We started our business in May 2022, and are filing the initial return via TurboTax just now.
But, there does not seem to be a way to e-file: if I select a calendar year for tax purposes, then I can't e-file because I must file a "short" year because our business started in May and was not operating for the entire year.
If I select a fiscal year, I can not select a fiscal year ending in December, because there isn't such an option offered if you select a fiscal year.
These two constraints conspire to not let me e-file. Should I just file by mail, or is this something that can be fixed in TurboTax?
You should not be overriding the short-year filing for your new business. Since you did not operate for the full calendar year nor for a full fiscal year (12 months offset from a calendar year) it is correct for your business to report a short year in the first year.
I understand that. But that is not the problem.
The problem is, it does not seem possible to file a short year for a year that starts in May, but ends in December.
There is no "tax year ends in December" option. The "year end" dropdown box has all months from January to November, but *not* December.
What to do?
The kind folks of Intuit support helped me untangle the issue.
It is possible to enter any date for the end of fiscal year, if you edit the forms directly. Click on "Forms" in the upper left corner and find the fiscal year end date that needs to be edited, and edit it in place.
I still think that TurboTax's automated guide is wrong to not offer December as a possible end of fiscal year, but for some reason I could not find the fiscal year option choice anymore in my in-progress tax return.
I hope the above will allow you to work around the same issue, until turbotax is fixed.