All Posts

@destinymcdonald1974 wrote: Having the IRS direct deposit and or paying for TurboTax 5-day early is it the same deposit time To me I feel like it is an unnecessary fee please give me some clarification on this matter I'm a fellow user, not a TurboTax employee. So this is my opinion.   That "Up to 5 days early" option does not speed up any processing time at the IRS.  It only kicks in once the IRS is ready to release your refund.   Here's some info on it:   The "Up to 5 day early" offer has a $35 fee if you choose to have it sent to your own bank account.   There is no fee if you choose the "Up to 5 days early" offer deposited to a Credit Karma Money checking account.   So they are hoping to entice folks to open a Credit Karma Money account.   Since it says "Up to 5 days", that means it might come 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 days early.  TurboTax says if it doesn't come at least 1 day earlier than it would have if it had come directly from the IRS, then they will not charge the $35 fee.  In my opinion, it is not worth $35 if you might only get it 1 day early.  You'll have to decide if it's worth it to you to get it 1-5 days early.   Plus that offer uses a third-party bank to handle the funds.  Whenever there's a third party bank in an add-on option, that's an extra step where things could go wrong.    Here's a FAQ with complete details:   FAQ:  "Up to 5 days early" offer https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund-advance/turbotaxs-five-days-e...   NOTE:  Also be aware you will save money if you pay any TurboTax fees upfront with credit/debit card.  If you choose to pay fees out of your refund, that also involved a third-party bank to receive the funds, and there is an extra $40 service fee for that option ($45 for California filers) and again is an extra step that can cause problems if anything goes wrong.

Thank you for the reply. According to TT,  IRS is now asking about this to determine if more tax credits are applicable; hence there is a change in the tax forms, wherein the question of having lived in the US for at least 6 months pertains to more than just Earned Income credit, and hence this question is being asked to all who use TT.  Is this true?

since she had family coverage from 1/1-11/30 on your TurboTax 8889 you must indicate you had family coverage for every month from January through November.  I am assuming you had no disqualifying coverage that covered her after July.    I'm almost certain the reason you are having this issue is that you indicated on your 8889 that you only had family coverage through July.    The rules do say if one spouse has family coverage, both spouses are treated as having family coverage. However, if you were covered by a non-HDHP after July, the HSA limitation for you is 7/12 of 8550. Her family coverage is irrelevant in this case. So if you were not covered by a non-HDHP after July, you must check family coverage for Aug - Nov on your 8889 

@likesky1010 Massachusetts generally does not recognize the federal Section 475(f) Mark to market election for state income tax purposes. While federal rules allow traders to treat gains/losses as ordinary, Massachusetts typically treats trading gains/losses as capital gains/losses, subject to capital loss limitations, as the state code is not fully linked to current federal trader tax rules. https://www.mass.gov/info-details/differences-between-ma-and-federal-tax-law-for-personal-income#:~:text=For%20personal%20income%20tax%20purposes,IRC%20as%20currently%20in%20effect. Income items included in both Massachusetts and federal taxable income but with differences: Capital Gains Massachusetts taxes most long-term gains at 5% and taxes long-term gains from the sale or exchange of collectibles at 12% (subject to a 50% deduction). For tax years ending on or before December 31, 2022, short-term gains were taxed at 12%. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, the tax rate on short-term gains from the sale or exchange of capital assets is 8.5%. The federal rate on capital gains varies.   Capital Losses can be applied against gains and ordinary income up to $3,000 for federal tax purposes. Massachusetts allows losses to offset any amount of gain (offset limited to amount of gain) and to offset up to $2,000 of interest and dividends. Capital losses cannot be used against other ordinary income.

