Form 5695 Energy Tax Credit 2018

[jkmpost]

The TurboTax program for 2019 was updated to allow me to get the window credit.  I installed a qualifying door in 2018 that the credit was not given because the credit was not available.  I have tried to amend the 2018 return but it still does not give me the credit.  Do I wait for the program to update, file amended return manually or put it in as a carryover to 2019?

[DoninGA]

You have to amend the 2018 tax return.  But the IRS has not yet updated the 2018 Form 5695 and the 2018 instructions.  Until the form is updated by the IRS, TurboTax cannot update the 2018 software for the 5695.

[DJKuulA]

The forms are updated now, but my 2018 TurboTax still doesn't give me the credit. When I open Form 5695 in the program, it shows the amount I paid for my central air in the Residential Energy Property Smart Worksheet line A, but it doesn't include the value on the actual line 22a. If I right-click line 22a and select Data Source, it shows line A of the worksheet with the proper amount (which is well over the 300 maximum) in the popup. It looks like a bug.

UPDATE: I see a mistake on the form in TurboTax that might be related. In the Credit Limit Smart Worksheet for line 29, the first amount is wrong. It says "enter the amount from Form 1040 line 47," but there is no line 47. If you look at the actual form on the IRS site, it says to enter the amount from Form 1040 line 11 (which is the tax owed).

[SteamTrain]

@DJKuulA 

I don't think the 2018 TTX software and 5695 forms have been updated yet.

.....even though the IRS has them updated yet, the software writers at TTX don't seem to have updated the software for that change to the 2018 form 5695 yet .  (I tried to do a software update for my 2018 software, and it doesn't show an update to be done.  It still has my software version from months ago,  long before the IRS issued the changes.  The file that contained my form 5695...of course...still has the old form unchanged).

Wait a couple more months and try again then....if you do an update check for your software for 2018, and it doesn't indicate an update is available, then the form 5695 isn't changed.  If it does perform update, you'll have to check it again since an Update could occur for other reasons besides the form 5695.

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@DoninGA     Is there any info from the software folks about when they plan to implement the form 5695 changes for 2018?   Or is everyone still in the dark?

[DoninGA]

@SteamTrain The 2018 software is projected to be updated in mid-May but I wouldn't hold my breath on that date.

This is the containment FAQ - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/2018-extenders-passed-under-taxpayer-certainty-and...

[DJKuulA]

Thanks for that! I wish that had come up in at least one of my searches. It looks like they updated that page this morning, so who knows what it said. It'd be nice if the actual program mentioned that instead of leaving users to wonder why stuff isn't working. Hopefully they'll fix it before the 2019 due date, because there are carryovers involved, so people who amend their 2018 returns could wind up also having to amend their submitted 2019 returns.

At any rate, I think the 5695 form in TT has at least been partially updated, because aside from the typo about the 1040 line number, everything matches the new version. The problem is that the data fields aren't updating properly.