Turbotax Form 4684 glitch

[KTMeyer]

Hi, I live in a federally-declared disaster area, the FEMA code is DR-4610. The IRS instructions for the entry on form 4684 say, "Enter the 4 digit number only" but Turbotax was coded to require the entry be made in the format of xx-nnnn, or DR-4610, in other words duplicating the DR part of the entry. That results in the tax printout reading DR-DR-4610. And that caused my state tax return to be rejected for an invalid disaster code (interestingly enough the federal return was accepted).

Turbotax won't let me file electronically with the code entered properly and the state won't accept it with the code entered the way turbotax wants it formatted.

Other than paper filing, is there any hope to get this glitch fixed soon?

Thanks.

[AliciaP1]

Can you clarify which state you are filing for?

[KTMeyer]

California.

I tried a half dozen times, but the return was rejected each time with this message:

/CA-Return/CA-ReturnData/IRS4684/FEMADisasterDeclarationNum - Your CA state return cannot be processed for electronic filing due to an issue on Form 4684 of your Federal tax return. Verify that you have entered a valid FEMA Disaster Declaration Number.

[AliciaP1]

It would be helpful to have a TurboTax ".tax2021" file that is experiencing this issue.

You can send us a “diagnostic” file that has your “numbers” but not your personal information.  If you would like to do this, here are the instructions: 

Go to the black panel on the left side of your program and select Tax Tools. 

1. Then select Tools below Tax Tools. 
2. A window will pop up which says Tools Center.  
3. On this screen, select Share my file with Agent. 
4. You will see a message explaining what the diagnostic copy is.  Click okay through this screen and then you will get a Token number. 
5. Reply to this thread with your Token number. This will allow us to open a copy of your return without seeing any personal information.  

We will then be able to see exactly what you are seeing and we can determine what exactly is going on in your return and provide you with a resolution.

[KTMeyer]

Hi Alicia,

That's a generous offer, thank you. But I think I'll just print the state return and do it the old-fashioned way, by mail, which I don't think I've had to do for 15 years or so. I'll have to see if I remember how to print and mail a return 😉.

[kashblack1953]

I have exactly the same problem, plus when I look at the .pdf of my tax return I realized that TurboTax is using the year 2020 version of the form. Spent 4 hours on the phone with TurboTax, couldn't even get a case number. Unfortunately, TurboTax has chosen to hide all the forms, so one cannot manually correct the entry. TurboTax suggests I file a paper return, but the return will still have the incorrect information in it.

[kashblack1953]

I have the same problem using TurboTax self employed on line, and there are two issues with form 4684. 

1) TurboTax is using the 2020 version of the form, the 2021 version is available on the IRS web site

2) One of the first entries on the form is "... and enter the DR-_________". The form is expecting the 4 digit FEMA assigned disaster number (4609 in our case). What TurboTax is putting in this space is DR-4609, so the end result reads "and enter the DR- DR-4609". When California receives this form, their screening S/W is expecting 4 digits in this field, instead it finds "DR-4609" and rejects the return due to an invalid FEMA disaster number.

[KTMeyer]

Oh! You're right. I didn't notice that--Turbotax uses the 2021 form for the Federal return but the 2020 form for the California return. Duh!!!

Anyway, I filed my state return by mail rather than invest more time into fixing this issue.

Thanks much for the feedback.

[kashblack1953]

Have resisted this figuring that just puts a longer fuse on the bomb. They will still stumble over the incorrect information if the return is scanned and OCR'd into California's system. It would be nice if just one time TurboTax actually fixed a problem.

[brightc]

It's been two weeks, and the problem still exists, blocking California e-filing.

Intuit published this notice:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/state-taxes/help/why-is-my-ca-re[product key removed]ted-due-to-my...

one week ago, and the article was marked as "Solved", but the problem is still there.

Printing and mailing the return should not be considered the solution, or consider this problem "SOLVED". Being "SOLVED" means the 4684 form is updated to the 2021 version, AND the error checking rules correctly requiring just the 4 digits for the DR number, instead of requiring the DR prefix, which would be redundant (and California Tax Board won't accept it).

Intuit, please fix this problem. You became aware of it a month ago, yet nothing was done to fix this issue.

[kashblack1953]

I had to escalate this problem to the CEO of Intuit to even get them to recognize & admit there was a problem. The notice is incorrect, the DR number is also incorrectly entered on the federal 4684 as well, it’s just that the federal screening SW isn’t rejecting the return for this. 
In my case, I was using the on-line version of the SW, TurboTax gave me a copy of the desktop version, we manually edited the form 4684 from the federal return (which is at least the correct year), printed it out along with my CA return, replaced the 2020 version of form 4684 in the CA return with the copy from the federal return and mailed it in. No idea if I will have problems with the efiled federal return due to the corrupted DR number.

Hours on the phone with TurboTax’s Great Wall of “customer service”, which seems to be designed to prevent problems being escalated and convincing the customer that they are wrong.

[mryrgm]

Same problem here! TurborTax: there is no excuse for the delay in fixing this issue - this user has identified the precise info needed to fix the bug. Fix this ASAP and please post here.

[KTMeyer]

FWIW, I filed my California return by mail 2 weeks ago even with the Form 4684 glitch. The return now shows on the FTB website as "processed," and they've applied my previous overpayment to the 2022 tax return.

[brightc]

Filing the CA return by mail is a workaround, not the solution. So, the ticket should never have been marked as "SOLVED", but it is, and that adds more to the confusion.

The reason filing by mail should *never* be considered the solution is that California is extremely slow in handling mail-in returns. Although there could be exceptions, but from my experience, a relative of mine filed by mail in California last year, and it took four whole months for her to receive her $87 refund. Why would I bother purchasing TurboTax and pay for e-filing while the only recourse I have is to mail in and wait for four whole months for my state tax refund? I'd be better off using H&R Block.

Now, back to the "SOLVED" status in the TurboTax problem ticket. What should I interpret from this? Intuit won't fix it? Intuit will fix it at its leisure, and if so, WHEN? I suppose an estimate would be great, but somehow I'm having the feeling Intuit engineers are not treating their customers as seriously as they should. Maybe all those affected by this issue can start requesting refunds, or returning the discs back to Amazon or Costco. Then, maybe some people will start treating their jobs more seriously. I know fixing this bug can be very complicated, like adding a rule saying if the form's data is "DR-xxxx" and the form version is 2022, just remove "DR-" and keep the four numeric characters. Then maybe creating a unit test for it. Or, contact the CA Tax Board and tell them you've screwed up, and please add an exception to the precheck rules. The level of difficulty lies somewhere between "hello world" and NP-complete, but I'm sure Intuit engineers can do it even if they've failed Google coding tests before. Come on, guys.

[liangb]

I was hit by exactly the same problem. It's NOT CA's fault, it's TurboTax! Forcing customer to put additional "DR-" for FEMA code and you can't override it!

Now I have to print it and mail the CA return, after paying $25 for CA e-filing. If turbotax can't fix such a minor issue in such a long period, it doesn't worth our trust ANY MORE, period.