e-file for a deceased taxpayer or spouse is rejected with the message "SSN locked." This has been happening for years, with all software vendors. It's an IRS bug. The IRS knows about it, but they haven't fixed it and it doesn't look like they are going to fix it. Sometimes you just have no choice but to print and file by mail. It's an inconvenience, but it's not so terrible.

[charisma6577]

Thank you everyone, for the additional information on this issue.  I ended up just printing and mailing my return, as it didn't seem there was a better solution.  It's unfortunate, considering you're already dealing with the death of a loved one, but I guess many people are probably going through the same thing.  I have never paper filed my taxes before.  Does anyone know if you're still able to receive updates on the status of your return via irs.gov?  I've logged in a few times and it tells me that no data is available, so I just wondered if that system is still valid if you paper file.  Thank you again for your responses and help.  

[ralph413]

I have the exact same problem. I'm taking the AGI right off the transcript. I've been told by a CPA this is a common problem when a spouse passes away. The IRS cross checks social security and the spouses SSN is no longer available since the person is dressed. Mail in is the only way to get through this. Add form 1310 to the paperwork sign and attach to the top. 

[rjs]

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@charisma6577 wrote:

Does anyone know if you're still able to receive updates on the status of your return via irs.gov?  I've logged in a few times and it tells me that no data is available, so I just wondered if that system is still valid if you paper file. 

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If you filed by mail you can use Where's My Refund? on the IRS web site to check the status of your refund, but it will not show up there until about 4 weeks after you mailed the tax return.

[dianalarose]

HEY EVERYONE

I too was getting rejections because of my deceased spouse's AGI. I tried filing with FreeTaxUSA, exactly the same info, and my return was accepted in just a couple of hours. Something is obviously wrong on the TT end. 

I am grateful that FreeTaxUSA got this right, and I was finally able to efile. (and I absolutely am not being paid to say this)