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No.  You don't need to report a cash inheritance on your federal return. The IRS doesn't impose an inheritance tax.   Only a handful of states (Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) have some kind of inheritance tax. Refer to your state's Department of Revenue to see what the requirements are for filing an inheritance tax.   Interest or other income generated from inherited cash would be taxable. For example, if you inherited $10,000 in cash and deposited it into a bank account, generating $40 of interest this year, the $40 would be included in your income as taxable interest.        Do I need to report a cash inheritance?

Qualified Tuition Plans  (QTP 529 Plans) Distributions General Discussion It’s complicated. For 529 plans, there is an “owner” (usually the parent, but the grandparent in this, and many other cases), and a “beneficiary” (usually the student dependent, but a non dependent in this case). The "recipient" of the distribution can be either the owner or the beneficiary depending on who the money was sent to. When the money goes directly from the Qualified Tuition Plan (QTP) to the school, the student is the "recipient". The distribution will be reported on IRS form 1099-Q.  The 1099-Q distribution  gets reported on the recipient's return.** The recipient's name & SS# will be on the 1099-Q. Even though the 1099-Q is going on the grand parent or student's return, the 1098-T should go on the parent's return, so they can claim the education credit. They can do this because he is their dependent. They can and should claim the tuition credit before you claim the 529 plan earnings exclusion (unless their income is too high).  The American Opportunity Credit (AOC or AOTC) is 100% of the first $2000 of tuition and 25% of the next $2000 ($2500 maximum credit). The educational expenses she claims for the 1099-Q should be reduced by the amount of educational expenses you claim for the credit. Room and board (R&B) are also qualified expenses for the 529 distribution, but not the AOC (R&B are also not qualified expenses for a scholarship to be tax free). But be aware, you can not double dip. You cannot count the same tuition money, for the tuition credit,  that gets him/her an exclusion from the taxability of the earnings (interest) on the 529 plan. Since the credit is more generous; use as much of the tuition as is needed for the credit and the rest for the interest exclusion. Another special rule allows you to claim the tuition credit regardless of whose money was used to pay the tuition. In addition, there is another rule that says the 10% penalty is waived if he was unable to cover the 529 plan withdrawal with educational expenses either because he got scholarships or the expenses were used (by him or the parents) to claim the credits. He'll have to pay tax on the earnings, at his lower tax rate (subject to the “kiddie tax”), but not the penalty.   Total qualified expenses (including room & board) less amounts paid by scholarship less amounts used to claim the Tuition credit equals the amount they can use to claim the earnings exclusion on the 1099-Q.  Example:   $10,000 in educational expenses (including room & board)    -$3000 paid by tax free scholarship***    -$4000 used to claim the American Opportunity credit  =$3000 Can be used against the 1099-Q (on the recipient’s return)   Box 1 of the 1099-Q is $5000 Box 2 is $2800 3000/5000=60% of the earnings are tax free; 40% are taxable 40% x 2800= $1120 There is  $1120 of taxable income (on the recipient’s return)   **Alternatively; you can just not report the 1099-Q, at all, if your student-beneficiary has sufficient educational expenses, including room & board (even if he lives at home) to cover the distribution. You would still have to do the math to see if there were enough expenses left over for you to claim the tuition credit. Again, you cannot double dip!  When the box 1 amount on form 1099-Q is fully covered by expenses, TurboTax will enter nothing about the 1099-Q on the actual tax forms. But, it will prepare a 1099-Q worksheet for your records, in case of an IRS inquiry. On form 1099-Q, instructions to the recipient reads: "Nontaxable distributions from CESAs and QTPs are not required to be reported on your income tax return. You must determine the taxability of any distribution."  ***Another alternative is have the student report some of his scholarship as taxable income, to free up some expenses for the 1099-Q and/or tuition credit. Most people come out better having the scholarship taxable before the 529 earnings. A student, with no other income, can have up to $15,750 of taxable scholarship (in 2025) and still pay no income tax. 

