All Posts

Q. His room and board/meal plan is only $5667. Do I only enter that when asked what was used towards R&B, rather than the $8017? A. No.  When asked if any of the scholarships was used for room and board, answer yes. Then enter the amount you want to be taxable, in the pop up box. R&B are not "qualified educational  expenses" for tax free scholarship.  So, this is how you tell TT that it is taxable. Note the wording at that screen “or other expenses”. You didn’t have to literally use the scholarship for R&B.  This will put the taxable scholarship on line 8r of Schedule 1.     Q. How does the $3948 Pell grant affect the room and board expense?  A. Not at all. The $3948 is already included in the box 5 amount on the 1098-t.  No distinction between Pell & school scholarship is needed.  Calling it room and board is just how you make it taxable. 

It depends. If you received a 1099-MISC for a utility capital credit because the cooperative refunded more than $600 in prior years' expenses, requiring them to report it to the IRS, even though it is likely non-taxable for personal, residential accounts. These credits are a return of profit, and the 1099 is issued because the utility doesn't know if you deducted your electric bills as a business expense For residential customers, capital credit payouts are generally considered a return of capital and are not taxable income. However, if you did use any of the utility expense as a necessary expense for a business activity, then at least part of it would be taxable.   If you received it simply because you are a resident who pays for a monthly fee for the utility services, then nothing is taxable and you can keep the 1099-MISC in your file. You are not required to report income that is not taxable, but some would rather include it.   If you would rather report the income and then back it out here is an option:    When you are signed into your TurboTax return use the following steps to enter the income: Select Wages and Income > Scroll down to the Other Common Income section.  Click on the Start/Revisit box next Form 1099-MISC.  On the screen Did you get a 1099-MISC?  click on the Yes button. On the next screen, Let's get the info from your 1099-MISC, enter the information from the 1099-MISC, box 3. Be sure to answer 'No' this did not involve an intent to earn money Once you have entered the income you can use the following steps to enter it as a negative figure which will result in zero income being added to your other income. Click on Tax Home (left panel) Scroll down to Less Common Income section. Click on Start/Revisit box next to Miscellaneous Income > Scroll to  Click  Start/Revisit Enter Description and negative amount with the same dollar amount (ex. -500) Your description should be Nontaxable Cap Credit

The projected availability date is now 2/25/26. Use this tool to stay up to date on availability of forms such as 1040X, as the projected dates of availability may change: Tax form availability   Here is some more information on filing amendments: How to File an Amended Tax Return with the IRS

There is not an exception from the 10% early withdrawal penalty for a first time home down payment when the distribution is from a 401(k).  That is only available from an IRA.   The penalty is entered on your tax return as a tax liability.  Reported on Schedule 2 Line 8 with the amount flowing to Form 1040 Line 23

Can you clarify what specifically you need help with?  You are welcome to ask your question here in this forum.    Go here if you want to switch to TurboTax Experts from a different TurboTax product.   We also offer full service tax preparation, see: TurboTax Full Service for more information or to sign up.

It is very common for the IRS online portal to lag behind automated email alerts, often taking 48 to 72 hours for a new notice to actually appear in your "Messages" or "Notices" tab. Many taxpayers are currently receiving these "status update" emails due to internal system refreshes or new 2026 requirements under Executive Order 14247, which mandates a transition to electronic refunds. If you still see no updates after a few days, check your "Tax Records" tab to see if your 2025 transcript has populated, as this can trigger a notification before a formal letter is generated. Always ensure you navigate directly to IRS.gov yourself rather than clicking links in an email, as February is peak season for scam emails.

I'm finding the NJ website (which you cite) and the NJ 1040 are not consistent:  my understanding is the 1040 applies a single threshold (cliff) for pension exclusion at income of $150,000, while the web site says there are tiered thresholds......   

No, do not enter the amount from the 2025 SSA-1099 when you are entering the information for the prior year lump sum payments.   The question is referring to any amounts reported from SSA-1099s that were already reported on those prior year returns when you filed the prior year returns.  If nothing was reported on the prior year returns for Social Security income, then enter zero.

When you make your selection regarding the source of the 1099-R that about to enter, you are shown 4 choices in 4 boxes containing definitions of the types of sources you need to select from.  After selecting the box that applies, you would expect the program to advance to the next page because the "Continue" selection is not visible, and it should be, without scrolling down to find it.  My mistake was not expecting I needed to search for   the "Continue" selection. 

Para saber dónde está tu reembolso, puedes consultar la información más reciente de tu reembolso de impuestos federales en el sitio del IRS (Servicio de Impuestos Internos): ¿Dónde está mi reembolso?.   Si buscas información actualizada sobre tu reembolso estatal, utiliza el servicio de búsqueda de reembolsos del Gobierno estatal.   Para hablar con alguien, selecciona tu producto a continuación y sigue los pasos para obtener la ayuda que necesitas de la persona adecuada. Actualmente estamos abiertos todos los días, de 5 am a 9 pm PST.   Inicia sesión en tu cuenta de TurboTax y abre tu declaración. Selecciona Buscar y escribe tu pregunta. Selecciona Contáctanos en la parte inferior del panel de ayuda. Elige cómo te gustaría comunicarte con nosotros. Nota: Hablar uno a uno con un especialista en vivo no está cubierto con TurboTax Free Edition. Se te pedirá que agregues los beneficios PLUS primero.  

In TurboTax (TT), enter at: Federal Taxes Tab (Personal for H&B version) Deductions & Credits -Scroll down to: --Education   --ESA and 529 Qualified Tuition Programs (1099-Q)   Follow the interview. Since there will be no expenses entered, TT will treat it as  a non qualified distribution including the 10% penalty.  Only the earrings (box 2 of the 1099-Q) will be taxed and subject to the 10% penalty.   There is currently a glitch in TT when entering expenses. But that shouldn't affect you.