Anyone else’s CA state return get rejected due to charitable contributions?

[rasmussenb9]

The technique of zeroing the care act charitable contributions works, and you can just walk thru the state review again to pull in the new fed data.   In my case it changed the fed return amount but since that return was already e-filed and accepted when you resubmit the state for e-file it will not resubmit your fed so all good, you just have to keep two tax files, one with the contributions at their original amount, and one with them zeroed.   You can get to the care act contributions quickly by going to Federal Taxes, then Deductions and Credits, then I'll Choose, then Done with Deductions, hit continue about 4x and you are there. 

[grandpabiker418]

Mine was rejected 3 times and Customer Service had no answer (even sent tax forms for them to view).

Solution:

1.  Open Federal and make sure it is transmitted, and refunded first.

2.  Go back to Federal and go through Easystep and stop when it asks for a charitable contribution amount (after it asks whether you want to itemize or use standard deduction.  Following that you should see pop-up question asking for a charitable contribution amount.  If it had $300 or $600--change to $0.  

3.  Do not attempt to resubmit Federal Return

4.  Go to State and follow through with Easysteps (you probably  don't have to change anything).  Submit and Transmit return.

Mine was accepted in less than 12 hours yesterday (19 February and they had no updates that day)--still waiting on refund (the same amount I had the first time).

You either need to save your Federal Return as it was originally or make a note discussing the differences and why (removing the $300 or $600 will reduce you refund a bit but within the tax table rates for a $300 or $600 increase in income.  Y

You are not cheating--you are doing TurboTax's job!

[jme02100]

Thanks for putting it into a step by step for the people @grandpabiker418 , glad you were able to not have to mail it in, if that was their only resolution for you they could’ve just came to their own forums and found this work around days ago and had an answer for people. The only people I suggest don’t use this work around are those whose charitable contributions make a big difference in their tax bill or refund

[bmfair]

Turbo tax fixed the bug. Simple resubmit and it was accepted. 

[jme02100]

@bmfair  Their communication has been absolutely horrid. They should’ve been in communication with people about this issue the moment they knew about it and updated people as they worked through to fix it, instead they just let people file multiple times only to get rejected—-that’s not good business.

[cd805]

When will this be fixed? It's a turbo tax error putting the contribution on the wrong line item. Spent 3 hours on the phone with them and was rejected 4 times!

[cd805]

TURBO TAX - WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FIX THIS INSANITY? Per the state Franchise Tax Board this is a turbo tax error. CA state return rejected due to charitable contributions!

[cd805]

TRIED THAT DIDN'T WORK

[Jeanettajacksonputsgodfirst]

I called today. Same error message. I’m in CA and they said they know that CA needs a form that they don’t have yet. And that’s why it’s being rejected. They said the form isn’t available yet. And they don’t know when. That it would be available after the 17th. The reason I find it strange is because my friends was rejected but mine was not. Our returns are very similar. 🤷🏾‍♀️

[michellemn]

Hi,

I saw your post and I am encountering the same reject code. I have read through the feed and your replies and I just wanted to confirm with you to ensure that I read your response thoroughly. My question for you is: Did you have to refile your already approved Fed return even though you made an adjustment to it after it was already accepted? How can that be?

Here is what I understand from your posts:

You entered an amount into Charitable Contributions on your Fed return.

You filed both Fed and State.

Your Fed was accepted while your State was rejected with the above code.

You attempted to fix your State return by following the turbotax instructions.

You refiled and was subsequently rejected.

You then went onto your Fed return, and adjusted the charitable contribution amount to 0.

You then created a new State return and filled it out. 

You then filed your State return that was subsequently approved.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[rasmussenb9]

Hello - That is exactly what I did to the tee except I did not make a new state return, I just walked through the existing one real quick and it was accepted. I have posted a quick way to get to the Fed Contribution question.

[grandpabiker418]

Although mine appears to be accepted, When I inquired on Where is my California refund I just now got the message they are processing the return as of the 19th.  That was a pleasant surprise.  One hour earlier the response was I may have entered the wrong data.

[california_taxpayer]

At this point Turbo Tax should offer refunds on the state returns to customers who have encountered this error. 

[grandpabiker418]

1.  I waited until Federal return was refunded.

2.  i went back through Federal and zeroed out the charitable contributions. (You should notice a small difference in refund). Your original Federal return was correct(keep that for your records)

3.  Refiled California only.  

[AustinPH]

That did it for me, thanks!