All Posts

Do you have a "kiddie tax" situation?   Does your child have interest income?  Is that why you are asking about your own return? https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/small-business-processes/2021-kiddie-tax/L4UfEmyxW_US_en_US      Or did your dependent child have income from an after school or summer job, etc.?     MY DEPENDENT HAD A JOB If your dependent has a W-2 for his after-school job, summer job, etc. you do not include the information on your own return. You can still claim your child as a dependent on your own return.  He/she can file his own return for a refund of some of his withheld wages from boxes 2 or 17 (he won’t get back anything for Social Security or Medicare), but MUST indicate on it that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.  (Supervise this closely or prepare it for him!) If your dependent’s earnings were over $400 and were reported on a 1099Misc or 1099NEC then he must file a return and pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.     You might also want to use free software from the IRS Free File versions: https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/  

@radhay    Historically, for over at least the last 18 years, Fidelity NetBenefits has never provided direct imports of 1099-R forms into the TTX software.  I've always had to enter them manually.   Maybe they wanted to start providing the 1099-R forms as imports this year....but haven't actually programmed their computers properly to do it yet.   I have two 1099-R forms from them this year....I just entered them Manually.   (No, I tried and couldn't import from them either, but I wasn't really expecting to be able to do so)

In TurboTax Online you are able to remove the form by following these steps:   Down the left side of the screen, click on Tax Tools. Click on Tools. Click on Delete a form. Find the form listed and click Delete to the right. California Form FTB 3554, the New Employment Credit (NEC), is used by qualified businesses to claim tax credits for hiring qualified full-time employees in specific designated geographic areas (DGA). The credit applies to employees hired between January 1, 2014, and January 1, 2026, and requires a Tentative Credit Reservation (TCR) for each qualified worker.

You can find your AGI on last year’s tax return (Form 1040, line 11). If you don't have the 1040, you can log into your IRS ID ME account to retrieve it. See more information in our help article below.  How do I find last year's AGI?  

You should first contact the IRS by phone at 800-829-1040 Change your address. Find out what was mailed. You should then: File Form 8822, Change of Address with the IRS to update your records. Set up mail forwarding with the USPS.

While the payer probably should have used code 2 if they knew that your age and separation date qualified you for the age-55 exception, there is nothing inherently wrong with using code 1.  In that case you simply need to claim the age-55 exception on Form 5329 line 2.

Are you filing an IL tax return but entering a FL drivers license?   Illinois is really picky and is going to want an IL license.   You will end up having to print, sign and mail your IL return.   If you moved to IL in 2025 and have not yet obtained a drivers license in IL, you need to get that taken care of soon.    

After you enter everything and it tells you that it does not qualify, what is the message it is giving you?   Do you have enough tax liability to claim the credit?  The water heater is part of the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit. This is a nonrefundable credit that cannot be carried forward.  Which means it is a use it or lose it credit.  So if you do not have a tax liability in the tax year you are filing for on line 16 of your form 1040 for it to offset, or you already have enough other non-refundable credits to offset it, you will not be able to claim this credit.    

I found a hack to the online Turbotax endless loop!!!!   As a  technologist in the IT space and long time user and fan of TurboTax on line I wanted to share a hack I found using Turbotax online this week to file my taxes successfully.   First of all, I love how easy Turbotax online makes  it to file taxes. This year I had a number of endless logic loops as in the past. I used the TurboTax chat feature and then the TurboTax live tax expert.   None where able to help solve the issues. The time on the phone was way too long with the TurboTax live agents. At the end of the call they still could not figure out the endless loop error and they told me to just physically mail my return and not do it electronically instead of trying to solve my endless loop issues!!!!   As a last resort I took screen shots of where I was stuck in the endless loop and uploaded the images to ChatGBT 5.2 and asked ChatGBT 5.2 to help me step by step to fix the Turbotax online issues.    IT WORKED Flawlessly!!!!   ChatGBT 5.2 solved all of my Turbotax issues in half the time than the Turbotax live employees and Turbotax chat!   I don't work for OpenAi and this is not an advisement of OpenAi but it was a game changer for me to file my taxes with Turbotax.   I wish TurboTax considered a tight integration with ChatGBT or one of their competitors.   If they replaced all of the TurboTax live operators and TurboTax chat with ChatGBT (or a chart GBT competitor) we would all have a significantly better user experience and perhaps a lower TurboTax cost .   ChatGBT  was a game changer to help me fix  TurboTax this year!!!  If you are still having TurboTax endless loop issues I highly recommend trying the approach and posting your results so we can all share what you learn

Are you correctly reporting income to Rhode Island?   In TurboTax, in the Rhode Island income tax return, you file as a part-year resident.  At the screen Rhode Island wages and salaries, enter the portion of your W-2 wages that you earned from Rhode Island sources while you were a resident of Rhode Island.     You may have to compute the amount based upon the number of days, weeks or months that you lived in Rhode Island and Texas.

You can delete blank, duplicate, or irrelevant forms, TurboTax does not recommend deleting needed forms or schedules.  Deleting a form or schedule might give you errors.     To delete the forms go to Tax Tools on the left-side menu Select Tools Select Delete a form in the menu Select Delete next to the form you want to delete How do I view and delete forms in TurboTax Online?

When filing your taxes, you get the choice between itemizing your deductions or taking the standard deduction. You do not get to take both or add the itemized deductions to the standard amount. Taxpayers will choose the one the provides the greatest benefit by reducing their income to determine the taxable income.   For tax year 2025, the standard deduction amounts based on filing status are as follows: Married Filing Jointly / Qualifying Surviving Spouse: $31,500 Single / Married Filing Separately: $15,750 Head of Household: $23,625 Additional Age 65+ / Blind: Additional standard deduction amounts of $2,000 for single/head of household and $1,600 for married individuals are available. Itemized deductions include medical expenses greater than 7.5% of AGI, state and local taxes including real estate taxes and income or sales tax up to $40,000, mortgage interest, and charitable contributions.   See the following for more information regarding taking the standard deduction versus itemizing:   Standard Deduction vs. Itemized Deductions: Which Is Better?   @stillsanefornow 

"When the 8606 was released, there no TT prompt to review or error."   An ordinary nondeductible traditional IRA contribution is not a excess contribution.  The tax code permits nondeductible contributions.   If the contribution is not returned, there is nothing to amend.  The Form 8606 reports the nondeductible contribution.  If your wife obtains a return of the contribution, amendment will be necessary to correct the From 8606 to show the no nondeductible contribution was made.  The Form 8606 will need to be prepared outside of TurboTax because with the contribution removed, TurboTax will simply remove the Form 8606 rather and preparing it with a zero in box 1.  If the contribution was made in 2025 and the account saw an investment gain while the returned contribution was present, the gains that are required to accompany the returned contribution will be taxable on the 2025 tax return, so the amendment will also need to include that as taxable income.