6475 IRS letter confusion

[mstrmac29]

Greetings - - - 

Using Turbo Tax Deluxe.  Wife and I both got stimulus checks in March 2021.  IRS letter 6475 says the amount we received is NOT taxable and to NOT report it as income.   While doing our taxes we are supposed to be getting a refund of $800.  If I say we did receive the monies, which the question states in Turbo Tax, we have to PAY over $1900.  Should I NOT enter anything in this spot?

Thanx - - - mstrmac29 

[xmasbaby0]

You have to enter the amount you received for the 3rd EIP.   Failure to enter it will result in a delay in processing your return.   You cannot get the 3rd EIP ("stimulus") twice, so if you already received it you need to say you got it.   If you say you did not get the stimulus check it puts it on line 30 and reduces your tax due---but if the IRS sees that you already received that money---and they will see it---they will take it away and bill you for the tax you owe.

The stimulus money is not taxable.   You owe tax for some other reason---like not having enough tax withheld from your paychecks.   Check all of your other entries and make sure you entered your income and tax withheld correctly.

[AliciaP1]

In order to file your tax return correctly, you must enter the information regarding the 3rd stimulus monies you received.

TurboTax does not automatically populate the amount you received for the 3rd stimulus payment - as you noticed when you needed to input the amount.  Instead, it assumes your payment amount is $0 (since the box is empty until you populate it) and estimates the full amount included in your refund.  When you complete the box with the amount you already received, it is merely removing that amount from your refund to properly reflect that you already received.