I see what you mean, that entering a value in 1b increases a refund if 1a is empty. It would be nice if the software would immediately tell you that you can't do that
What you don't see is that it generates an error, that you won't see until you run the Federal Error check, (or switch to Forms Mode to see the error). So the software won't let you file that way.
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IF the entire 10k are qualified dividends
a) .....putting 10k in 'only" box 1b in my test file increased my refund by $1200 (but eventually the software will show an error if left that way)
b) ......then, with 1b still at 10k, putting the proper 10k in box 1a decreased my refund $1710.....from the starting point before entering either value....so my tax situation for my test file is one in which the 10k of qualified dividends is, on the whole, being taxed at less than the 20% max rate for qualified dividends, for whatever income level is being used in that test file.
____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*
