2019 Federal Return Rejected due to Spouse AGI

[nb675]

My husband passed on Jan 20 2020.  I attempted multiple times to submit our 2019 joint return with TurboTax efile and it was rejected each time as improper 2018 spouse AGI. 

As I read in a few previous posts, those in my situation were able to efile with FreeTaxUSA.  So I tried it and it was accepted by the IRS.

So it is a TurboTax issue not an IRS issue.

[dorisgm]

Spent days on this issue!  However after a phone call to Turbotax they did refund the state e-file money.

They have no plans to fix the problem.  They blamed it on Social Security.  

Now I get to either print my mom's returns or try to figure out another software program.

[parkrunner]

Thank you all for your postings on this TT problem.  I have been doing my mothers taxes for several years now.  They are pretty simple; just SS, retirement, and interest income with standard deduction.  Always e-filed in the past with no problem.  This past year my father died and like everyone else I am getting the wrong "AGI from last year" error.  My situation is complicated due to the fact that my mother in in assisted living and they have locked down their facility.  So paper filing is impractical now because I can't get her signature.   Plus we recently moved her to a different state and her bank has no local offices, so we want to change her bank account.  She's getting a refund so waiting to do a paper filing will delay the refund 3 or 4 months, which delays closing out the old bank account 3 or 4 months.

I'm going to give FreeTaxUSA a try.  I'll see if they can import the TT data.  Thanks for the advice!!!

[Yao1]

Same situation. Spouse passed away in Feb 2019. Now keep getting the "IND-032-04 - 'SpousePriorYearPIN' or 'SpousePriorYearAGIAmt' in the Return Header must match the e-File database" error. Pretty sure I put in the correct AGI from 2018 as I used TurboTax to file my 2018 return. NEED a fix from TurboTax ASAP.

[CassLO]

@Yao1 The reason it is getting rejected for AGI is, if enough time has passed for Social Security Administration to have done so (which seems to be pretty quick), the social security number is locked and the return must be sent by regular mail.

[wsawyer]

Thank you, Cass. I understand that to be the case, but since I tried to efile both federal and state taxes at the same time, I get hit with the TurboTax state filing fee. State is rejected if federal is rejected, so I have to mail both returns. This is where TurboTax should reimburse me for the state filing fee. Who do I need to contact to discuss this. I also feel that since this is a known issue, there should be a warning that this can happen, with the suggestion that if the spouse passed away before filing (which is a question answered while preparing the returns) that we try federal only first. This is where I feel TurboTax software should be fixed. Especially after I see so many people with the same issue.

[Yao1]

@CassLO Thanks but if you look through this thread, multiple people have stated that they were able to efile using a competitor's product after failing to efile with TurboTax. This implies that there is something TurboTax can fix in its software. With filing deadline extended to July 15, it would still be worthwhile and appreciated if TurboTax could acknowledge this bug and fix it for 2019 tax year. It's terrible enough that people lost their spouses. It's even worse when they constantly get reminded when they try to efile.

[parkrunner]

OK.  So like some other people I decided to give a free competitor's product a try.  It worked.  My mother's tax return was relatively simple, but required a little work due to 7 different 1099-R documents.  Two hours after filing, I received a response that the return was accepted.

I have concluded that since this e-file problem doesn't exist with some competitor's products then the problem is with Turbo Tax.  They just refuse to admit it.

[Axmp78]

I am having the same issue, my Husband died 1/23/2019.  I filed 2018 without a problem.  now keep getting AGI Reject. Copied number from IRS website.  This is ridiculous!!!!!

[Axmp78]

this is the last year i will be using turbo tax after paying $60 an increase of +30 to have to print and mail

[AshleyLO]

@Axmp78 Please reach out to our live representatives to discuss a refund if you were unable to e-file your return after paying: What is TurboTax phone number?

[GabiU]

Thank you all for your comments. On behalf of the community and our product teams, we are sorry for your loss.

Mishaps or complications while using the product is not what we want for our users. The community team is here to collect your feedback especially in instances where multiple people may not agree with the product team's findings. I've passed this information along to our product team and they did not find a defect.

If this rejection continues after double checking your entries…
Please print and file if you choose to continue using TurboTax as your filing preparation software. 

If you received an accepted e-file (& you have a screenshot/receipt) from another company and you paid to e-file with us, please send me a private message and I'll look into your account. 

[wsawyer]

Thank you for this communication. However, if we cannot use TurboTax to efile Fed tax return due to this issue, then we also cannot use it to efile our state return. Because there was a question during preparation of my taxes about a spouse passing prior to filing, then I strongly feel that a message should have been displayed stating to file Fed Tax first before trying state tax efile. This would have alerted people to not try e-filing both and thus incurring your $24.99 state filing  charge deducted before filing takes place and we get the error from Fed efile. Those of us who ran into this situation should be refunded that fee. What is the company's plan for making this right / doing the right thing?

[TiffanyL]

You may want to use the link provided below to reach out to TurboTax directly to inquire about a refund:

TurboTax Customer Support

[Yao1]

How do you explain that a competitor's product allows people in this situation to efile while TurboTax can't? I already spent my time filling out the return on TurboTax and would rather not go through the process again with another product. I know filing by mail is an option but it's a major inconvenience especially among the COVID-19 situation. With a company as big as Intuit and a product as popular as TurboTax, I wouldn't have expected this problem in the first place, let alone a lack of fix after a number of complaints.