Turbotax input an amount under 1040 25c that the IRS is asking about...nothing applies to me!

[talaratate]

The IRS is inquiring about my 2023 tax return where tax witheld on 1040 25c is listed. I cannot find the source of this at all. I have spent hours going through all my documents, running an "amendment" of that year to see where it could have been added and nothing. None of the things others have suggested apply to me. It is not from additional Medicare Tax withheld, no Schedule K-1, no Form 1042-S, Form 8805, or Form 8288-A. How am I supposed to remedy this??

[KrisD15]

Line 25c on a 2023 Form 1040 Tax Return would report Federal tax withheld on Gambling Winnings, which would be on Form W-2G. 

Did you have gambling winnings in tax year 2023? 

[talaratate]

Unfortunately not 

[DaveF1006]

Look for a supporting document in your full PDF (the one that includes all worksheets). Look for a form called  "Tax Payments Worksheet" or "Withholding Worksheet." This will list exactly which entry is feeding Line 25c. Here is how to access.

1. If you used TurboTax Online, sign in to your TurboTax Online account and go to the Tax Home page. 
2. Scroll down to the section "Your tax returns & documents."
3. Select 2023 and click "Amend (change) return" (Don't worry, you aren't actually filing an amendment yet; this just "opens" the return so you can see the tools).
4. Once the return is open, look at the left-hand sidebar and click on Tax Tools > Print Center.
5. Select "Print, save or preview this year's return." 
6. When the options appear, check the box that says "Include government and TurboTax worksheets."
7. Open that PDF and search (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) for the exact dollar amount showing on Line 25c, or look for the Tax Payment Worksheet. There will be many pages to look through.

If you used the software, open your 2023 return. Switch to forms mode. Look for the tax payment worksheet and the dollar amount that the IRS is looking for.  You should be able to find the source here.

TurboTax sometimes puts payments made through the IRS Direct Pay website on Line 25c, instead of under estimated payments. If you made a one-time payment when you filed, the amount showing up may just be your own payment being credited back to you. This is rare but it could happen.

[talaratate]

Thank you for this info. It takes me to a line that says "positive adjustment" and the amount. Any idea what this could mean?

[DaveF1006]

Here are a couple of possibilities that may have caused this.

If you live in a community property state (AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, or WI) and filed as Married Filing Separately, TurboTax has a "Community Property" interview.

1. In these states, income and withholding are often split 50/50 between spouses, regardless of whose name is on the W-2.
2. If you entered your spouse's withholding to "take" your half, or if you adjusted your own withholding up to match a 50/50 split, TurboTax puts that extra amount on Line 25c and labels it a "Positive Adjustment" on the background worksheet. 
3. The IRS often flags this because they see a withholding amount that doesn't match any W-2 or 1099 attached to your Social Security number.

The second possibility is if you entered information directly into the Tax Payments Worksheet in Forms Mode to add a missing payment or include a tax credit without its own field, it will appear as an "Adjustment. TurboTax uses this line to capture any withholding that isn’t automatically pulled from a W-2 or 1099..