Hi JamesG1 and TimInMass,
I'm curious about your discussion regarding Form 8615. I used TurboTax Premier 2020, desktop/CD version, to prepare tax returns for my wife and I (both retired with no children or dependents). I prepared our tax return(s) two ways: Married Filing Jointly and Married Filing Separately to see what the differences would be.
Here's where it gets interesting. Our Married Filing Separately returns, each contain a Form 8615 Schedule D Tax Worksheet (Child's Line 15 Schedule D Tax Calculation, Family's Aggregate Line 9 Schedule D Tax Calculation). There is no Form 8615 for filing, because we don't need it, but its worksheet is present in both MFS returns. In our Married Filing Joint return, there is no reference whatsoever to Form 8615 or its Schedule D Tax Worksheet.
Another oddity - there is a Student Information Worksheet in both Married Filing Separately returns, for the appropriate taxpayer. My wife has a student information worksheet in her return (all boxes are No or NA), and I have a student worksheet in my return (all boxes are No or NA).
I reviewed our personal information in the MFS returns and it looks correct: retired, no children, no dependents, we're not students and we can't be claimed as dependents on another return.
So, I'm curious. Do you know why our MFS returns contain the Form 8615 Worksheet and the Student Info Worksheet, but our MFJ return does not include either? I thought this was weird and it piqued my curiosity.
Thanks.
