topic Tax liability in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Tax liability

MorogFar — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 06:10:27 GMT

I'm told that I have a Possible Penalty. I'm working through the Possible Penalty Exception? In order to avoid some or all of the penalty, I have to answer "yes" to all of these questions:

- Was your 2020 tax liability zero.

- Was your 2020 return covering a full 12-month period?

- Were you a US citizen or resident in 2020?

I was a citizen; my return covered a full 12-month period; but what is tax liability? We worked and we paid our taxes but we received Federal and State refunds. Was my tax liability zero? Is that asking if I worked? Or is it asking if I had to pay Federal and State taxes (which we did not since we received refunds).

Re: Tax liability

AamilD — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 22:21:54 GMT

Your tax liability is the total amount of tax on your income minus any non-refundable credits such as child tax credit, saver’s credit, dependent care credit to name a few. So basically, just because you got a refund last year does not mean your tax liability was 0. It is the actual tax which you paid last year.

To see your 2020 Tax Liability, refer to your prior years tax return (Form 1040) and look at line 24.

Re: Tax liability

MorogFar — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 22:30:40 GMT

Thank you. Very well explained.