Okay, I said I'd do an additional comment after send my info to my brother, who is the Florida leader of the AARP volunteers that do senior's taxes for them for the IRS. My brother ran my numbers using the IRS software provided to the AARP volunteers. The IRS software's total for line 4a included a total of my husband and my pensions and the total of the IRA distribution, while the TT software line 4a excluded our pensions. Line 4b was correct through, with the Turbotax software - it showed the entire pensions, which were 100% taxable, plus the taxable portion of the IRA distribution, since we did a QCD (qualified charitable distribution). Following my brother's advice, I did an override on the turbotax 1040 worksheet, and entered the total of our pensions on the "Pensions" line (which Turbotax left blank). Then when I went bank to Form 1040, line 4a now showed the same amount that the IRS software did - total for line 4a included a total of my husband and my pensions and the total of the IRA distribution. However, since I did an override, Turbotax would not let me file electronically, and I had already paid an extra amount to file the CA state return electronically. As my brother had advised me, I printed & filed both Federal and Tax returns by mail. I'm a "better be safe than sorry" "take no chances" kind of person. After reading comments from Turbotax users that were having troubles with their returns after filing electronically, using Turbotax's amounts for line 4a, I didn't want to file electronically and risk further time-consuming issues with the IRS.
