Cannot e-file state (CA) with $0 refund and $0 payment due

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
April 14, 2026
1 reply
67 views

I have a situation where I've complete my mother-in-law's return (she is 96 and I've done it for years). She owes $0 and has $0 refund. I could e-file Federal but when prompted for state e-filing (cost $20) it presents a billing form; when correctly filled out, it only displays the BACK button and does not allow payment. Is mailing the CA return the only option? The Federal return e-filed easily. I am running Turbo Tax Deluxe on my desktop (am Advantage customer). This worked fine last year.

TurboTax Online

AmyC

Level 15

It should be easy, something is hung up somewhere. Here are some thoughts:

The button you need is hidden:
1. Instead of looking for a button to click, press the Tab key until you see a faint highlight move through the fields, then press Enter.
2. If you can't see the highlight, once you've typed your CVV, try hitting Enter twice.
Update Your Payment Method Online First
1. Since the desktop software is struggling to process the card, try "pre-authorizing" it through your Intuit account:
2. Close TurboTax Desktop.
3. Log in to your Intuit Account (https://www.google.com/search?q=accounts.intuit.com) in a web browser.
4. Go to Products & Billing and update/verify your credit card information there.
5. Re-open TurboTax and try to e-file the CA return again. It may now pull the "verified" card and bypass the buggy form.
Check for "Invisible" Errors
1. Sometimes the "Next" button stays hidden because the software thinks a field is empty (often the State/Zip or Phone Number).
2. Ensure the phone number is entered without dashes or with dashes—try both.
3. Ensure the ZIP code is just 5 digits (no +4 extension).
Alternative filing
1. Since her return is a simple, it won't take long to file it at CalFile | FTB.ca.gov
2. It takes about 10–15 minutes since you already have the numbers from TurboTax.
3. You get an immediate confirmation number from the State of California.

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nc3manAuthor

Level 2

Thanks for those suggestions. I tried several variations as suggested, but this is definitely a bug. I didn't try to update my payment method, which is possibly why I couldn't even get to a screen asking for my CVV. I ended up printing the return and sending in via USPS mail for ~$3. Waste of paper and time. I hope the IT folks fix this. I had no trouble with the similar returns for my mother-in-law the past 3 years. I will re-enter my Intuit default payment method in the meantime. Thanks for the advice.