All Posts

Maybe you are waiting for some forms.  Click Review to see if you are missing some forms needed in order to e-file.   Many federal and state forms are not yet available.  Check here for form availability. The dates are subject to change.   Tax form availability tool     Be patient.    IF you e-file now, your return will go into “pending” until the IRS starts to accept/reject returns in late January. You cannot make any changes while the return is on the server. The IRS will start to accept/reject 2025 e-files on January 26.   And….a state return cannot be accepted until after the IRS accepts your federal return.         https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-first-day-of-2026-filing-season-online-tools-and

You may have received an automated email indicating that Form 5695 was available.  While the form has been finalized, the final software update is still being deployed, and some customers may not yet see the form available in their product. The update is actively rolling out across all platforms, and full access will be available once deployment is complete.  No action is needed from you at this time.  Check again tomorrow and/or this weekend to complete filing 5695.  If you continue to see this form blocked after this weekend (1/25/26), please tell us in the replies below.  Thank you.  

You may have received an automated email indicating that Form 5695 was available.  While the form has been finalized, the final software update is still being deployed, and some customers may not yet see the form available in their product. The update is actively rolling out across all platforms, and full access will be available once deployment is complete.  No action is needed from you at this time.  Check again tomorrow and/or this weekend to complete filing 5695.  If you continue to see this form blocked after this weekend (1/25/26), please tell us in the replies below.  Thank you.  

The refundable part of the CTC---called additional child tax credit --- is up to a maximum of $1700 per child, but  it is based on how much income you earned by working, so if you earned only a small amount of income, you will not get the $1700 per child.   That being said---here is more information.   Make sure you have entered your child as a dependent in My Info, and that you have entered the child's Social Security number.    Careful— do not say that your child’s SSN is not valid for employment.  If your child was born in 2025 make sure you said he lived with you the whole year.  There is an oddly worded question that asks if the child paid over half their own support.  Say NO to that question.     Have you entered income from working in 2025?  If not,  you will not receive an income tax refund based on having dependent children.     The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2200 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1700.   In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working.   Take the amount you earned from working.   Subtract $2500.   Multiply the rest by 15%.  That is the additional child tax credit per child that you can get—- up to the maximum of $1700 per child.   If the amount you earned from working was low, you will not get the full $1700 per child.    If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2025, you do not get the CTC.  But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.   https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/child-tax-credit/L2lNhfGDl_US_en_US?uid=m68dfq2u   https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/additional-child-tax-credit/L6xFeMFEf_US_en_US?uid=lqnuygah https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/does-my-childdependent-qualify-for-the-child-tax-credit-or-the-credit-for-other-dependents     And for the Earned Income Credit—-   https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/qualifications-earned-income-credit-eic-eitc/L7w4BFP32_US_en_US?uid=m62rmz09   https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/use-the-eitc-assistant   https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p596.pdf   Look at your 2025 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received   PREVIEW 1040 https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/preview-turbotax-online-return-filing/L77WCkvnu_US_en_US?uid=m681fkhr   Child Tax Credit line 19 Credit for Other Dependents line 19 Earned Income Credit line 27 Additional Child Tax Credit line 28     AND….If you have children but had  little or no income, it raises the question of how you and the children were supported.  There may be another tax-paying adult who can claim you and/or the children as dependents.        

You may have received an automated email indicating that Form 5695 was available.  While the form has been finalized, the final software update is still being deployed, and some customers may not yet see the form available in their product. The update is actively rolling out across all platforms, and full access will be available once deployment is complete.  No action is needed from you at this time.  Check again tomorrow and/or this weekend to complete filing 5695.  If you continue to see this form blocked after this weekend (1/25/26), please tell us in the replies below.  Thank you.  

Thank you for your patience....   Not sure if this is the spot to add that.  If it is, are you suggesting I enter the full amount of my pension 1099-R distribution?  And thanks for how to upload a screenshot!  

@kwlamm1961  You added details, I hope I followed and end up the same place you did.     To be deductible, the mortgage must be secured by the property that it is used to buy or improve.  Also, the mortgage must be taken out within 90 days before or after buying or improving the home.  That means that:   The interest on the HELOC for house #1 is not deductible, because it was not used to build or improve house #1.   Any mortgage you later take out on house #2 will not be deductible unless you take that loan out within 90 days of closing on house #2.  If it is more than 90 days, then any mortgage on house #2 will only be deductible to the extent that it pays for improvements to house #2.   See https://www.irs.gov/publications/p936#en_US_2025_publink1000229995    

You may have received an automated email indicating that Form 5695 was available.  While the form has been finalized, the final software update is still being deployed, and some customers may not yet see the form available in their product. The update is actively rolling out across all platforms, and full access will be available once deployment is complete.  No action is needed from you at this time.  Check again tomorrow and/or this weekend to complete filing 5695.  If you continue to see this form blocked after this weekend (1/25/26), please tell us in the replies below.  Thank you.  

You may have received an automated email indicating that Form 5695 was available.  While the form has been finalized, the final software update is still being deployed, and some customers may not yet see the form available in their product. The update is actively rolling out across all platforms, and full access will be available once deployment is complete.  No action is needed from you at this time.  Check again tomorrow and/or this weekend to complete filing 5695.  If you continue to see this form blocked after this weekend (1/25/26), please tell us in the replies below.  Thank you.  

You may have received an automated email indicating that Form 5695 was available.  While the form has been finalized, the final software update is still being deployed, and some customers may not yet see the form available in their product. The update is actively rolling out across all platforms, and full access will be available once deployment is complete.  No action is needed from you at this time.  Check again tomorrow and/or this weekend to complete filing 5695.  If you continue to see this form blocked after this weekend (1/25/26), please tell us in the replies below.  Thank you.  

You may have received an automated email indicating that Form 5695 was available.  While the form has been finalized, the final software update is still being deployed, and some customers may not yet see the form available in their product. The update is actively rolling out across all platforms, and full access will be available once deployment is complete.  No action is needed from you at this time.  Check again tomorrow and/or this weekend to complete filing 5695.  If you continue to see this form blocked after this weekend (1/25/26), please tell us in the replies below.  Thank you.