Had two jobs but one W2 since employers used a PEO. Had too much social security withheld. TT won't let me amend Line 11/Sched3 since it thinks it's one job. How to fix?

[AnnetteB6]

The article referenced was intended to give you information that you could use to change the amounts shown on your W-2 to remove the messaging that you see when you go through the return.  It does also offer a solution that you can use to get the refund of the excess.  However, there is not a method within TurboTax to use Form 1040 Schedule 3 line 11 to request the refund as part of your return, either automatically or manually.  

@danC4 

[Justjulia44]

TurboTax please fix your incorrect answer here.  A PEO must issue 1 W2 to the employee. Your solution is incorrect. Please fix your software 

[danC4]

@Justjulia44  agreed the software is broken and does not handle the case where PEOs do only give 1 W2. I believe the linked articles provided also are inaccurate because they would have you file claim 843 which, from earlier comments in the thread, would get rejected and take years.

Even if you download the desktop software (which I did) so that I can go into "manual form entry" mode and override / manually enter the excess amount in schedule 3 line 11, turbotax will not let you e-file! You'd have to print and mail out your return. It's ridiculous.

This is _not_ any sort of advice on what to do, but this is how I got around it so I could efile. I saw someone mention this on a different forum. My return was accepted but still waiting to see if I get the refund or a complaint. I entered 2 W2s. The first W2 had all the exact info _except_ for box 1 I entered $1 less for my wage. Everything else was the same. I then entered a 2nd W2 with the same employee info except this time for Box 2 for wages I entered $1. Everything else was $0. I was then able to efile and there were no warnings about Schedule 3 line  11 because the software now thinks I have 2 employers. Again, I'm not personally recommending you do this and no clue what the consequences are, just that I was able to efile with this.

And the return amounts for federal and my state were the same before and after with 1 W2 (and  forcing S3 line 11) vs 2 W2s with the $1 wage difference (and the excess amount still properly showing on S3.11).

[Justjulia44]

I do not think Turbo Tax even knows their software is broken. Users may need to use H&R Block which I have been told works. 

[DianeW777]

The IRS has not yet developed a way to handle this electronically when there is a PEO. The e-file system will not recognize the payment or refund when the same employer is on both 

W-2s.  

You can correct the Box 4 amount yourself before filing. Simply multiply the amount in Box 3 by a factor of 0.062 and enter that amount or 9,932.40 (whichever is less) in Box 4 (between the two W-2s).

To get a refund for the excess withholding, fill out IRS Form 843: Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement.  According to the instructions mail it separately.  Make a copy to keep with your return and be prepared to send copies of your W-2s with the Form 843.

• Instructions for Form 843

To give a little background, if only one employer withholds too much social security tax they are required to refund it to the employee.  The quarterly employer reports will not allow a payment to the IRS for any excess when it's one company.  This brings a question as to why the PEO is preparing the W-2s this way and if they realize they need to make a change.  

If there are two employers, one does not know what the other one is doing or has done nor should they.  In this scenario the IRS recognizes the problem and will allow the excess to be applied as a tax payment on the 1040.  

@Justjulia44  

[Justjulia44]

This is not an IRS problem and if not use form 843 as this is a TurboTax problem.  Other softwares understand this item 

[Justjulia44]

Tax expert I disagree this is a Turbo Tax problem and not related to the IRS not handling and I do not encourage to submit form 843 to the IRS as it will take months to process. Other softwares have addressed this and Turbo Tax wants to blame PEO’S or the IRS. This is a software issue which Turbo tax needs to fix.

[Joopkins]

The 843 did NOT work for me. Filing an amended return did. That is bad advice.

[ellimist]

@danC4 

I'm in the exact same boat you are. How did your solution work out?  Did the IRS accept your return and give you your refund? I'm also thinking of inputting two W2s to get around the software limitation. Thanks in advance.

[danC4]

@ellimist 

It did get accepted eventually, but I had to go through their steps. It's nothing crazy though.

The IRS sent me a letter saying they needed more information about my claim. The letter tells you what to send/fax back.

I replied back faxing the information they requested (a copy of the IRS letter they sent me, my W2, my schedule 3) along with a brief "response" letter summarizing the issue - how "the total Social Security tax withheld for the year exceeds the maximum limit due to my earnings from multiple employers managed through a Certified PEO". Honestly, I just put all the information in ChatGPT and had it write the response letter for me.

I also included in the fax a letter from the PEO stating their position and how I'm supposed take a credit on line 31 on the 1040 (they've done this before so they knew everything to put in their letter, citing the appropriate IRS rules etc).

It took about a month after faxing the file (probably because it was during the heavy tax time in april), but they did accept everything and I got the excess amount properly credited and the right refund.

[ellimist]

@danC4 

Amazing - thanks for the response. Will try the same approach and fingers crossed...

[nORoSI]

@danC4 I appreciate you sharing your experience. I'm in the same boat and it's driving me crazy! Did you have to change the EIN when adding the 2nd W2 and if so what did you do? 

I'm also wondering if something has changed in TurboTax since you did it. If I add a second W2 for $1 (with a different EIN) and reduce wages on the first by $1 then it still indicates that I should reclaim the excess SS from the first employer. The only way I seem to be able to get around it is by splitting the W2 values based on the actual amounts for each employer.

@ellimist did you have any luck with yours?

[ellimist]

@nORoSI 

I had the paystubs for both of my jobs, so I was able to back into what each W2 would've looked like if I had been issued separate W2s by each job. So I manually entered two W2s (with the same EIN), split by job, and e-filed using the TurboTax desktop version.

I filed towards the end of August and got both my Federal and State refunds last week. No audits or requests for additional information.

[danC4]

@nORoSI I used the same EIN for both entries, the 2nd one, like you mentioned, just had $1 for income (and I  put $0 for everything else since the first entry properly accounted for the rest of the amounts) and the main entry was jus $1 short.

[nORoSI]

@danC4 @ellimist Thank you both so much for your quick responses 😊

After a bit more playing around I think I've finally got the figures to work using the same EIN for both W2s. Fingers crossed!