As I'm reviewing my federal taxes, it's telling me to fill out line 18 of the Schedule SE worksheet. I don't want to defer. I only need section I on that form.

[jtccjt]

As I'm reviewing the Federal taxes there is a page that says:

Some of your self-employment taxes may be eligible for deferral
1. Select Federal.
2. Choose Deductions & Credits.
3. Select 'I'll choose what I work on'.
4. Under 'Tax relief related to COVID-19', select 'Self-employment tax deferral'.

I never see a place to select Federal.. but I actually don't want to defer anything..  I think this is why I'm being asked to fill out line 18.

Thanks for your help.

[Christie]

I have the exact same issue. In fact, in an earlier section TT asks if you want to defer.... I selected no and it still prompts me to fill out line 18 when I do my federal review.  I even went back to make sure I selected no and cleared cache, signed back in, and it is still not updated. 

[npierson7]

You still need to put a number to the line 18. Just put 0 there is you don't want to defer any SE taxes. 

[jtccjt]

Thanks.  Is this different from last year?  Looking at last year's returns I only had the short schedule SE.  I used TurboTax last year too.

[VolvoGirl]

Yes deferring the tax is new for 2020 because of Covid-19.  

[JeffreyR77]

As part of the CARES Act, there is the option to defer 50% of self-employment taxes. 

That is why there is a difference from last year's SE form in TurboTax.

CARES Act and Self-Employment Tax Deferral

[Christie]

For those of you on this thread who had non-farm self-employment income, is it properly reflecting as non-farm income on your SE-T or is it showing as farm income? I have a separate thread on the issue I am encountering and I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't being prompted to enter in line 18 on the form and noticed it. Thanks!

[AmyC]

The SE is self-employment form. Line 18 is for the amount of money earned between March 27, 2020 and December 31, 2020. The self-employment tax on that portion can be postponed for payment in the following year. You can postpone that portion of your taxes due with no penalties or interest. If you want to pay your taxes in full this year, put a zero on that line.

The SE covers all types of self-employment. You will see line 14 for $5,640 under Farm Optional Methods, it is part of the worksheet. What are you seeing that says farm in your return, if you don't have a farm? 

@Christie

[msteel0]

Check your forms before you file!  TT may be having you defer SE tax when you do not intend to do so.

There is apparently a bug in this section of TT (online, at least), according to a tech at the TT help line.

No matter what I answer to the deferral question, TT tells me I am not eligible.

When TT prompted me for Line 18 of Sch SE, I entered the full amountof my SE because in my case all of my SE income fell in that time period.

However,  despite my telling TT I did not want to defer, and despite TT's telling me that I was not eligible, TT still entered the maximum deferrable amount from Line 26  of SE onto line 12e of Schedule 3.

When I called TT help I was told this was a known issue and that I would be contacted when it was resolved.  I'm not sure if I want to keep waiting, since entering 0 on Schedule SE Line 18 achieves the desired end.  Of course in my case that is not technically correct, and think the proper way to make the election is to enter 0 on Schedule 3 line 12e .   It's just that I can't get TT to do that for me.

[gloriah5200]

@msteel0

If you leave the amount line blank then the software will defer the full amount.  If you do not want to defer se tax, then you need to enter a 0 on line 18.

[msteel0]

@gloriah5200 Since the bug in the SE deferral process is not fixed I guess that is what we have to do to get TurboTax to not defer.  But from reading the instructions for the actual forms, line 18 is not for making the election.  It is for determining the maximum alllowed election.

Especially since TurboTax asked me if I wanted to defer and I chose no.

Not to mention that TurboTax told me I was not eligible to defer.

But it still deferred.

[KathrynG3]

It is asking you to revisit the section regarding deferring a portion of the self-employment tax. If you were in this section before a refund was calculated, you were eligible. However, with a refund, you are no longer eligible.

Go back to the interview section to correct these entries and un-trigger any deferral that you can no longer take and probably later declined. You will need to initially accept it before declining.

To do this in TurboTax, follow these steps:

Enter a temporary amount as income in the self-employment section that will result in you not having a refund.

1. From the left menu, select Federal.
2. From the Income & Expenses, scroll to Self-employment income & expenses and Edit/Add.
3. At Your 2020 work summary, select Edit.
4. Under INCOME, select Add income for this work.
5. Add Other self-employed income, includes 1099-K, cash, and checks and Continue.
6. At Type of income, enter Temp income to remove deferral and enter a large amount, such as $100,000 and Continue.

Decline to defer any self-employment tax.

1. From the left menu, click on Federal.
2. Click the second tab from the left, Deductions & Credits.
3. Scroll down to Tax Relief related to Covid-19 and Revisit.
4. Select Self-employment tax deferral and select Revisit.
5. Answer Yes at the next screen to get back to Let's start by getting your eligible income.
    
6. Enter 280/366ths of your income to reflect the income from March 27-December 31, 2021. 
   1. This amount should be the same as the correct amount on Line 18 of Sch SE.
7. Select Continue.
8. At Tell us how much you'd like to defer, 
   1. Enter 0.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Remove the temporary income.

1. From the left menu, select Federal.
2. From the Income & Expenses, scroll to Self-employment income & expenses and Edit/Add.
3. At Your 2020 work summary, select Edit.
4. Under INCOME, select the Trash can icon next to Temp income to remove deferral and Continue.

For more details, see TurboTax Expert @DawnC's answer here, about 2/3 down the page: Resolve Sch SE-T Max Deferral Line 18 must be entered.

[TW222]

I have tried entering 0 in line 18 on the Schedule SE... It has put me in a loop.  It won't allow me to file because the value is too high.

[CatinaT1]

Leave the field blank instead of entering 0.

[kennethweston1]

I can not clear line 18 on Sch SE-T. I've put a 0 in line 18 because I do not want to defer and I am not able to complete my e-file due to this error. What are my options?