I used the "estimate" a lot, so I'm very familiar with setting it and then later removing. I originally set the figure as "estimate" on the dollar amount field we pay in child care as well as the field you enter how much you paid your specific childcare provider. I did it in the step by step process. Later I got the exact figures, entered them, and then unmarked as estimate. During review, received the error that I needed to remove as estimate. Tried to without any luck. Tried also doing it from the forms view. Still no luck. Finally went back to step by step and deleted both lines for amount we pay and also for our childcare provider. Rebuilt both but the error remains. VERY frustrating!
I ended up going into Forms view and deleting Form 2441. Switched back to step by step and re-entered all the childcare info. It worked! Error gone and I was able to file.
This issue of having to delete/recreate a form due to Error Check incorrectly believing that something is marked Estimated has become a MAJOR nuisance over the last few years. Error Check either specifies some internal variable name, or no variable or field name at all. I have contacted TT support, and this forum, and the only solution has been to delete/recreate the problem form(s).
This year it happened with TT Business on 1 form, and with TT Home & Business on 2 forms. With TT Business, the form was the basic company info worksheet, which TT would NOT allow me to delete, so I had to start a new return and reimport my data from scratch. This is getting very frustrating.
I have used TT for nearly 20 years, always a purchased CD or downloaded version, and always on Windows.
After 42 minutes on the phone with tech support, this bug still exists in TT 2019 Deluxe download for Windows.
An incomplete Form 2441 will be created if you start the Child and Dependent Care section but don't complete it. This can cause problems when attempting to file your return.
To resolve:
Related Information:
I had a complete Form 2441. My problem was that TT insisted a number was estimated when it was, in fact, not estimated (this was verified many times myself, followed by many, many times by the customer support rep over a 42 minute call). Deleting the form as described in steps 4-7 solved the problem, but as mentioned earlier in this thread, this forced me to re-enter the information.
This is a bug in TurboTax.
This happened AGAIN with TTax Business 2019, with Error Check telling me (same as last year):
Hidden NGI Worksheet/Totsales Supporting Details: Amount is marked as estimated.
on the BASIC COMPANY INFO worksheet, which TTax will NOT allow me to delete. The only solution TTax support offered last year (after long phone calls) was to start a new return, re-import all my data, and fill it out from scratch.
This has become absurd. PLEASE FIX THIS RECURRING (year after year) PROBLEM.
Mike
I've encountered exactly the same problem. TurboTax needs to fix TWO problems here:
(1) The BUG that insists there is an estimated value where in fact there isn't (and won't allow continuing with the return). Even if tech support includes it in a canned response, forcing users to delete and recreate forms is NOT an acceptable solution.
(2) The incomprehensible error message telling an end user to change a value identified only by a cryptic internal code name known only to the developers.
As a different person said in another post, I've used TurboTax for years, but it keeps getting worse, not better. Other options are available and I've started advising others to avoid TurboTax. If you can't get it together, you'll lose many more customers.
INTUI IS NOT LISTENING TO THE FEEDBACK YOU RECEIVE!!!!!
This issue still exists in 2020 tax software. It was reported in 2018 calendar year if not earlier. That is at least three years to fix a software bug! I too have been a long time Turbo Tax user, but if you do not confirm this issue is fixed I will look for an alternative solution next year.
Did this every get resolved or do they know how to fix that issue? Now I have it in TTax Business '21 and can't find anything that either explains or allows you to correct something
If this is still happening in TTax 2021, this is unacceptable. But, many of us have been saying this for multiple years now, and apparently nothing has changed. I use both TTax Business and Home & Business.
Sometimes the offending form is easy to recreate, but sometimes it can be quite time consuming.
When this happened to me with TTax Business 2019, the problem was on the Basic Company Information worksheet. TurboTax will NOT allow one to delete this form! The "solution" from Turbo Tax Support was to start a new return, import, then fill out everything again from scratch -- of course, with the possibility that this same problem might occur again. Luckily it didn't.
PLEASE FIX THIS.
Yes, it appears to be pointing to the basic company info worksheet, there are no #'s there that are or were estimates. I've used TTax Business for years and never seen anything like this. Can't tell where the offending field is and no clues in the forms which don't show errors. Hoping not to start over of course.
When you say 'import' do you mean to start from prior year info? There is no data import function like the TTax Personal versions (importing from income sources), mine is all manually input.
This really sucks, I had the big issues on the install, now 'hidden errors'? Laughable how little this product has improved, it only seems to have worsened over the years.
I meant import info from last years TTax return. That ability should be there just like with TTax personal versions.
If you can delete the offending form (the one with the supposed estimated value), then you can just recreate that form and the problem should go away.
But in the past, TTax would not let me delete the basic company info form, so starting over was the only solution.
This happened in both 2018 and 2019 (last year, 2020, I got a reprieve and thought maybe it was fixed!).
I think I actually tried going to each and every field in that company info worksheet, setting and unsetting 'estimated', but it didn't help -- but might be worth trying again. I know I've tried this with other forms with this "marked estimated" BUG, and it never helped there either.
I spent about 90 minutes with a support person, who supposedly was also asking others, and they came up with NOTHING. It is the basic company info worksheet that it goes to, and it won't let me delete it. It may just be landing on that form with the error because it doesn't know where the error is (perhaps because THERE ISN'T ONE!). So now I have to start all over, and hopefully don't run into it again? I will make sure not to mark any as estimates and hope it doesn't get confused. Defeats the whole purpose of marking fields to come back to, that's for sure.
Back on March 12, 2019, with TTax 2018, I spent over an hour on the phone with 2 support agents, and like you, the only solution was to start over from scratch, since that form cannot be deleted.
I do believe the internal error is actually on the indicated form, since when it's been on other forms, deleting that form and recreating it has fixed the problem.
THIS IS FOR INTUIT IF YOU ARE LISTENING, coming from a retired computer scientist. I imagine the "estimated" attribute exists for many internal variables as well as user entered variables, and that something is writing out of bounds and stepping on the estimated attribute of some internal variable that happens to be adjacent to it on the stack. The out of bound access could be as simple as writing an int into a byte variable address. I know from experience that this can be quite hard to find, but with the right tools, it can be done.
Please hire someone to find this and fix it. It's been going on too long!!!!
This same error occurred for me today in TurboTax 2202 Home & Business with 3/1/2023 updates, for the exact same reasons. Form 2441, initially estimated values in the step-by-step, then updated to actual expenses, unchecked estimated, and Qpcredbn variable error claims estimated. Deleted Form 2441, and reentered from scratch to fix. The dream is always the same, 4 years later!
Looks like this issue is still unresolved in 2024. I'm using TT23 Premier, desktop version for Windows. Tried deleting the 2441, then re-entering (twice). Tried updating the software. Tried call-in support. Nothing's working...and no numbers are estimated, but the error, "Form 2441: Qpcredbn is marked as estimated" still exists. Anyone find another work around?
@Intuit - PLEASE FIX THIS...IT'S BEEN 5 YEARS!!!!