I'm preparing tax returns to mail in on behalf of my child. I cannot e-file these because it's my child's first return and e-file is not allowed for such returns.
I know that on a 1040, I can sign for the child per instructions at https://www.irs.gov/publications/p929#en_US_2019_publink[phone number removed] which states the following:
If the child can’t sign his or her return, a parent or guardian must sign the child's name followed by the words "By (signature), parent (or guardian) for minor child."
So I plan to sign for the child as above, and I also plan to put my spouse as the third party designee so either of us has some ability to act on behalf of the child in case there's any issues with the child's return.
I know I need to go into Turbotax's Forms mode in order to specify a third party designee since this isn't asked in the step-by-step interview mode. I am using the Turbotax Deluxe CD version.
My question is how can i sign for a child on a state tax return? My state is California and I can't find any guidelines for how to sign on behalf of a child for their 540 state return. I tried searching for guidelines on how some other states handle this, but can't find any either.
I know on the California 540 return, there's a place to specify a third party designee, but this is only for one person and I would like both my spouse and myself to be able to discuss any issues on the child's return. Can I sign my child's state return using the same 1040 guidelines so that both my spouse and myself are on the return (with one of us being the third party designee)? My child doesn't have the ability to sign.
