What should I do if I do not have an FEIN. System is asking for FEIN for a foreign bank account for a 1099-int.

[quite98]

To be honest, I'm not sure.  I know that at one point I tried a suggestion in another post from an Intuit employee to report the interest as misc income, but that seemed wrong so I deleted that and re-added the INT-1099 again.  I'm using the online version of the software if that makes a difference.  

[quite98]

Oh one additional point - the FEIN does not appear anywhere in the Schedule B (even for US accounts). So this wouldn't be a problem for the IRS, just for Turbo Tax's own validation.

[DoninGA]

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@Vinp wrote:

Yes. FEIN should ideally not be a requirement and this exactly what this post is all about.

Since TurboTax for some reason has started a new validation at the final stage of review, where it jumps back to the point where it asks us to enter a VALID FEIN number.

It just does not allow us to proceed to e-File. No way to skip it.

The lady executive took a screen sharing session with me and confirmed that I would have to file by postal mail this time, because of the NEW issue.

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[Vinp]

@DoninGA, appreciate your assistance. But unfortunately it doesn't work.

TurboTax comes back to that same page, even if we directly try to e-File.

Unable to e-File. Asks for FEIN for foreign bank

[DoninGA]

@Vinp On your Form 1099-INT do you have any boxes 2 thru 13 entered with an amount or box 14 with a Tax-exempt and tax credit bond CUSIP number?

If you are only reporting interest in Box 1 then there should be no reason to have FEIN entered or prevent you from e-filing.

You may want to delete the 1099-INT and try again.

[Vinp]

Hi @DoninGA ,

Thank you very much for your continuous help.

I finally managed to e-File.

The change I made this time is, I had the FEIN number mentioned as 00-000000. I just deleted that info and left it Blank.

And that helped. So looks like NOTHING is better than something for FEIN.

Highly appreciate your help.

For anybody else facing the same issue, my only suggestion is Leave that box BLANK by deleting anything that's there in the box by default.

[sanjaykarve]

I did try this today - at least during entry of the 1099-int information - it flagged the empty field and said it needed a review. When I left it blank it did not accept it. So I entered 0000000 and it got flagged during federal review. 

During the review it brought me to the 1099-Int worksheet -see below. I deleted and saved. At this stage it added it back. So looks like no way to move forward without and FEIN.

Just to check I did the entries in H&R block online and they do not even ask for that information!!!

[Critter]

@sanjaykarve 

To enter simple bank interest you are NOT in the right place ... DELETE what you entered and try again in the interest section ...  all you have to do is enter a payer name and the amount ... you never need an EIN...

[sanjaykarve]

i tried this and it always came back to the same review point. So appeared as if I could not do it. I finally filed using H&R Block - that software did not even ask for that data for any 1099-INT.

[sanjaykarve]

latest update - got message that both federal and state returns were accepted

[fein foreign interest]

Entering 99-9999999 or 00-0000000 does not work.  It still flag you at final review.

[fein foreign interest]

Agree that there is a work around to FEIN on Foreign Interest.  Fill out the 1099-INT without FEIN.  The last step of filling out the tax return is a final review.  After the final review, it will flag you that there is a missing FEIN.  If you follow the instructions, it will take you back to the 1099-INT form with missing FEIN.  On that screen, click "FILE" on the left pane, it will take to filing directly, skipping the review.  Proceed per instruction and your return will be filed.

[DJ1111111]

Thank you so much for posting that leaving it BLANK is the solution

I struggled trying to figure this out because it would not let me e-file for all the reasons you explained. 

Leaving the FEIN number BLANK solved it and I was able to e-file. 

[naokoyoshioka]

Leaving the EIN blank worked for e-filing. I tried 99-9999999 and 00-0000000 to no avail. The suggestion of reporting foreign bank interest as miscellaneous income seemed wrong so I did not use that option. I don't know how many hours I spent going back and forth trying to make it work so I could e-file. EIN is found nowhere for the actual forms. I almost gave up and was going to paper file and then found someone suggesting leaving it blank was better than entering anything. I truly hope that TT will fix this issue for next year.