In my Sch SE-T I have line 18 set to 0 and it keeps telling me it's too high. It did this even when I tried to delete the income and start over. I don't know what to do.

[kantesia]

I have a negative income. But if I try to put in a negative number it tells me the lowest is 0. But 0 is too high. I honestly don't know what to do.

[CatinaT1]

The SE-T is self-employment taxpayer form. Line 18 is for the amount of money earned between March 27, 2020 and December 31, 2020. The self-employment tax on that portion can be postponed for payment in the following year. You can postpone that portion of your taxes due with no penalties or interest. 

Since you have a negative number, you can try to leave the entry blank.  If that doesn't work, then to get past this you need to update Schedule SE-T. 

  

The process: delete Sch SE-T, take a quick run through of the self-employment to recalculate Sch SE-T, and then turn off the Max Deferral. 

  

To do this in TurboTax, follow these steps: 

  

First, delete Sch SE-T that applies by following these steps: 

1. From the left menu, select Tax Tools. 

2. Select Tools. 

3. Scroll to Delete a Form. 

4. Scroll to Sch SE-T, select Delete, confirm the deletion. 

Next, to replace Sch SE-T, return to the self-employment income & expenses interview in the Income & Expenses section and select Edit/Add. 

1. Select Edit for your business. 

2. Scroll down to Done so that the Sch SE is recalculated.  

3. Finish any other questions in the self-employment interview and click Continue.  

Lastly, revisit the section for the Self-employment tax deferral entry: 

1. Return to the Deductions & Credits section. 

2. Scroll to Tax relief related to COVID-19 and Show More. 

3. Select Self-employment tax deferral and select Revisit. 

4. Answer Yes at the next screen to get back to Let's start by getting your eligible income. 

   1. If you do not want to defer any self-employment income, "Enter your eligible self-employment income" should be blank. 

      1. Select Continue. 

   2. At Tell us how much you'd like to defer, "Enter amount" should be blank. 

      1. Select Continue. 

5. Scroll down and select Wrap up Tax Breaks and Continue. 

6. Run through the Federal Review again. 

[SPC49418]

The process has failed for me. I’m using the CD download version where the menu names are not similar. But I believe I have managed to go through the spirit of the deleted and redo the calculations. Ultimately, I get a message that says that since I am getting a deduction that I cannot go through the deferral process and therefore cannot decline the self-employment tax reduction. Note that I have two business - one that indicates a profit and the other a loss. The issue is the one with the loss. Help?!?

[KathrynG3]

To review deleting in TurboTax CD/Download:

• Go to Forms Mode to delete forms. You will need to delete Sch SE-T and/or Sch SE-S.
• To do this, find the Sch SE-T on the Forms in My Return list or do a search by double clicking on Open Form and entering Sch SE-T.
• The Delete Form will be in the lower left area of the window displaying the form.

From here, return to the Step-by-Step and run through both businesses to click Done and add a new Sch SE.

Run the review again.

If the error persists, then temporarily trigger a balance due by adding income long enough to decline the SE tax deferral option, then remove the extra income.

To do this in TurboTax, follow these steps:

Enter a temporary amount as income in the self-employment section that will result in you not having a refund.

1. From Step-by-Step, BUSINESS tab,  select Continue and I'll chose what I work on.
2. At Business Income and Expenses, select Update.
3. Continue through any questions until you are at Your Business.
4. Scroll to Business Income and select Update. 
5. At Business Income, select Start by Other Income and Continue.
6. At Other Income, under Description, enter Temp income to remove deferral and enter a large amount, such as $100,000 and Continue.

Decline to defer any self-employment tax.

1. Select the PERSONAL tab.
2. Click the second tab from the left, Deductions & Credits and I'll choose what I work on.
3. Scroll down to Tax Relief related to Covid-19 and select Self-employment tax deferral and Update.
4. Answer Yes at the next screen to get back to Let's start by getting your eligible income
   1. Enter any amount, such as 280/366ths of your income to reflect the income from March 27-December 31, 2021. 
      • This amount should be calculated and entered without the false added income, and will post to Line 18 of Sch SE
   1. Select Continue.
   1. At Tell us how much you'd like to defer, 
      • Enter 0.

Remove the temporary income.

1. Select the BUSINESS tab, Continue, and I'll choose what I work on.
2. At Business Income and Expenses, select Update.
3. At Here's the business info we have so far, select Delete next to the false added income.
4. Confirm the deletion by selecting Yes.
5. Now returned to Here's the business info we have so far, select Done.

Run the review again.

@SPC49418

[MatthewMrHope]

the downloaded version has a bug.  I have deleted the se-t, I have declined the election to postpone my se tax, do you have any suggestions other than obviously have the programmers fix the bug?

[MatthewMrHope]

thanks for the great post, unfortunately I tried all that and it still doesn't work.  Next idea?  Thanks for all your help.

[Terbojin]

I'm dealing with the same problem. I am using desktop (Mac) program and tried to delete the form (SE-T), but, after the deleting, the form still there with an error marked. Below is the direction that I followed to delete the form. Let me know if there is anything I need to try differently.

1. Switch to Forms mode
2. In the left pane, select the form you want to remove (if you don't see it, select Open Form at the top).
3. From the Forms menu, select Remove [form name].
4. Follow any on-screen instructions to remove the form or forms.

[DawnC]

If you do not want to defer the tax (or you are not eligible to) and you are getting the Line 18 error, enter a 0.   If you are getting a Line 11 error with a 0, delete that 0 and leave the field empty/blank.   This should work and allow you to e-file.    But this is only if you do not want to defer the tax.   I am assuming that you don't if you have gone through the steps of deleting the SE schedules.  

Also, if you are not deferring taxes, verify that on your Form 1040 before you submit your taxes.   Check Line 31.  If it is blank, you have not deferred anything and you can safely e-file.   If there is an amount on Line 31, look at your Schedule 3, Line 12e.   That is the amount you are deferring - so it should be blank as well.   @Terbojin

[Terbojin]

Thank you. I have tried to put 0 in the line 18 and the same error has occurred. That is why I am trying to delete the whole form and it is never deleted.

Line 31 inForm 1040 is blank.    Schedule 3, Line 12e is also blank.

[DawnC]

The Schedule SE can be deleted, but if you have any self-employment income (or household employees you pay) - it is going to reappear.   It has to be included.  The instructions above are just to reset the form, but it will not go away completely.   Do you have a Schedule C or Schedule H included with your return?   If so, you can't permanently remove the SE schedule.  Having Schedule C or H means you have to have Schedule SE, but you do NOT have to defer any tax - it is just a matter of getting the form through the review.   Some fields need a 0 and some fields need to be blank.   They have been working to prevent this error, but apparently, they have not been successful.   

If Line 30 and 12e are both empty, you are not deferring anything and can file.   There are different errors that may pop up during review depending on what forms you have included in your return.   Try entering the 0, then continue through the review, if you get an error with the 0, delete the zero and leave the field blank and you should be allowed to e-file.   @Terbojin