incorrect NYS pension exclusion

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
June 20, 2020
3 replies
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2019 tax year, State University of NY pension in NYS return. Entered specific amount to be excluded in Governmental Pension Exclusion input. That specific amount is over $20,000. Pension Deduction Summary page then shows that specific amount on the line for 'New York deduction for government pensions' *and* $20,000 on the line 'New York deduction for other pensions'. Two deductions for the same pension entry? The total deduction ends up being almost 2X of the pension amount itself!

Best answer by BillM223

*The Normal Case*

When you enter that you are a New York state resident, after you enter your 1099-R for your pension, there will be a series of screens. One screen will ask you to Select Your State.

When you select New York, the next screen will ask "Where is this distribution from?"

This will give you the opportunity to select the source of the pension. If you have a pension that qualifies for exclusion in New York, it will be removed from your New York return.

*Your Case*

Did you also enter the $20,000 as a subtraction or exclusion while inside the New York interview itself? If so, you should go back and remove it. The data entry immediately after the 1099-R is normally all you need to do.

BillM223Answer

Level 15

*The Normal Case*

When you enter that you are a New York state resident, after you enter your 1099-R for your pension, there will be a series of screens. One screen will ask you to Select Your State.

When you select New York, the next screen will ask "Where is this distribution from?"

This will give you the opportunity to select the source of the pension. If you have a pension that qualifies for exclusion in New York, it will be removed from your New York return.

*Your Case*

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ned_head1

Level 2

This is still not fixed and Intuit customer service does not pick up the phone or I get disconnected.

I think I am going to have to find a different tax prep software because they obviously do not get it.

raysim52

Level 4

I agree that it would be nice to have a reliable work-around, but we should not have to "hack" the system to make it work correctly - especially because this is a product we purchased because we value accuracy. I wonder how many people have already submitted substantially incorrect NYS tax returns as a result of this situation? I could see how this might lead to a lot of unintended consequences for many trusting TurboTax users (and NYS.)

My goal is not to criticize, but to reveal a pitfall that many people might suffer from. I encourage Intuit to put some programmers on this ASAP.

Turbo Tax support for technical issues is the worst!

On my first call to them the person I was talking to requested that I share my screen with another support person. I shared my screens and after about 1.5 hours they placed me on hold and I got a recording which went something like - if I was interested to upgrade to Turbo Tax Live Premier press 1 for yes or press 2 for no. I pressed 2 and my call ended!. I think the reason they placed me on hold was when they told me to go back to the federal wages screen so they can see what was entered and they didn't see an entry for New York deduction for other pensions.

Since my call was ended when I pressed 2, I called support back. I told the support person what just happen on my last call and she requested to that I share my screen with her. She too also said if I wanted to upgrade to live support. About one hour into the call I requested to speak to a supervisor. I was placed on hold and someone came on identifying himself as a supervisor. During me telling him what I experienced and that the issue is not a tax question, or a mistake on a entry I made, but it was a problem with the online application. I was telling him that I need to talk to someone who can understand and address a bug or a glitch in the application, it was at this point that my call was disconnected and this supervisor never called me back.

The next morning I decided to give it one more try. I briefed the support person on my frustrating experience with their support, she requested that I share my screen and quickly notice the issue of the $20,000. She identified herself as a tax expert and acknowledged this wasn't an issue with an entry I made in the Federal section. She brought on a second person who requested that I share a my filing with them, which I did. After reviewing the file they acknowledged there was noting they could do to correct the issue so the opened an investigation on the issue. I am suppose to back from them in three to five days.

I went online to H&R Block and tried their online tax filing application which is like TurboTax where you are not charged until you finish and file. The H&R Block refund from NYS is exactly the same as the refund I was getting with TurboTax. I don't understand why this is. H&R Block has no second NYS pension issue with their application.

The H&R Block online application is not as user friendly as TurboTax but it is less expensive.

Mamselle

Level 2

Same problem for me. I filed for an extension hoping somebody (Turbo Tax, are you listening?) will fix this.

Sunshine101210

Level 2

I am doing our taxes for my husband and I. He is a retired NYPD police officer and his pension shouldn’t be taxed by NY, yet turbo tax is saying we owe thousands of dollars to NYS because of his pension. How do I fix this?

DaveF1006

Level 15

@Sunshine101210 Please follow the suggestions offered by SandraM her her awesome Turbo Tax post.

"Here are the steps to enter your exempt New York State employee pension:

On the Federal Income Tax portion:

Go to federal>income and expenses
Scroll down to Retirement Plans and Social Security
At IRA,401(k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R), click Start (or Update)
Enter your 1099-R or if you have entered it, click on Edit then Continue
Answer the next questions until you get to the Where Is This Distribution From? screen
Select the source New York State Employees and enter the information requested:
Click on Continue
Click on From a Qualified Plan
Continue answering the questions

On the New York State return portion:

At the Changes to Federal Income page, scroll down to Received retirement income, click Start (or Update)
At the Retirement Distributions Summary page, click on Edit New York State
If no additional information is required, click on Continue
Click on Done