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On the screen where you enter the explanation, the text can be spread over several lines to make the font size increase.   When you're on the screen "You have a 25% penalty, but we can help you request a waiver", you can click the + Add button to request additional lines to enter your statement and you can just type a few words on each line to make it more readable.

The refund date as shown on the TurboTax website or via email is an estimate only.  It is based on the IRS average of 21 days to issue a tax refund after receiving the tax return.   Only the IRS and your State control when and if a Federal or State tax refund is Approved and Issued.   Once a tax return has been Accepted by the IRS or a State, TurboTax receives no further information concerning the tax return or the status of any tax refund.   If accepted by the IRS use the federal tax refund website to check the refund status - https://www.irs.gov/refunds If accepted by the state use this TurboTax support FAQ to check the state tax refund status - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/track-state-refund/L3jgO8PGs_...   After the tax return has been Accepted by the IRS (meaning only that they received the return) it will be in the Processing mode until the tax refund has been Approved and then an Issue Date will be available on the IRS website.

kebell50 - What the DOR lady said makes sense to me because I'd be skeptical that any state agency would be implementing special software for a private company. What I am more hopeful about is that maybe TurboTax themselves will get their own software updated within a few days so that it complies with the Wisconsin requirements. Regards, Mike O'Brien

If you're a US resident required to file, and you have Chinese pension income, you can report it by going to Income Topics page, scroll all the way down to 'Miscellaneous Income 1099-A, 1099-C' and choose Start/Update.   On the next page, scroll all the way down to 'Other Reportable Income', Start/Update.  On the next page, enter a description/amount.   Pension income is taxed the same as other income.  If you paid taxes to China on your income, you could enter the Gross Amount and then claim a Foreign Tax Credit for the tax amount paid, or just enter the Net Amount on this page.   If your pension is from China for services performed for China, it may be exempt from U.S. tax if you are not a U.S. citizen or green card holder.    @Jscg   [Edited 02/26/2026 | 5:50 pm]    

You can report all taxes you paid before you file under Deductions & Credits >> Estimates and Other Taxes Paid >> Estimated Tax Payments >> Federal estimated taxes for 20XX.    It doesn't matter that you didn't use Form 1040-ES. Click the option for "Add another payment" under Additional payments so you can enter the date and amount.

The second of my questions was why my owed Federal Tax would not reduce to zero given that I have plenty of credits from last year. The answer turns out to be that the Federal Tax owed was due to my self-employment tax. Apparently this is calculated after the credits have been applied, and so has to be paid. Credits were applied to taxes incurred from capital gains. It would be nice if TurboTax could have explained that to me at some point during the form completion process.  

We are aware that some customers are experiencing issues when trying to file but are looped back instead of being able to proceed and file.     This issue is being actively investigated. We'll inform you once the program is updated.

 Marguerite - I assume you are using the desktop version of TurboTax because the online version I am using receives no "updates" as the online version supposedly updates automatically. The reason I mention that is I have been assured by TurboTax people (famous last words) that I will be able to print my Wisconsin return and file it by mail if TurboTax just can't get this online efile version working. If you are using the desktop version, maybe you are correct that you can't simply abandon the efile version and file by mail. Hopefully, I won't be learning down the road that onliners also can't print and file their rejected WI return. If you are using the online version where you sign into the TurboTax website to complete you return (rather than using a program loaded on your computer), you should be able to file manually if this whole project goes south for us Cheeseheads. Good luck. Mike O'Brien

kebell50 What's strange is I filed an electronic Wisconsin return on 2/6/2026 with retirement income, taking the State Retirement Income subtraction and the return was accepted with no problems.  Just wonder what happened between 2/6 and 2/18 (when I tried filing a second return using retirement income)?

That may be on Statement A(Page 1) which is for the QBI Pass-through Entity Reporting. You will see that statement under the K-1 schedule in the list of forms. You can see if there is anything highlighted in red or pink on that schedule which would mean a correction was needed. Also, when you bring up the forms by using the Forms menu option, look for any form or schedule that has a red exclamation mark next to it as that means there is an error there.

Unfortunately, we in the Community have no control over pricing or discounts. I assume that that would be handled by the telephone support group.   As for the investigation, we have little contact about that, either. The investigation has not yet reached the first step in the development side (that is, I know it's a problem, but do THEY know it's a problem?), so there is no fix date yet; however, at this point, it is very unlikely to be before the end of the month.   We have everything we need from you. Unfortunately, I am not in the position to answer your questions on the discount price or the fix date. Things have moved past this Community group.   May I express my condolences on your spouse. "Primary" just refers to the first name listed. So on your 2025 return, your spouse will still be the "primary". Don't change the order around because I have seen that to cause confusion at the IRS. Of course, in 2026 whether you file Single or Qualifying Surviving Spouse, yours will be the only name.   I am very glad that your spouse took the steps he did to bring you up to speed on this process. While I was doing "retail" tax work, I met too many recently widowed people who had no idea how to do the tax return or where any of the records were kept.