When I add my Roth IRA, I'm told I contributed too much because "earned income was only zero." My W2 form shows income is definitely not zero. How to fix on TurboTax?

[colaivf]

I contributed $5,500 to my Roth IRA.

My earned income is close to $20,000

Why is TurboTax calculating my earned income as zero on the Roth contribution page?

How can I fix this?

Please see attached screenshots.

[maglib]

[removed]

[Carl]

@maglib look at the screenshot again. It shows W-2 income, and the self-employment section hasn't been entered into yet. My guess is, they're filing a joint return and incorrectly identified the W-2 as belonging to their spouse. So as far as the program is concerned, the poster of this thread has no income at all.

[VolvoGirl]

Yes be sure both the W2 and IRA contribution are assigned to the same person.

[colaivf]

I'm filing as single

[Opus 17]

"Earned income" is income subject to social security tax (FICA and/or self-employment tax).  Are you exempt from social security for some reason (clergy, etc.)?

[colaivf]

@Carl, @maglib & @VolvoGirl , - feels like a program error, - where do I turn for help?

[colaivf]

@Opus 17 - not exempt from social security

[VolvoGirl]

Do you have any other kind of income?  Like Foreign income?

[colaivf]

@VolvoGirl  - No other income

[VolvoGirl]

Try deleting the W2 and re-enter it.  That may clear something out.

[Opus 17]

It's hard to trouble shoot the online version because you can't print the forms or worksheets until after you pay the fee, or after you file if you are using the free version, and free version users aren't entitled to phone support.  You could upgrade to the Plus version and then try and call support, they can do a screen share and look at the details of your file to see where the error is.  Maybe you entered box 3 of your W-2 incorrectly.  If self-employed, you might be showing a loss due to errors in the data entry.  We can't rule out a bug, either, although your problem has not been commonly reported recently.

[Opus 17]

If previously married and now filing single, your spouse is still built into the program.  It is recommended that you abandon this return and open a new account with a new user name and password.  It's difficult to eradicate a spouse from an existing account.

[colaivf]

Well done @VolvoGirl! I deleted W2 and reentered it, - everything fixed itself! Thank you everyone else for their ideas and help!

[VolvoGirl · Accepted solution]

Glad I could help.  Thanks for posting back.