My federal return was rejected for the F8960-019-04 issue two weeks ago. I was using the desktop version of TT. I called TT and actually got to talk to someone who new nothing about the F8960 issue and couldn't see my return since it wasn't the online version. So I bought the online version of TT and re-entered all of my tax information which took a couple of hours. When I e-filed the return it was rejected again for the same F8960 issue. Supposedly it is an IRS issue as they admit there is a problem and plan to fix it sometime in Feb or March. This sucks but our total fed refund and state owed are about the same so there is no net gain here anyway.
The weird thing is that when I compared the TT desktop to the TT online versions (I saved all of the forms from both versions to PDF files), on the California Adjustments form (CA 540) the amounts entered by TT on part II line 5a (State and Local Income Taxes) is totally different. The online version had an amount that was equal to my estimated plus withheld taxes, which seems correct, but the desktop version had an amount that was much higher and I have no way of knowing how TT is calculating it. The resulting CA state income tax (on form 540, line 64) for both TT versions is within $40 so I'm not concerned with under or over paying my taxes, but I'm not sure which version to e-file when the IRS (or TT) finally fixes the F8960 issue. Has anyone else had an amount on CA 540 line 5a that doesn't make sense?
