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Level 2
posted Feb 13, 2021 6:08:01 PM

California's Schedule S (Other State Tax Credit) Error (For 2020 Taxes)

I live in California but earned income in another state, so I'm filing for California's "Other State Tax Credit." It keeps giving me the error that "Double Tax Amount-Oth St must not be more than the double-taxed income taxable by California of $." 

 

But in the Schedule S form, no matter what I enter into the "(b) Double-taxed income taxable by California" and "(d) Double-taxed income taxable by other state", no matter if the amount I entered in (b) is actually HIGHER than in (d), or even equal, it still gives me the error above. 

 

I have no idea what this error means. I have tried all the possible combinations of inequality and equality.

 

How do I fix it? What exactly are the amounts I should be putting in, where should I get these numbers? Is TurboTax just giving wrong error for this one? 

3 30 2915
24 Replies
Level 3
Feb 17, 2021 10:44:59 AM

same problem. All my income is sourced from New York and they tax it all. I moved to CA in October and am trying to get a credit for taxes paid. Only way to clear the error is to put in ZERO and then the credit disappears. not the answer I need. HELP needed here too. 

Level 2
Feb 17, 2021 11:51:19 AM

Yes, I am having the same problem with IL tax credit.  I'll check back later and see if Intuit has corrected the form otherwise will just file like that with the supposed "error" which seems to be correct.  

Level 2
Feb 17, 2021 7:36:06 PM

Yeah that sounds about right. This seems almost certainly an error in the TurboTax code at this point, since several different people have been getting this, in which case filing without fixing the error is fine. Is there a way to file bug report to TurboTax? 

 

On a similar note, I just wanted to confirm that in the section "(b) Double-taxed income taxable by California", I should put the final taxable income (after all the deductions) when I finish the California state section, right? Or is it the pre-deductions amount? And is it the same logic for section "(d) Double-taxed income taxable by other state"?

Level 2
Feb 21, 2021 10:36:17 AM

Same problem for me. This is clearly a bug in TurboTax. I can tell that the credit I'm getting is correct because it matches exactly to what I paid the other state (IL in my case). So I think I can ignore this error. But TT should fix it.

Level 3
Feb 24, 2021 10:59:45 AM

problem is that I can't clear the review and proceed to submitting my tax return. Or are you able to submit your taxes? 

Level 2
Feb 25, 2021 8:24:16 AM

I tried (and even paid the $20 to e-file CA and everything), and at the last step they wouldn't allow me to file either. This is clearly a problem with TurboTax, is there no one from TurboTax we can be speaking to? The very least they can do is refund the $20 to e-file CA and the $40 for an extra state I already wasted, since their software doesn't work and I can't file.

Intuit Alumni
Feb 25, 2021 3:08:53 PM

If you need a product refund, please click here to contact a customer support specialist by phone. 

Level 3
Feb 25, 2021 8:03:09 PM

actually, we would just like this to get fixed!

Level 3
Feb 25, 2021 8:08:12 PM

Also...I spent over an hour on the phone with another specialist and they couldn't figure it out and were trying to adjust my tax form in the background. Trouble is they 'disconnected' and I didn't get a call back. Hopefully, she is putting in a bug report because she seemed to think it was a programming error. Thanks for warning me off of trying to submit my form, that would frustrate me to the extreme. Hope TT reads these boards and sees that they have a problem

Level 2
Feb 25, 2021 9:40:00 PM

Is there any plan to fix this coding error so that we can actually file?

Level 3
Feb 27, 2021 10:21:23 AM

don't know, but I ordered the california form and instructions and will do it by hand if I have to. Considering that I deleted and filled in the form online many many times, I think I can do the manual California form myself, if needed. 

Level 2
Feb 27, 2021 3:40:10 PM

Ugggh, now I hit the brick wall where it won't let me file (except perhaps by mail). I really don't want to file by mail if I can avoid it. And I already paid for all of TT (Federal + 2 states).

 

I really would like them to fix this bug.

 

Hello TurboTax, are you out there? Can we get an ETA on this bug fix?

Level 2
Feb 27, 2021 4:00:28 PM

@CarissaM  is there any way to actually get support or a fix for this issue?  We would like to e-file and cannot as long as this error remains...

Level 1
Mar 4, 2021 6:42:48 PM

Same problem.

