topic I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I enter the 10,000 limit or should I enter the full 30,000 this year? in Retirement tax questions

I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I enter the 10,000 limit or should I enter the full 30,000 this year?

craigomaniac — Sun, 02 Feb 2020 19:00:24 GMT

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

DaveF1006 — Sun, 02 Feb 2020 19:20:10 GMT

According to the following Turbo Tax link, Contributions are deductible for Connecticut income tax purposes up to $5,000 per year for a single return or $10,000 per year for a joint return. If you exceed this amount, you can carry over the excess amount for the five taxable years following the deduction.

So the answer to your question is, yes report the entire amount.

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

JMPresser — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 17:05:21 GMT

I contributed over the maximum to a CHET 529 account . From another's question I understand that I can carry over the overage for the next five years but the software will not let me do that as when I enter the amount I contributed the software will not let me advance until I put the maximum figure in. Will Turbotax still carry over the excess amount if i have not input it?

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

DaveF1006 — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 19:45:24 GMT

To clarify, what state do you live in?

@JMPresser

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

glenngct — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 18:42:44 GMT

I have the same problem. I live in Connecticut. It won't let me put in a value higher that 10,000. So it seems that TurboTax will not handle the carryover for the next 5 years automatically. I'll have to track it myself. Disappointing.

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

BillM223 — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 20:26:22 GMT

Which product are you using? Online or CD/download? What is your filing status?

My test lets me put in $140,000...

@glenngct

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

SweetieJean — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 21:00:04 GMT

@glenngct Connecticut taxpayers could receive a state income tax deduction of up to $10,000 on contributions made to your CHET account.

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

glenngct — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 00:52:50 GMT

I’m using the Premier CD.
Joint filing status.

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

BillM223 — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 01:25:03 GMT

What is your Connecticut Adjusted Gross Income before the CHET "deduction"? (the CHET "deduction" cannot be used to reduce CT AGI to less than zero). Hence, if your AGI is already zero, TurboTax might stop you from making any contribution at all.

This is strange, because I can put in numbers much larger than $10,000 in both the Online and desktop products.

Can you give us a screenshot of the input screen in question, where TurboTax tells you (or whatever it does) that you can't enter more than $10,000? Please redact any personally identifiable information.

@glenngct

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

glenngct — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 02:06:07 GMT

CT AGI is over 50k. It lets me enter any value I want. However, it gets flagged as an error at the end while performing the return analysis. I’ll try to get a screenshot later.

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

BillM223 — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 21:06:08 GMT

Thank you for adding that; I was under the impression that you could not physically enter more than 10,000.

I look forward to your screen shot.

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

glenngct — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 21:37:39 GMT

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

BillM223 — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 22:47:12 GMT

Thank you for the screenshot. After research it appears that TurboTax has never allowed an entry larger than the max than can be deducted in one year, $10,000 in your case.

As for the carryover, yes, you will need to track that yourself. While TurboTax often automatically handles carryovers at the federal level, the feature set is more mixed on the state level level - sometimes it does but more often it doesn't. This possibly due to the size of the Carryover Worksheet, which is used to carry over amounts from year to year (if you have the CD/download software, you can see it when you go to Forms mode and look for "Carryover Wks" (usually down towards the bottom of federal forms)).

While some state data is carried over using this worksheet, it is usually limited to data items that exist for all states: state extension payments, state refunds, and state capitol loss carryovers.

@glenngct

Re: I contributed $30,000 to a CHET account this year. TurboTax says it is too large. Should I en...

plaid_hippo — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 05:34:15 GMT

Similar situation here - 2025 Arizona tax return form 140, 529 contribution was $4400, but the limit is 4000. The phrasing in Turbotax says how much did you contribute, but then it says the deduction limit is 4000. When I put in 4400, the amount I contributed, the Smart Check brought me back to that point. When I put in 4000, the deduction limit, it did not complain. So what should we put in if our contribution amount is over 4000? I don't care if that overage amount doesn't get deducted - I just don't want the IRS to come knocking thinking I didn't tell them the truth on how much I contributed! Please help me know which value to put in here!

Thank you!