Excess SDI requirement for CA. Electronic submission blocked

[Wadeworks01]

I am trying to e-file my CA state return and getting a final error message that I need to include a non-zero amount under excess SDI.  I am retired and have NO W-2s as I am not employed by anyone. My income is derived from pensions, Social security and some annuities. I did have CA state tax withheld from some of those.  Why won't Turbo-tax just let me indicate 0 for excess SDI as it is irrelevant if it only applies to employed people?  

[BillM223]

Your question is reasonable - someone with no W-2s should not have the opportunity for excess SDIs.

Are you using the Online product or the desktop product?

Is this error message from the CA e-file system or from TurboTax? Is there an error code?

[Wadeworks01]

It is coming from the "final check" process in TurboTax prior to e-filing of the CA return. Actually I dont know that either federal OR state return has actually been submitted.  All I know is that it won't let me proceed anything to completion. 

[Wadeworks01]

No error code, just recycles me back to the excess SDI portion of the return, requesting that I change the 0 value to something but 0 IS the correct value in my case.   

[Wadeworks01]

desktop product and I confirmed that I have the most current version. 

[BillM223]

I hate to do this so close to the due date, but I won't be able to figure out your problem without seeing your return. IN the meantime, you may want to file an extension. 

Would you send us a "sanitized" version of your return. "Sanitized" means that all personably identifiable data is removed so that we have no idea who you are.

You do not have to sanitize the return, because the process of creating a token (an entry into our data base that points to your sanitized return) invokes a process which removes all personally identifiable data.

To give us a token, please do the following:

Online

• Log into your TurboTax Online tax return
• On the left, click on Tax Tools
• Under Tax Tools, click on Tools
• In Tools Center, click on Share my File with Agent
• TurboTax will give you a “token”, a 7-digit number
• Post the token number in this thread
• Be sure to add to that post “@” “billm223” (without the space in between) so that I will be notified

Desktop (Windows)

• Open your return in the desktop product
• Look along the top and click on Online
• Click on Send Tax File to Agent
• TurboTax will give you a “token”, a 7-digit number
• Post the token number in this thread
• Be sure to add to that post “@” “billm223” (without the space in between) so that I will be notified

Desktop (Mac)

• Open your return in the desktop product
• Look along the top and click on Help
• Click on Send Tax File to Agent
• TurboTax will give you a “token”, a 7-digit number
• Post the token number in this thread
• Be sure to add to that post “@” “billm223” (without the space in between) so that I will be notified

[Wadeworks01]

I found the source of the problem.  As I indicated, I did not have any W-2s as I am retired.  Well, the Turbotax program still requires that you go to the W-2 section and indicate you do not have any W-2s.  I used the "explore yourself" option off the main screen for income so I never went into the W-2 section.  The Editing logic at the end never checks whether or not you responded to the W-2 section question and populates 0 for W-2 income, which is not the same thing as blank.  So the California 540 editing logic sees 0 in later fields and it does not match the blanks that were in the federal W-2 portion of data and says these are not equal and thus rejects the line 12 value and the subsequent SDI value also as not being the same.  Once I went back into the W-2 section and replied "no W-2s", then the subsequent field populations worked out correctly and I got past the problem with the California state 540 issues.  The Turbotax federal program needs to require that you respond to the W-2 section question so that internal fields can be correctly populated and processed.   So this is an error in their editing program.