Q. If scholarship money remains, it is taxed as excess scholarship (other Income, 1040 line ??) A. Yes. Beginning with tax year 2022, line 8r of Schedule 1 (previously it went on line 1 of form 1040 with a notation SCH).    Q. The tuition amount paid by the 529 is included as an Other Scholarship entry. A. No, not usually. It depends on how you are doing it, which isn't clear.   Q. 1099-Q not entered based on TurboTax guidance. A. Yes, since you have determined that none of the 1099-Q is taxable.    Q. There are no AOTC credits involved. A. Why not. Even though the grandparent is the owner of the 529 and the student is the beneficiary, the parents may still claim the AOTC (unless their income is too high) if the student is their dependent.  See separate detailed post below.    Q. what I should enter or where I should enter it? A. Manually calculate the taxable amount of scholarship and enter the 1098-T, on the students return, with 0 on box 1 and the taxable amount in box 5.     For more detailed advice, provide some numbers.    

To do a prior year return you have to buy the Desktop program here, https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/past-years-products For 2024 you will need Windows 10 or Mac Ventura 13 to install it on. If you can't install the Desktop program or if you have a simple return and want to file for free, you can fill out the blank IRS forms by hand. Here are some basic forms….. Here is the IRS 2024 Form 1040 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--2024.pdf or if you want bigger type use 1040SR for Seniors, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040s--2024.pdf And 2024 Instructions https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040gi--2024.pdf Sch 1 : https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040s1--2024.pdf Sch 2 : https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040s2--2024.pdf Sch 3 : https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040s3--2024.pdf Then when you do file 2025 enter 0 for the 2024 AGI since you are filing 2024 late. You have to print and mail prior year returns. When you mail a tax return, you need to attach any documents showing tax withheld, such as your W-2’s or any 1099’s. Use a mailing service that will track it, such as UPS or certified mail so you will know the IRS received the return. Don’t forget state. Important! Mail Federal and State in separate envelopes and mail each year in separate envelopes.

If you filed MFJ with your spouse last year, the AGI for each spouse is the AGI that's on your joint return.     Your 2024 tax return must have been accepted by the IRS for your prior year AGI to be on record. For more details, refer to the TurboTax article What if I entered the correct AGI and I'm still getting an e-file rejection? For more information.   You may also find it helpful to review the TurboTax article How do I fix e-file reject IND-031-04 or IND-032-04?   If you continue having problems, you may have to mail your return.

You can.    If you choose the Married Filing Separately (MFS) filing status, you won’t treat your spouse as a resident for tax purposes, and therefore you won’t include your spouse's income on your return. However, when filing MFS, the Standard Deduction is less than Married Filing Jointly (MFJ), and you lose certain tax credits and benefits you would otherwise be eligible for. Because a Nonresident Alien Spouse has no Social Security Number, you have the option to:   Attempt to e-file the return with the Social Security Number field blank, using the instructions linked below.  Print your entire tax return, write “NRA” where the spouse's social security number or ITIN should be, and mail it to the appropriate IRS office.   Print your entire tax return and apply for an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) for your spouse which will allow you to easily e-file future returns.  Attach Form W-7 and all required documentation to your paper return. Take the package to a Certified Acceptance Agent, an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center, or mail to the IRS office listed in the W-7 instructions.  Follow the instructions here to e-file >> Filing electronically with NRA spouse

ttax found no errors even with the missing info.  Looked at 2024 return, same missing info...no problems filing electronically.     fix the "master checkboxes"  worked.  The menus that popped up did not appear previously when entering data.  We import data from our financial institution so maybe that was part of the issue.    just an fyi, we talked to a rep about this on the phone before posting this Q, she had no idea what we were talking about.      

It appears the confusion is that if you dont input your dependent care expenses into the deduction, you are getting penalized for the DC FSA usage.   I also thought it was double dipping, but it was just doing the opposite. Initially displays a penalty for using the FSA, until the child expense is validated.

If it didn’t transfer over from last year then Enter a Capital Loss Carryover under Federal Taxes or Personal (Home & Business) Wages and Income Then scroll down to Investment Income Capital Loss Carryovers - Click Start or Revisit You enter the full amount that carried over, not just the 3,000 If you have the Online version you need the Premium version.