What do I do? I got an IRS letter: Sec. 2302 of the CARES act- deferred due dates for SS Taxes, now I owe. It says I reported in schedule H, but don't remember doing so.

[sill]

I did not see this deferral screen. TT must have deferred the payments on my behalf as I would have 100% noticed the screen had I deferred payments. I don't just go over my taxes once, but I work on them multiple days, revisiting each screen multiple times and confirming the information. 

There is something going on here that I am not sure about but I am going to investigate.

[lcarrera9514]

Thanks for your help, 

So, the amount on Schedule SE line 26 is what I need to pay?

or the on Schedule 3 line 12e?

I really don't want to mess with the IRS If I have to pay I will pay what is due this Dec and what is due on 2022...

Regards!

[rjs]

@lcarrera9514 

The amount on Schedule 3 line 12e is what you have to pay. Half is due by December 31, 2021, and the other half by December 31, 2022. You can, of course, pay earlier if you choose.

Here is a link to the IRS instructions for paying the deferred tax.

How self-employed individuals and household employers repay deferred Social Security tax

[blackie411]

Sorry Sill, but you're clearly incorrect.  TT did NOT force you to defer.  You simply were not paying close enough attention. 

This is one of the dangers of DIY.  While TT is an excellent DIY product, you still either need to know what you're doing, or pay really close attention 100% of the time and seek help through research anytime you're unfamiliar with an issue. I say this from a professional perspective, having been a CPA for over 40 years and most of those years spent specializing in individual income tax advice and preparation.

This was a never before opportunity to defer some of these taxes and was brought into the law due to the unusual once in a 100-year pandemic.  TT didn't force this on you.  You either chose it willingly, or unwittingly. 

Exactly what ulterior motives could you possibly attribute to TT/Intuit?  I know conspiracy theories are all the rage, but this one is a non-starter.

The good news, while you actually owe these taxes, you were granted an interest-fee/penalty-free extension of time to pay the deferred portion.  Just follow the rules in paying them and you'll be fine, apart from this coming as an unpleasant surprise.  The bottom line though is you always owed these taxes and are now in need of dealing with the payment.

[blackie411]

Sorry JanSal, but this is blatantly untrue.  How do I know?  Apart from being a CPA, who does this for others for a living (on a much more sophisticated software platform through my office, but use TT for my personal taxes at home), in doing my own tax return at home on TT/Intuit I prepared two versions of my 2020 return, one with and one without the deferral of the SE tax, so I know the impact.  Accordingly, it was possible to have the TT platform prepare everyone's returns BOTH ways to see how much could be deferred, should they choose to do so.

[froggirl1974]

I too just received an email from TT saying I had opted to defer our payment. I never saw anything regarding this when I did our taxes. It especially is a surprise since we were due a refund which we haven't even received yet.  Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. 

[fanfare]

"we were due a refund which we haven't even received yet."

If you got the refund, you probably would have spent it.

Now when the refund comes, it will pay for the tax you are sending by the Dec 31 deadline(s),

since that amount was added to your refund.

If you're like me you have to dig into savings because of no IRS refund yet.

If no savings you can ask for an installment payment plan.

[sill]

I did NOT state that TurboTax 'forced' me to defer, I stated that I was not given the option to choose. 

I have done DIY taxes for 20 years without any issues while owning 2 businesses and freelancing. I do not appreciate your assumptions about my tax preparation skills and my attention to detail. I understand you may have been a CPA for 40 years, but you don't know me or my skills and abilities. 

Who said anything about conspiracy theories? I stated there was something going on, could be a software glitch, could be a complete lack of transparency, could be something going on behind the scenes. Big companies have always operated ethically and with their customer's needs in mind, haven't they? 

The bottom line is that I am going to pay what I owe but I am obviously not the only one with this issue and there is something happening that shouldn't be. 

[sill]

What's with all the assumptions on this board? Not helpful at all. How do you know they wouldn't have saved the refund or invested?

[blackie411]

You're demonstrably upset.  Semantics, perhaps.  Not giving you a choice, is tantamount to forcing you.

You were given a choice.  You just didn't follow the instructions well enough. 

I'll grant you that possibly the instructions, or pathway the Easy-Step led you down, were not as clear as it could have been.  I don't know, because I handled it both ways to understand the full impact of paying vs. deferring.  Unlike you, I had no issue identifying how to run the scenario both ways.

This was a unique situation, a decision that was offered for the first time based on rules made as a reaction to Covid.  That lack of past history I am sure hurt the non-professionals.  No matter how many years someone has been a DIY preparer, it doesn't make them an expert and a non-professional could be blindsided when there is a unique change like this one. 

Closer attention than ever needed to be paid.  Clearly you want someone to blame, other than yourself.

[peterHokieFan]

Thanks so much for this thread.  I likewise did not realize TT did a deferral for me, but great to have the confirmation that this all apparently is legit (just want to pay what I actually owe, so I don't mind payment as long as I actually got the deferral, which I can check).  I take it the fact that I made this payment does not somehow reduce the taxes I have to pay this year (that makes sense). 

[jb405]

I received a letter as well. I did NOT remember completing the section 12.e either. After seeing the TurboTax error in one of these replies, I too would like to see that it is fixed. I paid 1/2 of my Deferred payment by December 2021, and I need to pay the other half by 2022. I missed placed my letter from the IRS and do not have it. Therefore, I am unable to reference the 2022 other half because the IRS does not show that I owe anything. Does anyone know the reference number for payment to the IRS on this deferred payment? I am trying to pay it but my account is not showing that I owe anything. The IRS says that it is two separate accounts - the online account is from your tax return and this deferred amount is totally separate and is recorded separate. I mailed the first payment and wrote a check with a copy of the letter. This time, I do not have a reference or copy of the letter. Is there a way to get another copy? Please advise. Thank you.

[Critter-3]

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-reminder-for-many-employers-and-self-employed-people-deferred-socia...

[hofker]

The IRS took the CARES act amount they said I owed right out of my REFUND, which I (stupidly) elected to pay toward next year's tax bill.  They just automatically subtracted it from the refund they credited to my account. PLUS Interest FEES,  I am beyond miffed about this; I even wrote and asked for abatement a year ago, and of course never heard back.  Got notices that the payments are due again in 2022.  Round two of no replies coming up........

[Critter-3]

Sorry, but you know you owe the other half of the SE taxes that were delayed in collection. You got an IRS notice for the first payment and now it notice for the second payment so you can either make the second payment timely or it will come out of your refund next year the same way it did this year plus penalties and interest for the late payment. Arguing about it now will do you no good. These were taxes you would have owed two years ago but we're allowed to be extended and paid in two installments. Whether you wanted to do it or not it is now done and there's nothing else you can do about it.