penalty tax

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
February 15, 2026
1 reply
3 views

turbotax desktop calculated my taxes and listed an estimate penalty of $9 on line 38 of my 1040 form.

I have tried everything I can think of and all the online helps to determine how turbo tax calculated that estimated penalty but I can find nothing. No worksheet, no form in the print forms section, etc.

How does turbotax determine this penalty?

I am pretty sure the penalty is a result of a schedule K-1 estate income my wife received earlier in the year (and neglected to mention) from her parents estate. I presume an estimated tax payment was due by a certain date and of course it wasnt paid by that date (since I was unaware of the estate income).

How exactly does turbo tax determine this penalty? How do I know if its correct? Since line 38 states its an estimated penalty, does that mean it could increase(or decrease) after filing?

It would seem to me that a worksheet or form of some sort should have been generated detailing how the estimated penalty was calculated but I can find nothing in the forms.

VolvoGirl

Level 15

Yes the penalty is an estimated amount. It is possible for the IRS to recalculate it and send you a refund or a bill for more.

If you get a penalty on 1040 line 38, you might be able to eliminate it or at least reduce it. You can go to Federal Taxes tab or Personal tab, under Other Tax Situations and select Start by the Underpayment Penalties. You will answer a series of questions that may reduce or eliminate the penalty. Or you can elect to have the IRS figure the penalty for you. It's form 2210.

How to add form 2210 for Underpayment Penalty
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-payments/help/how-do-i-add-form-2210/00/25703

It's under

Federal tab or Personal (for Home & Business Desktop)

Other Tax Situations

Additional Tax Payments

Underpayment Penalties - Click the Start or update button

user17702573530Author

Level 2

Your answer is all well and good but did not answer my quesetion which was:

HOW does turbo tax calculate this penalty?

When I followed your link and instructions turbotax tries to lead me through the procedure to annualize my income. I do not want to do this at this time as I dont have the information.

What I want is to see HOW turbo tax determined (CALCULATED) this penalty. I dont know if turbo tax did it correctly or not. And since it says estimated, It may very well not be the final answer. If turbotax used a form 2210 to calculate the penalty why is this form not shown in the list of forms so I can review the calculation??

Thus far I have found turbotax to be more trouble than its worth. I am a first time user and have typically used free fillable forms which doesnt provide the interview style like turbo tax but just lets you fill out the actual forms and then does the arithmetic automatically. I am more comfortable with this method.

Having had a special situation this year with a schedule K-1 with estate income I opted to try turbotax for the first time. Thus far its been very frustrating especially when trying to access the community when logging on to my turbo tax account it constantly tries to lead me through a series of menus trying to sell me turbotax all over again or other services I do not want or need.

why cant I just log on and get to the community without all this obfuscation getting in the way?>