Unable to efile Arkansas return

[thevillage]

TurboTax is saying that I must e-file my Arkansas return with my federal return. The federal return has been filed and accepted. How do I get TT to e-file Arkansas?

Here is the message from TT: This return cannot be e-filed by itself. You'll need to e-file this return at the same time as your federal return.

[DawnC]

Did you e-file the federal from the same account?   What happens if you say, okay, file them both together?   Is that an option?   And your federal e-file status shows accepted in the same TurboTax tax file?   From TurboTax FAQ

Although state returns can be e-filed with your federal return (or after your federal return has already been accepted), it's no longer possible to e-file state returns before the federal.

This also means you won't be able to e-file your state if your federal return was, or will be, paper-filed.

If you e-filed your federal return as Married Filing Jointly, but want to file your state returns as Married Filing Separately, only one state return can be e-filed. The other will have to be paper-filed.   Federal returns are not affected by this security measure and can be e-filed with or without a state.

[thevillage]

I filed my federal return, it has been accepted.

I was able to file my Arizona return successfully after my Federal return, it is only the Arkansas one that is a problem.

I am not filing with a different status on the returns.

[CatinaT1]

Are you getting a reject of the Arkansas return? Why are you not able to e-file it?

[thevillage]

No, it is not getting rejected because it is not even letting me efile the Arkansas return. TurboTax is giving the message: This return cannot be e-filed by itself. You'll need to e-file this return at the same time as your federal return.

The Federal return was filed before the Arkansas return was filed. The Federal return has already been accepted. I was able to file a return for Arizona after I filed the federal return, it is just Arkansas that is the problem.

[JotikaT2]

I suggest following the steps in this link.  You should be able to "add a state" and then proceed with completing and electronically filing your Arkansas return.  

Any required federal return attachments should be transmitted with your Arkansas return.

If you are still having issues after trying the steps above, please see this link from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration for details on how you can print and mail your state return instead.  

[thevillage]

I can't add another state (Arkansas) because it is already added. I just did not efile it at the same time that I efiled the federal return. Now it will not let me efile the Arkansas return. I do not want to file the Arkansas return by paper as it says it is 30 pages and it would require the paper copies of our 1099s. This is very frustrating as we are out of the country for the next two years and my paper 1099s are back in the U.S..

[CatinaT1]

When "adding a state", you do not need to actually add another state return, but by clicking this, it allows you to get back into your return so you can follow the steps to e-file your existing AR return.

[SteamTrain]

Desktop/Download software...correct?  (Windows or MAC)

If Windows desktop software...then:

______________________________

If Arkansas was not submitted when the Fed was sent initially....then, When submitted separately later, the Fed tax return (in your actual tax file) has to be marked "Accepted" before you can e-file any of the state returns separately.

Thus, it is possible that your Fed tax file doesn't know, or hasn't been logged as being accepted yet (in the file itself).   So, Open that tax file again....then go to the upper-left corner and click on the "File" menu item, and in the pull-down menu go to the "Electroinic Filing"  then select "Check Electronic Filing Status" in that submenu".

Once that is done, (and you note that Fed was "Accepted" do a "Save" of that file....then go to the AR tax return...run thru its full Q&A again, and review-error check, and attempt to e-file it again.

Beyond that, maybe the AZ software acceptance is somehow blocking it????

...Customer Support:

What is the TurboTax phone number? (intuit.com)

[gtlloyd17]

FYI, I just posted about this exact same issue. Federal has been accepted, Maryland has been accepted, it will not let me e-file Arkansas with the same Issue of needing to be filed with the Federal Return.

[SteamTrain]

@gtlloyd17 @thevillage 

Call Customer support....it won't be fixed until the software folks are informed about it.  They are chasing all kinds of "issues" and this one may need to be added to their fix list.  It won't get fixed if they don't know about it after CS checks it out first. 

What is the TurboTax phone number? (intuit.com)

[thevillage]

I called them and their answer was "Call the IRS, it is their problem not ours"

[MarilynG1]

Have you tried going through the Efile steps and indicating that Yes, you want to Efile your Federal return, and Yes, you want to Efile your Arkansas return, and Continue.

Towards the end of the section, just before transmitting your returns, you should get a screen with options to 'Efile my Federal Return now' or 'Efile my Federal return later'  AND 'Efile my Arkansas return now' or 'Efile my Arkansas return later'.

If you're using TurboTax Online, you should close the program, clear  your Cache and Cookies and try again. 

Here's more info on Filing Federal and State Returns Separately. 

[thevillage]

Did you read this thread? THe answers to your questions have been stated already.