It's nearly impossible to get online TurboTax to prepare a Form 1099-R for Cynthia under these circumstances. You should manually prepare Cynthia's Form 5329 and explanation requesting the waiver, then include these with your paper tax return filed by mail.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5329.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i5329.pdf
If you want to try getting TurboTax to prepare this Form 5329 and explanation for Cynthia, you'll need to temporarily change Cynthia's birthdate in TurboTax to make her age more than 70½ in 2018, prepare the form and explanation, change Cynthia's birthdate back to actual, then never subsequently click the Continue button on the Your 1099-R Entries page, otherwise TurboTax will delete Cynthia's Form 5329 and explanation.
This has been an issue with TurboTax for years that the developers have declined to address.
After both forms filled software asks additional questions. Thomas offered RMD met but Cindy not offered RMD shortfall question or remedy leading to form 5329?
After 1099R forms filled turbo tax ask additional questions. Thomas offered RMD met question but Cynthia not offered RMD met question or lead to remedy Form 5329.
Interview question: Thomas did not receive all the RMD for 2018. Interview never asks about Cindy Shortfall (beneficiary account) if her IRA received all the RMD 2018.? Cindy needs access to remedy and access to Form 5329 but can't get there.
Did Cynthia receive any Forms 1099-R? If so, when entering them make sure that you've indicated to TurboTax that they are Cynthia's, not yours.
If Cynthia did not receive any Form 1099-R, it's difficult to get TurboTax to prepare a Form 5329 for her.
Married file Joint. Can I put Cynthia's Shortfall information under Thomas name which appears OK when click Short fall RMD question for Thomas? Will this cause IRS confusion. There is $1000 tax penalty at stake. I want this waiver to work OK. IRS view married joint status as single tax entity?
No, you cannot put Cynthia's shortfall under Thomas' name. Forms 5329 are individual tax forms, not joint tax forms, so putting it on Thomas' Form 5329 will not give to Cynthia the waiver.
If you cannot get TurboTax to prepare a Form 5329 requesting a waiver for Cynthia because Cynthia received no Forms 1099-R, simplest would be to prepare one manually and include it with your paper tax return filed by mail.
Cynthia has 1099 Form information entered but turbo tax not ask her Interview question did she receive all RMD. How get there for her?
Was Cynthia age 70½ or over in 2018 or was the RMD instead required because the retirement account an inherited account?
Will 5329 and explanation show in print preview after changing birthday back
Thanks for clear answer and recommendations. Best regards Tom
It appears that TurboTax fails to include spouse's explanation statement under any circumstances, even when spouse is over age 70½. I'm going to report this as a bug. Given this, even if you use the workaround to get TurboTax to prepare Cynthia's Form 5329, I would file by mail so that you can make sure that Cynthia's explanation is included.
QuickZoom to the waiver explanation statement. QuickZoom on print preview not active. Is there a way to see the statement on print preview or other access.
No, the bug is causing TurboTax to omit spouse's explanation even if it is entered. I will be reporting this bug. The only way to presently get spouse's explanation included in your filed tax return is to file by mail. I've confirmed that this bug has been present for at least the last few years.
It's nearly impossible to get online TurboTax to prepare a Form 1099-R for Cynthia under these circumstances. You should manually prepare Cynthia's Form 5329 and explanation requesting the waiver, then include these with your paper tax return filed by mail.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5329.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i5329.pdf
If you want to try getting TurboTax to prepare this Form 5329 and explanation for Cynthia, you'll need to temporarily change Cynthia's birthdate in TurboTax to make her age more than 70½ in 2018, prepare the form and explanation, change Cynthia's birthdate back to actual, then never subsequently click the Continue button on the Your 1099-R Entries page, otherwise TurboTax will delete Cynthia's Form 5329 and explanation.
This has been an issue with TurboTax for years that the developers have declined to address.
Actually, the workaround I suggested doesn't seem to work because TurboTax doesn't seem to include the explanation statement in the filed tax return. This seems to be a problem for any 5320-S form prepared by TurboTax to request the waiver, not just because the workaround might have been used.
I hear that less often these days, fewer people calling me Fred.
I've reported the bug. It actually seems to be a bug in step-by-step mode. It appears that spouses Form 5329 and explanation *will* be included in the filing if they are prepared in forms mode of the CD/download version of TurboTax. You might consider contacting TurboTax customer service to see if they will push to you a copy of the CD/download version to be able to use forms mode as a workaround (if you are not already using the CD/download version).