I am entering a 1099-DIV for a Calif Municipal Fund. Correct to check “a portion of these dividends is U.S. Gov't interest” and enter exempt-interest dividend amount?

[chug_mama]

In my 1099-DIV, I only have info in boxes 11 (exempt-interest dividends), 12 (specified private activity bond interest dividends), and 13 (State), which is California. So I enter this, and then check "a portion of these dividends is U.S. Gov't interest," and then enter the amount in box 11. Why might it be that when I complete/save, TT keeps telling me it needs Review?

[Bsch4477]

Don’t check “a portion is US Govt interest. 

[rjs · Accepted solution]

The dividends from a state municipal bond fund are not U.S. Government interest. The interest is from the state or municipalities, not from the U.S. Government. Exempt interest dividends are not U.S. Government interest.

As Bsch4477 said, do not check the box that says "A portion of these dividends is U.S. Government interest."

[chug_mama]

Thank you -- this is very helpful information and I am really grateful for both of your feedback. Unfortunately this did not solve the problem of TT saying this "Needs Review." When I do the final federal review, it says it is erroring out because I am not entering an amount in Box 1a (total ordinary dividends). However, this should be left blank because it is not applicable. How have others troubleshooted this? By entering 0.00 even though in the 1099-Div form I received, 1a is empty?

[rjs]

When you unchecked the box for U.S. Government interest, did you then click Continue? If you don't click Continue it will not save the change. If you go back and edit the 1099-DIV again, is that box still unchecked? Unchecking that box should have eliminated the error about box 1a.

Do you have more than one Form 1099-DIV with box 1a blank? If so, make sure the U.S. Government interest box is unchecked for all of them.

[chug_mama]

Yes, I unchecked the box, and then checked Continue. When I go back in, I can now see the box is unchecked. This is my only Form 1099-DIV with box 1a blank. TT will not accept the form with box 1a blank; I can now see this is unrelated to the issue of checking the U.S. Government Interest box. I wonder if it is a bug in the application.

[rjs]

When I enter a 1099-DIV with amounts in only boxes 11 and 12 I do not get the error.

The message from the review says "Box 1a should have a value equal to or greater than __________." What does it say it should be equal to or greater than?

Try deleting the 1099-DIV and entering it again. That might clear up the problem.

Is there anything in any other boxes of the 1099-DIV besides boxes 11 and 12? There are a few other boxes where a stray entry could cause this error. (I know you have the state in box 13, but that's not a dollar amount. TurboTax asks about the state separately.)

[chug_mama]

Hello and thank you for your great ideas. Unfortunately, I confirmed it is definitely a bug.

1) I did try deleting the 1099-DIV and entering it again. Same problem. There are no stray entries in the other boxes (checked that in the beginning, as I know that can often trigger errors).

2) I then tried deleting the 1099-DIV, logging out of TT, and logging back in. My federal return still showed that my 1099-DIV for this Payer "Needs Review" even though the 1099-DIV no longer existed as an entry (!!) Clearly flag was being triggered by old data that is somehow being retained on the server. When I logged out and in a second time, this went away.

3) I entered the 1099-DIV again, and the same issue (TT will not allow 1a to be blank and it holds up my return). I see on the forum that others are having this issue. The only solution identified thus far is entering 0.00 into 1a. It worked for me and hopefully will not cause issues with my return.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/state-taxes/discussion/it-says-return-can-y-be-e-filed-form-1099-i...

[rjs]

Does entering zero in box 1a eliminate the error and allow you to file?

[rjs]

Oh, sorry. I see that you said that entering zero worked. It shouldn't cause any problems. I'm glad you got it resolved.