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Level 1

Question

What is max deferral line 18 for self employment

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 2, 2021
9 replies
14 views

No text available

TurboTax Self Employed Online

npierson777

Level 10

The maximum for line 18 deferral is 50 percent of the Social Security tax imposed under section 1401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code on net earnings from self-employment income for the period beginning on March 27, 2020 and ending December 31, 2020.

gtrappealvin

Level 2

Hello, there seems to be an issue with that form in Turbo Tax because even if you say "no" to the prompt about having extra time to pay the SE tax, it still calculates and applies the deferral. I want to pay all of the taxes now.

How do I do that or is there a fix coming soon? I found a thread on the Turbo Tax community page and there are a number of people facing the same challenge.

Any update is appreciated.

Thanks, Gary

gloriah5200

Level 10

If you went through the section originally to defer the se tax, then you will need to go back through the section and re-answer the questions on the covid opportunity to defer se taxes to defer $0. If you do not enter 0 for the amount of se tax you wish to defer, the software assumes it is the full amount since you are in that section of the return. So, find the question asking you how much se tax you wish to defer and enter 0, so it will not calculate any.

Originally you could have "skip"ped that section to avoid it altogether, but once you have gone into it, you must be sure the answers are correct.

bjacoby72

Level 2

This did not work for me either. After deductions and everything, I am actually getting a whole $100 refund. Since my tax status is in the positive and not the negative it states that I am not eligible which kinda makes sense. This brings me to trying to finalize it. It still pops up that I must enter a value into part 3 box 18. I have no clue what I am supposed to be entering here. Should it be 0 or should it be 50% of line 3 which is 13,817 or 50% of line 4c which is 12,760? When you read the instructions for line 18 it's a little confusing.

alliedammier

Level 2

After suffering to find out what this was I read your message and stuck the amount 13,817 in the box and wow it released my tax form.

Have no idea what this is - Can't get anyone at Turbo tax to talk to you Thanks

KathrynG3

Level 14

Max deferral Line 18 is referring to Schedule SE. The answer is specific to you and will be the money made from March 27-December 31 in your business.

It is acceptable to leave this field blank or enter a 0 if you do not want to defer any self-employment tax. Then, run the review again to initially try to clear the error.

This issue is happening because you were initially eligible to defer self-employment tax due to a tax balance due, but are no longer eligible due to being eligible for a refund.

For TurboTax Online:

If the error will not resolve, try:

Delete the Sch SE that applies--(Sch SE-T is for Taxpayer, Sch SE-S for Spouse)--by following these steps:
1. From the left menu, select Tax Tools.
2. Select Tools.
3. Scroll to Delete a Form.
4. Scroll to Sch SE-T and/or Sch SE-S and select Delete.
Return to the self-employment income & expenses interview in the Income & Expenses section and select Edit/Add.
1. Select Edit for your business.
2. Scroll down to Done so that the Sch SE is recalculated.
3. Finish any other questions in the self-employment interview and click Continue.
Review the return again.

If this does not clear the error, then click this link for more information:

Workaround for Sch SE-T error for deferring Self-Employment Taxes.

For TurboTax CD/Download, click this article for the steps to resolve Max Deferral Line 18 error.

@hotsteper

@alliedammier

Reesels_36

Level 2

I dont know how to fill this portion out.

linaj20201

Level 14

The Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) gives self-employed taxpayers the option to delay paying a portion of their Social Security taxes when they meet certain requirements.

The option to defer only applies to Social Security taxes for self-employment income you earned from March 27, 2020 through December 31, 2020. This income is typically reported on Schedule C (profit or loss from business) or Schedule H (for household employees) of your tax return.

If you think you may be eligible for the self-employment tax deferral, the program will walk you through the requirements as well as calculating how much tax you owe and how much you can defer.

Note: If you've already paid your self-employment taxes or they were withheld on your W-2, you're not eligible to defer them.

To allow the program to walk you through the steps, follow here:

In TurboTax online,

Sign into your account, select Pick up where you left off
To the left, select Federal
Over the top, select Deductions & Credits
Scroll down to "Tax relief related to COVID-19"
Select Self-employment tax deferral

To learn more, click here: Self employment deferral

@Reesels_36

cmarie_14

Level 2

@linaj20201

When I go to the section under:

Deductions and Credits > Tax Relief Related to COVID-19 > Self-Employment Tax Deferral

it asks me if I want more time to pay my self-employment tax.

I choose no.

The next screen says, "It looks like you are not eligible for this deferral."

Then when I run the smart check, it says "Sch SE-S: Max Deferral Line 18 must be entered." And it wants me to enter a total for deferment.

It's almost like someone coded both the "yes" and "no" answer to go to the "yes" response card, and then it gets hung up if you say "no" because they didn't code it to make the deferral amount zero.

hotsteper

Level 2

What do i place in Max deffal line 18.

anz

Level 2

It is so sucks, it make me to stop on that part I have no idea what to do

c010903

Level 2

I am NOT self employed so I don't even know how I got here and why I have to fill in line 18. If I have to, shouldI I put in a high number or a low one.

Trishk

Level 2

I am still stuck on this I ended up putting 0 on line 18 and than the review went away not sure if I did this correctly or not but don’t know else what to do.

c010903

Level 2

Thanks to everyone who replied to this question. I hope you see my reply although most of you, having already completed your tax forms, have gone away and think of this and the whole tax thing a bad nightmare..

For this particuar question, there is no answer. People either put in a zero or deleted the form. Again, the question seems to be that is you own shares of an LP the IRS is trying to make you an active participant in the business . They even ask what the company's accounting methods are.

Somebody suggested that this was caused by last minute Congressional changes. Possible.

So, I expect if I am not of the IRS political persuation, I stand to be audited. Since it's asking how much I want to defer, zero (0), seems to be a good answer, don't defer anything. Deleting the form seems to negate whatever lilne 19 has in it.