TurboTax Desktop 2025 Bug — Two Consecutive Home Offices Block E-Filing.

Dear TurboTax Development Team,

I would like to report a reproducible software validation issue in TurboTax Desktop 2025, involving two consecutive home offices associated with the same Schedule C.

TurboTax Support was unable to resolve the problem and advised me to file my returns by mail. I hope this report will help your development team identify and correct the issue in a future update.

1. Taxpayer scenario

• One sole proprietorship operating continuously throughout 2025, reported on a single Schedule C.

• Home Office #1: Used January 1 through June 20, 2025.

• Home Office #2: Used June 21 through December 31, 2025.

• The offices were used consecutively, never simultaneously, because the taxpayer moved residences.

• Both offices were entered through the normal TurboTax Home Office interviews and correctly associated with the same Schedule C.

• TurboTax generated a separate Form 8829 for each office, as required by IRS instructions.

2. Calculations performed correctly

TurboTax correctly calculated the home-office deductions:

The two federal allocations total $79,115, exactly matching Schedule C, line 28.

The prior-year carryover originated with Home Office #1. 

3. Persistent federal validation error

Federal Smart Check repeatedly flags the following field:

Sch C Wks → Form 8829 (Home Office #1) → Form 8829 Worksheet → Part II, Line 7 — Allocable home office expenses

The error message states:

"Allocable home office expenses should be blank. There is only one home office entered for this business."

This assertion is demonstrably incorrect. Two home offices exist, both are recognized by TurboTax, and both are associated with the same Schedule C.

Furthermore, TurboTax's own instructions for Form 8829 Worksheet, Part II, line 7 specifically require the taxpayer to allocate Schedule C expenses between the worksheets when filing two Forms 8829 for the same business.

Thus, the validation message directly contradicts the software's own worksheet instructions.

4. Troubleshooting performed

I attempted the following without resolving the federal error:

1. Verified both home offices and their dates of use.

2. Confirmed that both Forms 8829 belong to the same Schedule C.

3. Revisited and completed both Home Office interviews.

4. Verified that the two expense allocations exactly equal Schedule C, line 28.

5. Recalculated the return and reran federal Smart Check.

6. Attempted electronic filing.

The error persisted and prevented federal e-filing.

Changing or deleting the line 7 entry did not eliminate the validation error. Such changes would also risk producing incorrect home-office deductions.

5. California provides useful diagnostic evidence

The California return initially flagged a separate expense-allocation discrepancy because California-adjusted Schedule C expenses totaled $79,647 rather than the federal $79,115.

After correctly allocating the California expenses between the two home offices ($39,823 and $39,824), California Smart Check passed.

This suggests that the software can recognize and validate two Forms 8829 associated with the same business in the California calculation, while the federal validation process incorrectly identifies only one home office.

6. Suspected software defect

The apparent defect concerns how TurboTax counts, links, or validates multiple Forms 8829 for a single Schedule C when the offices were used consecutively during the tax year.

The federal validation routine appears to conclude that only one office exists, despite the presence of two correctly completed Forms 8829 and their corresponding worksheets.

The problem may involve the office-count validation logic, the linkage between Schedule C and the Forms 8829, or the treatment of consecutive rather than simultaneous periods of business use.

7. Requested software correction

Please investigate and update TurboTax so that it:

1. Correctly recognizes two or more consecutive home offices associated with one continuous business.

2. Accepts properly allocated Schedule C expenses on Form 8829 Worksheet, Part II, line 7, when multiple Forms 8829 exist.

3. Does not issue the erroneous "only one home office" validation message when multiple offices are correctly entered.

4. Allows electronic filing when the underlying tax forms and calculations are otherwise valid.

The software should not force taxpayers to alter correct deductions or file by mail because its validation logic contradicts its own calculations and instructions.

I would appreciate confirmation that this issue has been forwarded to the TurboTax development or quality-assurance team for investigation.

Please escalate this report to the TurboTax Desktop development/QA team, rather than treating it as a request for tax preparation assistance.

Thank you!