Level 3
Mar 6, 2021 9:50:11 AM

well. spent another hour on the phone the other day and the specialist confirmed that my many many calls resulted in a bug report being placed. She DID link my account and case to this bug report so I should know when its fixed. I'm lucky in that the recommendation she made does work for me. She recommended that I delete california tax return and file my fed and NY state taxes. Once those clear, I will reenter CA and wait for it to be fixed. this works for me since my CA filing is pretty much paperwork for me AND if this doesn't work I'm falling back and ordered a paper CA version. I'll file that way if I have to. I DO recommend that you all insist on a call back from a specialist and you take up their time on the phone so that they see its just not me spending hours trying to push them. 

Level 2
Mar 6, 2021 9:56:59 AM

Thank you Kimmy for spending the time.  I totally agree that we all should do the same to ensure this gets fixed.  I like that idea the rep gave you and that was my backup plan - to just print the CA form and mail in assuming I can electronically file Fed and IL.

Returning Member
Mar 6, 2021 10:17:17 AM

I have the same problem--something to do with Turbo Tax coding, in the 2020 version as I have had no problems in the prior years .

 

I was able to go to Schedule S smart work sheet from my 2020 CA Tax return and followed these steps

 

DoubleTaxed Income Smart Worksheet fill column "b" with the amount from the other state--  leave other columns as "0" zero

In the Table Schedule: other Tax Credit, under A fill Tax paid to other State and B fill gross income taxable by other state

This seems to give the correct amount of Tax credit and cleat the final error check , allowing e filing. Not sure if this is an " acceptable" fix--BV 

Level 3
Mar 6, 2021 1:20:05 PM

I'm using the online version and I can't get to the actual underlying forms to make the manual adjustments. I do know that the specialist was trying to adjust my form 'behind the scenes' but she didn't know what to do. This is a good idea if someone else calls in. Let me know if it works. 

Level 3
Mar 7, 2021 9:54:52 AM

I have the same problem. I can't e-file California for this reason, with the schedule S filled in. The turbotax support people have not been useful. They all want to stare at the message and make sense of it, which is impossible since it is just a bug. They told me this has been reported before and added my case.  But I have received no information about a solution coming. I am getting sick of these TurboTax bugs.  Last year I had a similar problem until they fixed a different bug. Does anyone know if any of the other software is good for more complicated returns with out of state rental properties? Do they import the TurboTax forms neatly?

New Member
Mar 7, 2021 1:50:43 PM

Same problem.  Almost 100% because they are failing to sanitize or convert a variable properly ("California of $" says that the amount is being cast to null/failure for the check, which then fails unless the other amount is also null).  That should not have slipped through with even a moderately competent code monkey doing peer review, if it did slip through it should have been caught in unit testing before the crappy code was merged into the master branch, and even if it did somehow get merged it should have been caught by an error handling routine looking for conversion failures.  That it's almost a month later and still not fixed is just the cherry on the sundae of competence. \rant

 

So thanks for wasting everyone's time with your pathetic software dev practices, Intuit.  I paid you $$$ to make my taxes easier, not waste my time and raise my blood pressure on a weekend.

Level 3
Mar 8, 2021 1:26:04 PM

After days on the phone, I found a workaround to this stupid bug that let me e-file and preserved the credit.

Go to forms on schedule California schedule S.  In the "double taxed income smart worksheet "column e, where you are supposed to enter the double taxed income only if is different, just enter the same number.  This overrides the number in column d and bypasses the bogus error check.  If you do this be warned you can't delete that column anymore without deleting the schedule S and starting over.  I didn't try that.  I just filed because it uses the same number.  I don't know if the CA tax people will get confused because the same number is entered there.

Level 2
Mar 10, 2021 12:52:26 PM

Just wanted to follow up, I also contacted support and had my case added...for all the good that seems like it's going to do.  I would not recommend filling out the forms incorrectly just to get around this bug as there's always the chance that the FTB will take issue with it.

Level 2
Mar 11, 2021 12:27:02 AM

If we are counting the number of people with this situation - count me in as well. I also need to fill out the tax form for Massachusetts (paid additional money for the Mass state tax software) and had a different error appear on their state form. I am seeing errors both on the California Schedule S form and the Massachusetts Form Schedule R/NR. Did anyone get any help from experts on whether this bug will get fixed? I will do the workaround suggested in this thread and I had to do something similarly on the Massachusetts form case as well.

Level 3
Mar 11, 2021 7:59:33 PM

I did notice that when you now look up Other State Tax Credit California Schedule S when you are in Turbotax there is not a statement that there is a problem and to send them your email so they can notify you when the issue is fixed. Seems we got their attention officially!