Dependent Error on federal return

[xmasbaby0]

What?  Instead of clicking NO --- you are clicking "none of the above?"   When you are asked if you can be claimed as a dependent?    You are looking at the wrong screen.    There is a screen before that "passed away, legally blind....etc. " screen that specifically asks you if you can be claimed as someone else's dependent.   You can only answer YES or NO.  

[VolvoGirl]

Can you post a screen shot of the screen you are checking None of the Above on?  And maybe the screen right before that one? 

[VolvoGirl]

Are you on Windows or Mac?  Here are the 2 screens from my Windows Desktop program.

First screen is....

 

Then you get the 4 question screen

[DoninGA]

Another suggestion - Start a New Tax Return, click on File at the top left of the desktop program screen.  Then DO NOT transfer the 2022 tax data to the new return.  Click on Continue Without Transferring.  Enter your Personal information and your income and see if the problem persists.

[SteamTrain]

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@cgmartin wrote:

Turbo Tax will not let me leave either the yes or the no boxes empty. Leaving them both blank, I get the error message. So, if I leave both boxes blank, my federal liability is $2,913, and if I mark Yes, it increases my fedeeral liability to $3,658.  Marking it No it stays at $2,913 liability.

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For a person over age 65

OK...Marking the dependent yes-no as a YES.....that limits your Std Deduction "UP-To" $12,250 max. 

(I think the 12,250 could be an ERROR....not that an adult with that much income is allowed as a dependent))

But a NO, lets you use the higher age 65 or older Std Deduction....and drops your taxable income as a result...i.e. lower taxes....and larger refund.

I just don't know if an adult dependent over age 65 is truly limited to the 12,500...most posts I see on the subject are referring to a child, not a 65+ adult.

[SteamTrain]

Well, my desktop software is using Std Ded 12,250 max or a single adult dependent, age 78 or so.

Not sure 12,250 max is even right for a teenage dependent.....seems like it should be 13,850???

(assuming one is using the 2023 software)

......maybe that is a software error.  I haven't put in a teenage test file yet.

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(edited...12,250 not 12,500)

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But tried a teen dependent and it's 13,850.

Now to start a 65+ old adult again from scratch.

[SteamTrain]

Interesting...put in a NEWLY created  test file for an adult 77 Year old ....as a dependent....earning 20,000 wages...and he got the full age 65+  15,700 std Ded.  (But yeah maybe can't be a dependent with 20k income.)

BUT

My other already existing adult test file (age 78), I switched that individual to being a dependent, that shows 12,250 Std Ded  (~100k of income though)  (again, not really eligible for being a dependent)

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Still, those folks ignoring the dependent question could well be just seeing a change in the Std Dedcution...either rightly or wrongly.

[SteamTrain]

Went for a walk, and light bulb went off about that one file with the Std Ded limited to $12,250.

Even though ~100k of income, most of it was SS and pension....hitting the "dependent" yes key limited the Std ded to W-2 wages (10k) plus some other unearned income (interest & dividends)...wahich happend to be 12,250.  Then increasing the W-2 wages to 20k, bumped up the std ded to the full 15,700 for a 78 year old.

Still, the individual is not a dependent with that amount of income in either case.

[Critter-3]

If the OP had filled in the education credit section  before  going back to the MY INFO tab to indicate they were a dependent then that could explain the change in the bottom line. They may need to review the education credit section again since they were over the age of 24. 

FYI ... the program works best when you follow the interview from start to finish in the order presented.  Going back and making changes in the beginning can require a review of the rest of the interview especially the state tab  if you make changed in the federal section. 

[PipiR]

I made two test samples of federal returns. Both identical, that of a single tax filer, with the same information in both returns, except as follows:

In sample A, where it asks in the personal worksheet: Can another tax payer claim you as a dependent? In the my case, the answer is No.  However, if I mark No, the amount I get back from my federal return is $13.00

In sample B, if I leave the yes or no boxes empty as to dependency, it creates an error in my federal return, but the amount I get back from federal changes from $13.00 to $1513. I followed the path of the increase of $1,500 and it leads to Schedule 2 (Additional taxes), which is then linked to form 8962 (Premium Tax Credit) and is the amount I owed for the health plan by Covered California's advanced premiums payments.

For unknown reasons, Turbo Tax is linking the yes or no answer on dependency to the Covered California premium advances paid to me. That now seems to be the issue.

I have reviewed all personal questions asked of me numerous times, from beginning to end, and in all cases, I answered that I was not, nor could I be a dependent of anyone else (I am 30 years of age and single). So that is not an issue.

This seems to me to be a problem with Turbo Tax. The bottom line is that the amount I get back from federal should not depend or whether I am a dependent or not. Would I be able to electronically file my return with an error on the personal worksheet; I would rather get back $1513 than $13.   Thanks.

[SteamTrain]

OK...Well, the Yes-vs-No questions  (you MUST mark), may be triggering that premium tax credit form.

BUT

When it is triggered, you then need to go thru the Affordable Care Act questions on the Deductions & Credits page.  Perhaps it will change things....but you have to be eligible for the ACA credit in the first place. 

Make sure you've entered ALL your income before proceeding to the Deductions&Credits section.   

It is certainly possible that you no longer are eligible for that credit...but after that NO...not a dependent...you need to go thru the ACA questions to see what happens.  Maybe you'll get the credit back, maybe not.

[DoninGA]

Agree with @SteamTrain The question for being a dependent is required by the software to be answered either Yes or No.  It cannot be left unanswered.  Doing so results in erroneous results on the tax return.

[DoninGA]

And if you are Not permanently and totally disabled and you have gross income in 2023 of $4,700 or more you cannot be claimed as a dependent by anyone.  So you have to indicate you are NOT a dependent by answering NO where asked.

Then look at Schedule 2 Line 2 to see if there is an Excess advance premium tax credit repayment that is being added as a tax liability (Form Form 8962) and flows to the Form 1040 Line 17