TurboTax does not wipe out old recipient name + SS# when re-using a suggested 1099Q issuer, even though you select which student it is for?

[taxedquestions]

The interface for finding and entering 1099Q and 1098T information is terrible.  It is especially difficult to find where to enter the 1098T information.  Now I find (after having already submitted my taxes) that the 1099Q forms that were submitted to the IRS have the name and SS# of my oldest son on them, though I haven't had a 1099Q for him in years!  When you click on a link for a 1099Q issuer from last year to say that you got one from them this year, TurboTax asks who this 1099Q is for, but it is not wiping out the old Recipient Name and SS #.  I looked back at last year, and it did the same thing back then too.  It would be so much simpler and intuitive if TT gave a blank form for you to fill out with all of the 1099Q and 1098T information, and then went on from there to ask whatever other questions it needed answers to.

[KathrynG3]

Yes, it is best to associate Form 1099-Q with the correct student. I appreciate you letting us know your unexpected experience.

To assure that you have a "new" Form 1099-Q in your case, I recommend deleting Form 1099-Q and re-entering Form 1099-Q for your current student by following these steps:

• From the left menu, select Tax Tools
• Tools
• Delete a Form 
• Scroll to Form 1099-Q for your oldest son and click delete. Confirm the deletion.

For more details:

How do I enter Form 1099-Q?

Guide to IRS Form 1099-Q: Payments from Qualified Education Programs - TurboTax Tax Tips & Videos

@taxedquestions

[taxedquestions · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your response.  Yes, I realize now that I should delete the links and start fresh.  That was the point of my posting this, hopefully to provide feedback to TT and to help other users.  To warn them to check the information TT has in the 1099Q's they have entered.

What would help is if:

- the link to the prior year's form would display not only the name of the issuing institution, but also the name of the student on the prior year 1099Q it is suggesting for you to re-use and update

- or, the link to the prior year's form would only carry forward the information about the institution (payer's name, address, federal ID number), and NOT the Recipient Name, SS # and account #

TT does not display and allow you to correct the information it is processing.  It asks you what student this 1099Q is for, but the point is that it does not use that information to change the Recipient Name and SS #.

It would be ideal if TT would simply display a 1099Q form pre-filled out with just the Payer's information, or if not that, then at least displaying the Recipient Name it is using.  If you happened to grab an old 1099Q that had info on the wrong student, you could see it and correct it.

As it is, the only place you can see this info is after the fact by going into the Forms view and selecting the 1099Q's one at a time.  If the information is wrong, you can't correct it other than to delete it and re-enter it.  I think the software can get very confused if you do this.  Probably the best thing is to start your tax filing over again completely from scratch.

It would also be very helpful if TT would also provide a direct path to a 1098T form that could be filled out and verified in the same way.  As it is now (see the other comments in the community), the path to the 1098T is difficult to find.

[Matilda]

I was just going to ask about this.  I am entering my younger son's and daughter's 1099Qs  for 2019 taxes and I had to check my daughter's 1099Q from 2018.  I opened up 2018 turbotax as a quick way to check and to my surprise my older son was listed as the recipient for my daughter.  I went back to where I had entered the information for the 1099Q and it asked who was the recipient - I could choose between my daughter and younger son.  My older son not even listed because he was not a dependent so I could not have selected him by accident.  I had selected my daughter and went through entering her information.  Now I see that the 2018 taxes were filed with my older son marked as the recipient and as a dependent on the 1099Q.  The beneficiary was listed as my daughter.  

My son did not receive his covid 19 stimulus payment  and we do not know why.  My fear is somehow him being marked as a dependent on this form caused this.  He is not listed as a dependent on our 2018 1040 as he had graduated and was working full time. 

So - I guess I need to amend my 2018 return.  What did you do when you found this?

I am very frustrated with this.  I do not go through and thoroughly read every form that turbotax creates from my entries.  I guess I should.

[taxedquestions]

Yes, TurboTax needs to fix this.  I have not received any acknowledgement that they even recognize it as a problem yet, let alone plan to fix it.

I had the same thing.  TT used the name of my oldest son, who is no longer a dependent and was not even an option to select for "whose 1099Q is this".

On the bright side, I received my refund this year and last year without the IRS raising an issue with it.  Perhaps the IRS computers only look at amounts reported, and don't match to names.

As for your stimulus check, I doubt this is the problem.  Did he get a refund last year, and did it go directly to a bank account?  If so, then yes it really should be there by now I think.  If not, they are probably mailing it to him.  I have one son who owed taxes last year and this, and he has not received his yet because there was no banking information.

I also think it is possible to check the status of your refund online.  You will need to confirm his AGI and amount owed or refunded to log in.

Hope this helps, and that TT will look into this problem and let us know.  Best wishes!

[Matilda]

I have not submitted 2019 taxes luckily so only 2018 affected.  I was planning on amending our 2018 return to fix the 1099-Q.  

As for stimulus check - he should get a check due his gross income on 2018 taxes,  and he had direct deposit.  He did file his 2019 taxes but  only a few days ago.  I checked on his payment and it said he is not eligible  which makes no sense.  Then I found this TT error so I thought maybe it was the problem.  For this reason I will amend my tax (no big deal).

I, too, hope TT fixes this.