Business & farm

There was a workaround, but from your other thread posted, you tried this, as well. Regarding whether the return was filed with an error, check your tax return whether there was any portion of self-employment taxes that were deferred on Schedule SE, Part III. 

If you actually did not want to defer any portion of Sch SE and a portion was deferred, or otherwise want to amend the 2020 tax return, I have included the workaround steps with enhancements.

Amending the federal return can be done electronically once Form 1040-X becomes available in another few weeks. However, unless you live in Georgia, Michigan, New York, or Vermont, any state amended return must be paper filed.

You are correct, the amount for Line 18 of Sch SE-T Part III should be an allocation of income earned between March 27 and December 31, 2020. This would be needed to properly calculate deferring 50% of self-employment taxes.

If the program is not accepting No, I do not wish to defer any self-employment taxes, but needs to update, it may be from the following scenario:

• While the return was in a balance due, the tax return was eligible for the Cares Act self-employment tax deferral option. This section was completed.
• However, as more details were entered and the results changed to a refund, the SE tax deferral option was no longer available. 

Try beginning the amendment by fully updating the device you are using:

• In TurboTax Online: Close the program and the browser window completely. Re-open using Chrome, incognito on a PC. Do not use a Chromebook or iPad in this case.
• In TurboTax CD/Download: Check Online or Help  depending on the level of TurboTax being used to find Check for Updates.

Then, force the system to update by deleting the necessary Schedule SE.

1. Delete the Sch SE that applies--(Sch SE-T is for Taxpayer, Sch SE-S for Spouse)--by following these steps:
   1. From the left menu, select Tax Tools.
   2. Select Tools.
   3. Scroll to Delete a Form.
   4. Scroll to Sch SE-T and/or Sch SE-S and select Delete and Delete Selected Form and Continue.
2. Return to the self-employment income & expenses interview in the Income & Expenses section and select Edit/Add.
   1. Select Edit for your business.
   2. Scroll down to Done so that the Sch SE is recalculated. 
   3. Finish any other questions in the self-employment interview and click Continue.
3. Review the return again.

If you are still experiencing unexpected results, the Workaround: 

Temporarily trigger a balance due by adding income long enough to decline the SE tax deferral option, then remove the extra income.

1. Enter a temporary amount as income in the self-employment section that will result in you not having a refund.

1. From the left menu, select Federal.
2. From the Income & Expenses, scroll to Self-employment income & expenses and Edit/Add.
3. At Your 2020 work summary, select Edit.
4. Under INCOME, select Add income for this work.
5. Add Other self-employed income, includes 1099-K, cash, and checks and Continue.
6. At Type of income, enter Temp income to remove deferral and enter a large amount, such as $100,000 and Continue.

2. Decline to defer any self-employment tax.

1. From the left menu, click on Federal.
2. Click the second tab from the left, Deductions & Credits.
3. Scroll down to Tax Relief related to Covid-19 and Revisit.
4. Select Self-employment tax deferral and select Revisit.
5. Answer Yes at the next screen to get back to Let's start by getting your eligible income.
   1. Enter 280/366ths of your income to reflect the income from March 27-December 31, 2021. 
      • This amount should be calculated and entered without the false added income, and will post to Line 18 of Sch SE
   1. Select Continue.
   1. At Tell us how much you'd like to defer, 
      • Enter 0.

3. Remove the temporary income.

1. From the left menu, select Federal.
2. From the Income & Expenses, scroll to Self-employment income & expenses and Edit/Add.
3. At Your 2020 work summary, select Edit.
4. Under INCOME, select the Trash can icon next to Temp income to remove deferral and Continue.

4. Run the review again.

[Edited 03/08/2021 | 11:33 AM PST]