This is good appreciate the assist. Appears the answer is the lack of questioning by TurboTax for the age of the filer. Thought TurboTax would calculate, by the filer's birthdate that is provided during the initial gathering of the filer's "Personal Information", whether a filer met the qualifying criteria for CalEITC? I guess not??
Below is a excerpt from the CA Web Site Calculator to determine if a filer qualifies for CalEITC...
Check if you qualify for CalEITC
You may qualify for CalEITC if:
- You’re at least 18 years old or have a qualifying child
- You have earned income within certain limits
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Below is an excerpt from the Instructions for CA Form 3514...
Step 4 Filer Without a Qualifying Child
- Is the amount on federal Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 11 less than $30,001?
Yes Continue.
No Stop here, you cannot take the credit. - Were you (or your spouse/RDP if filing a joint return) at least age 18 at the end of 2020? ...
I suspect the age question is out there and that TurboTax does NOT have it programed into their code thereby leading to a filing error. The only two questions asked by TurboTax are what is on CA Form 3514...
Part I Qualifying Information See Specific Instructions.
1 a Has the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) previously disallowed your federal Earned Income Credit (EIC)? ..... □Yes □ No
b Has the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) previously disallowed your California EITC? ......................... □Yes □ No
Thereby, answering NO to both questions results in a 17yr old to qualify for CalEITC if the age isn't taken into consideration. However, even when I tried to indicate that she DID receive letters from both the IRS and FTB for being "...disallowed..." TurboTax still qualified her to receive CalEITC. One would think if she had received such letters TurboTax wouldn't allow her to qualify for CalEITC as additional forms may be needed.
I think, unless there is a better reason, it appears TurboTax does not have all the necessary criteria programed in their software to properly qualify for CalEITC. Looks like my Granddaughter won't be the only one this happens to. However, now when she does qualify, she will have to provide additional forms in order to obtain any EITC in the future...there is a penalty for filing for EITC when you aren't qualified to do so. Bummer!
