No, you don't have to file Schedule J for farm income. It's simply an option you have.
To remove farm income averaging in TurboTax Online:
- If you don’t see 2022 TAXES in the left pane, scroll down and select the dropdown to the right of Other Tax Situations and select Let’s get started, Pick up where you left off, or Review/Edit.
- Otherwise, in the left pane, select the dropdown to the right of Federal, then select Other Tax Situations
- On the Your uncommon tax situations page, scroll down and select the Show more dropdown to the right of Business Taxes and Deductions
- Select Start or Revisit to the right of Farm or fishing income averaging
- Answer No on the Farm or Fishing Income Averaging page
- Enter all relevant information on the subsequent screens
If this doesn't appear to work, you can delete the form in TurboTax Online if you:
- Open your return in TurboTax
- Select Continue or Pick up where you left off
- In the left pane, select the Tax Tools dropdown
- Select Tools
- In the pop-up window Tool Center, select Delete a form
- Select Delete next to the Schedule J and follow the onscreen instructions
A farmer can qualify to calculate a lower tax by using income averaging when farm income is high in the current year, but was relatively low in any of the three prior years.
Please see the TurboTax article What Is Schedule J: Income Averaging for Farmers and Fishermen - TurboTax Tax Tips & Videos for more information.