On the Turbo Tax website...I wonder where is the OPTION that let you pay with your personal savings or checking account? The software have the customer (tax payer) enter the name of your financial institution, i.e. the routing number & account number from where you want to pay your taxes if you have a tax liability. Then when you're ready to pay with you checking/saving account there is not a button to click to do this. There's only the option of utilizing a credit card or paying with your federal REFUND. There is definitely a "glitch" in Intuit Turbo Tax system (online).  The glitch that I experience was with the AUDIT DEFENSE button. It was "highlighted" and would not allow me to refuse the Audit Defense service! Turbo Tax kept trying to charge me $45 for this UNWANTED service. The way I had to get around this horrid glitch was to take the advice of someone in the tax community that post:  Do each transaction separate, but do not elect to e-file federal and the state at the "SAME" time. In the past this NEVER was an issue with Tubo Tax. I use to select Federal & State for e-filing at the same time. But, because of the bugs in the software or the poor programming I had to do the following: FIRST:  select Federal e-file only, then proceed with the instructions (this is a FREE service); therefore, NO CREDIT card was necessary. After the FEDERAL RETURN was officially transmitted "and" accepted by the IRS via Turbo Tax, then I went to STEP TWO:  I clicked the box to e-file my STATE tax return. *This is the part that was very tricky due to the "glitch" in the software.  As I said, AUDIT DEFENSE ($45.00) kept showing up on the screen as selected (although it was NOT selected by me). Eventually, I had to actually click the AUDIT DEFENSE button to get to the NEXT SCREEN! Once it opened then there was a very small box that stated "REMOVE" Audit Defense. Yes! Finally I was able to click the small words REMOVE, then the AUDIT DEFENSE SERVICE vanished from the screen. Then the Turbo Tax software asked for my credit card information to pay for ONLY the State E-filing fee of $25.00 ($15, if you have a $10 credit from the retailer Costco, Sam, etc.) The $45.00 plus the $25,00 ( in my case $15.00) was NO LONGER SHOWED UP! What a victory! I was able to e-file my FREE federal Tax Return, then SAVE it. Then go back in the TURBO TAX Software to e-file the STATE RETURN for $25.00 ($15 with the $10 credit). Whew, what a task all of this was. Seriously, I have to THANK the person in the Turbo Tax community for telling HOW to do this. When I contacted Turbo Tax concerning this issue, unfortunately they didn't have a clue how to solve this problem (glitch in their system). They didn't have any IT people (Tech Reps.) to troubleshoot. The customer service ONLY handled sales. They honestly do NOT know any technical stuff, they also do not really know how to troubleshoot software or website issues dealing with their very own software-TURBO TAX. You will stay on the phone for about 15-18 minutes "waiting" for someone to assist you. The A I is NOT helpful. It can only answer "certain" questions, but it cannot TROUBLE SHOOT technical or softwae issues, either. Well, I hope Intuit Turbo Tax addresses all the glitches  (bugs) found in their Tax Year 2025 software and/or programming for E-filing this year (2026).

@ kennethjmorgan1 wrote: I haven’t received my refund. My taxes were accepted on March 10, 2026. I have not received any info from the irs. I checked, where’s my refund, irs website and it only shows the taxes were accepted. The IRS refund tracker tool at  https://www.irs.gov/refunds should show your progress in 3 stages: Return received and is being processed. Refund approved. Refund sent and an expected deposit date. If your refund is still in that first stage, then since it's been longer than 21 days,  you can phone the IRS, if you wish, to see if they can tell you anything about the delay.   IRS: 800-829-1040 (7AM-7 PM local time) Monday-Friday If a robot tries to triage you, try using the phrase "Account management."  You may have to say it more than once.

@Shiney2   tax prep fees are deductible on Schedule E as Legal & Professional Fees which flow to line 19(other) of the Schedule E.  Do note the IRS would possibly limit your deduction to the amount of the fees properly allocable to the rental property and not just your personal return.  

I am in a similar situation in which TurboTax does not generate form 8833. According to IRS guidance, the form is not required in situations where you have social security income and live in another country that has a tax treaty with the US exempting from tax on the social security. I filed my 2025 return generated by TT and received a significantly reduced refund because the IRS told me that they "corrected" my numbers because my taxable social security was incorrectly reported. There is nothing on my return that is explicitly stating the country that I live in. The address that I use on my 1040 is my US mailing address. So, the IRS is making a false assumption and without the form 8833 to back that up, it leaves the IRS to making incorrect assumptions. While they shouldn't be doing that, having the form included would diminish that possibility. Now I am in the process of disputing their "correction" which may take a minimum of months. I am looking for either an alternate solution or inquiring if now that TurboTax supports the situation where social security income is not taxable, perhaps they will consider supporting form 8833 for future years.

@ t-l-boyd wrote:  Does anyone else have problems with their 1099-R form and where to enter the payer's number? This is the tax FEDERAL TAX PAYER NUMBER?   If you are entering a 1099-R, are you sure you are in the right topic in the Retirement Income section?   Are you referring to the screen in this image?   If so, scroll way down to enter the Payer's tax number.  This is the tax number for the Payer who paid your distribution and sent you the form.  It is usually in the format XX-XXXXXXX i.e., 9 digits.   NOTE:  The image below shows the program has an error that shows too many X's.  Click image to enlarge. . .