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If you had other income or had tax withheld, you may be required to file a tax return, but if it is your only income, you would be under the filing threshold so you would not have to file.  If you need to file, you can follow the TurboTax interview and enter the information to prepare and file your tax return.  See Do Babysitters Have To Report Their Income on Taxes?

Many, but not all, employers will report Qualified Overtime on the W-2. If the Qualified Overtime is reported on your W-2, follow these steps.   At the screen Let's check for other situations, select Overtime.  Continue.    At the screen Let's see if your overtime qualifies as tax-free, select either:    Help me calculate my eligible overtime. No help needed-I know what to enter. For the Qualified Overtime Deduction:      Maximum annual deduction is $12,500 ($25,000 for joint filers). Deduction phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers). The deduction reduces federal income tax liability, it does not exempt overtime pay from Social Security and Medicare taxes.  Employees will still owe these taxes on their overtime earnings. Taxpayers filing as married filing separately are not eligible for the deduction. The deduction is available for both itemizing and non-itemizing taxpayers. See this TurboTax Help.  

The extra $2,000 will be included with your standard deduction, if eligible.   The extra $6,000 (Enhanced Deduction for Seniors) is an additional deduction, that is separate, not included with the standard deduction. This additional deduction for seniors is calculated automatically based on the birthday you have entered in your tax return.    Note, this deduction has income limitations.  It begins phasing out at income of $75,000 for a single filer (or $150,000 married) and is completely phased out at income of $175,000 for a single filer (or $250,000 married).   This deduction is located on Schedule 1-A Additional Deductions, Part V. The total additional deductions will be summed and appear on your 1040, line 13b.   You can check both in TurboTax Online by navigating to Tax Tools on the left of your screen, choose Tools, then View Tax Summary. On the left of the screen, select Preview my 1040, and scroll line 12 of the 1040 to see the extra standard deduction and then to Schedule 1-A Part V for the Enhanced Deduction for Seniors.

The 529 distribution (reported on Form 1099-Q) only needs to be reported on the tax return of the person whose SSN is on the form if the withdrawal is more than the tuition paid in Box 1 of the 1098-T plus other adjusted qualified educational expenses. In that case, the earnings on the excess distribution would be taxable income.   First, determine if the Form 1099-Q needs to be reported on the tax return by comparing the withdrawal with the tuition paid on the 1098-T added to other qualified educational expenses. To find out what are qualified educational expenses, review the IRS Tax benefits for education: Information center. Refer to the TurboTax articles Guide to IRS Form 1099-Q: Payments from Qualified Education Programs and What is IRS Form 1099-Q? for further details.   Secondly, enter the 1099-Q if the withdrawal exceeds the educational expenses by following the directions in the TurboTax Help article Where do I enter a 1099-Q?   When the student's school expenses are paid with these funds, you can't claim a tuition deduction or either of the educational tax credits for the same expense.

If your tax return is rejected for a missing Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) despite selecting "No," the IRS system likely assigned you one due to a previous opt-in or potential identity theft, even if you don't recall it. You must retrieve the 6-digit PIN from your IRS Online Account or check for a CP01A notice mailed by the IRS to file electronically.  If you cannot log in, use the IRS Get an IP PIN tool to verify your identity and retrieve it.   See How to Get an IP PIN in 4 Easy Steps - TurboTax - Intuit

To qualify for the CA Earned Income Tax Credit CalEITC, you must meet all of the following requirements during the tax year: Be at least 18 years old, or have a qualifying child  Have earned income of at least $1 but not more than $32,900  Have a valid Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for yourself, your spouse or registered domestic partner (RDP), and any qualifying children  Live in California for more than half of the tax year  Not be eligible to be claimed as a qualifying child by another taxpayer  Not be eligible to be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer, unless you have a qualifying child  If you are married or an RDP filing separately, you must also meet all of these conditions: You had a qualifying child who lived with you for more than half of the tax year, and  One of the following applies:  You lived apart from your spouse/RDP for the last six months of the tax year, or  You are legally separated under state law (with a written separation agreement or decree of separate maintenance) and did not live in the same household as your spouse/RDP at the end of the tax year. Refer to the CA Franchise Tax Board website: CalEITC Eligibility and credit information for additional details.    You can also check the Franchise Tax Board Earned Income Tax Credit Calculator.

Your instructions worked as last year, but I did not have to do this last step: "you must then override the NJ wages to subtract out the amount you just added in on the pension worksheet."   When following your original instructions, My line 20a went up by the taxable amount of the distribution.  My line 15  went down by the total amount of the distribution.  Line 27 went down by the excludable part of the pension. I believe this is all correct.

I'm getting this bug noted on the internet below and the suggestions below will not fix it.  I am using the online form and I cannot delete the sheet.  How can this bug be fixed? This is a known 2025 tax year bug in TurboTax (both Online and Desktop) triggered by 529 distributions (1099-Q) for K–12 students or incomplete student-status entries. Here's how to fix it quickly: Quick Fix (Works for Most Users) Switch to Forms View Online: Click Forms (top-right) → Open Forms Desktop: Press Ctrl+M (Windows) or Cmd+M (Mac) Delete the Problem Worksheet Scroll through all pages (use Next Page links) until you find Person on the Return Worksheet (note the typo "Retun" in some versions) for the person named in the error Click the form name, then click Delete at the bottom If you see a separate Enrollment Status or Student Status worksheet, delete that too Clear Student Status for K–12 Students Go back to Step-by-Step view Navigate to Personal Info → select the dependent causing the error Under Student Status (Part I): Uncheck "Was a student in 2025" Or leave all student-status fields blank (even for high schoolers using 529 funds) Save and continue Re-run Smart Check Go to File → Review → Fix any issues The error should now clear

@2tennpalmers wrote: can anyone cite an official IRS publication or ruling that backs it up?     "You use a dwelling unit as a home during the tax year if you use it for personal purposes more than the greater of: 14 days, or 10% of the total days it is rented to others at a fair rental price." https://www.irs.gov/publications/p527#en_US_2025_publink1000285456     "Used as a home but rented less than 15 days. If you use a dwelling unit as a home and you rent it less than 15 days during the year, its primary function isn’t considered to be rental and it shouldn’t be reported on Schedule E (Form 1040). You aren’t required to report the rental income and rental expenses from this activity."   https://www.irs.gov/publications/p527#en_US_2025_publink1000219202     It comes from the law at Section 280A(d)(1) and 280A(g).   https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/280A