All Posts

TurboTax has an offer for 2025 to do this tho, you are meant to be able to use your desktop license to switch to Online Premium Fed+Site for no extra cost.  Not sure how it’s applied.  This message will display when you try to install on Win 10.   but buyer beware - online is not same experience as desktop, there is no Forms mode, it’s very interview-centric, and only good for 1 return per account so whether this is a good offer depends what you want.  You can always try online for free to see if it suits but you can’t see your return (except 1040) until you pay.   Otherwise get a refund and use something else - Hr Block and TaxAct still support Win 10 this year.    

You will have to turn off S mode to download anything that is not from the Microsoft store.   To turn off S mode in Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Activation, find the "Switch to Windows 11 Pro" section, and click "Open Store". On the "Switch out of S mode" page in the Microsoft Store, click Get. This one-way switch allows installing apps from outside the Store.

Did you enter a 1099R?   Did you enter the federal income tax withheld from box 4 on the 1099R?   To enter your retirement income, Go to  Federal> Wages and Income>Retirement Plans and Social Security>IRA  401 k) Pension Plan Withdrawals to enter your 1099R.  

If you choose to claim the Foreign Tax Credit without filing Form 1116, you cannot carry forward any unused foreign taxes from this year to future years. However, your existing carryovers from prior years are generally not "lost" or forfeited; they simply sit on the sidelines for the year, but they cannot be used or updated on this year's return.

Yes, interest on a personal loan used to purchase or improve a rental property is deductible, but as a rental expense on Schedule E (Other Interest) rather than mortgage interest on Schedule A.  Since the loan was used to purchase 'income producing' property (i.e., taxable income), the IRS allows the deduction. Make sure you document that the loan proceeds are directly traceable to the rental property.   Here's more info from IRS Pub. 527.   @bfoster0847         

The “senior deduction” is added automatically by the software based on the date of birth and filing status you entered into MY INFO.  You do not need to take any extra steps to enter it. (And…the new senior deduction has nothing to do with whether you are getting Social Security)   The deduction is not on the same line as your standard deduction.  It is shown separately on line 13b.     2025 STANDARD DEDUCTION AMOUNTS SINGLE $15,750  (65 or older/legally blind + $2000) MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY $15,750  (65 or older/legally blind +1600) MARRIED FILING JOINTLY $31,500  (65 or older/legally blind + $1600) HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD $23,625 (65 or older/legally blind + $2000)     For 2025 through 2028 there is an extra  deduction amount of up to $6000 per individual 65 or older filing Single, MFJ, or HOH which is phased out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for joint filers.   (The deduction phases out completely at $175.000 Single or HOH, or $250,000 joint)   The $6,000 senior deduction will be calculated on 1040 Schedule 1-A page 2 Part V Enhanced Deduction for Seniors which goes to 1040 line 13b. It is separate and in addition to the Standard Deduction or your Itemized Deductions on 1040 line 12e.  Turbo Tax automatically includes it. IRS Schedule 1-A https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/f1040s1a--dft.pdf   Need to see it? https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/preview-turbotax-online-return-filing/L77WCkvnu_US_en_US?uid=m681fkhr   If you are not getting the senior deduction it is because Your date of birth in MY INFO shows that you were not 65 by the end of 2025 Your income is too high You are filing married filing separately    

No one at TurboTax can predict when the IRS will issue your refund after you verified your identity.   TT gets no information whatsoever from the IRS after you file your tax return.   Watch the IRS refund site for information. Once your federal return has been accepted by the IRS, only the IRS has any control.  TurboTax does not receive any updates from the IRS. Your ONLY source of information about your refund now is the IRS.     You need your filing status, your Social Security number and the exact amount  (line 35a of your 2025 Form 1040) of your federal refund to track your Federal refund:    https://www.irs.gov/refunds  

Yes, since you are married, she needs to be listed in the tax return.  View the two options below to determine how you wish to include her in the return.   Option 1: File "Married Filing Jointly" (Include her) Even though she lives in Mexico and is a non-resident alien, the IRS allows you to make a special Section 6013(g) election to treat her as a U.S. resident for tax purposes. The Benefit: You get the higher Standard Deduction ($30,000 for 2025/2026 filings), which usually lowers your tax bill significantly compared to filing alone. The Catch: You must report her worldwide income (anything she earned in Mexico) on your U.S. tax return. The Paperwork: If she doesn't have a Social Security Number, she will need to apply for an ITIN (Form W-7). You also have to attach a signed statement to your return declaring this election. Here is an IRS Website to download the form and its instructions.Best if: Your wife has little or no income in Mexico. Including her gives you a huge deduction without adding much taxable income to the return.   Option 2: File "Married Filing Separately" (Exclude her) This is the "default" if you don't want to deal with her Mexican income or the ITIN process. The Process: You list her name on your return but write "NRA" (Non-Resident Alien) in the space for her Social Security Number. The Catch: You get a much lower Standard Deduction ($15,000), and you are disqualified from several tax credits (like the Earned Income Tax Credit). The Benefit: You don't have to report a single cent of her Mexican income to the IRS, and she doesn't need a U.S. tax ID. In the first option, you would need to obtain her signature on the  Section 6013(g) election form that the program generates and also on the W-7.   

The solution I ended up doing this year was filing my Federal and State separately. When I filed my Federal, I indicated in TTax that the Other Taxes Paid state was “AZ”, then when I filed my Arizona return I went to the Federal Other Taxes Paid and changed the state to another state. That kept my Federal “numbers” constant, to import into my State filing, but then doing that TTax doesn’t incorrectly import that amount as an actual AZ tax payment. Not a pro-tip, but that’s how I got around the issue.   With the popularity of both the Arizona dollar for dollar credits and TurboTax, there’s what, maybe 50k of us that fall into this situation…how has TTax let this go on for so long?!

  You received an email that we cannot see that tells you why your tax return was rejected.   Some rejected returns can be fixed and re-filed.  Some have “un-fixable” reasons for the rejection and have to be mailed instead.    What is the rejection code or rejection message?     If it was rejected for AGI—-your 2024 AGI might not be in the IRS system if you filed late.   Try using zero instead.   If filing with zero is rejected then file again but select the option that you did not file last year.  The IRS does not see that question and it will allow you to e-file with no AGI question.     https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/agi/help/where-do-i-correct-my-agi-in-turbotax-online/00/26311   If that does not work and you still cannot e-file, then print, sign, and mail your tax return.        

Estimated tax payments are not entered automatically, even if they were generated using 2024 TurboTax. It has no way to know they were actually paid or in what amounts, since taxpayers can manually change the amounts after printing. Thus, entry of these payments was your responsibility.