How to Attach Statement to Form 1041

Turbotax has no provision for attaching an external document. you'll need to mail the return. 

Thanks. That's not great. What happens if i e-file but mail the statement?

Okay, thanks. I really wanted to e-file, and other programs (e.g., TaxAct) enable this feature. Thanks for the info.

If I do mail the Federal 1041, can I still e-file the NJ 1041? I don't think the NJ form asks for any statements or explanations. 

Also, can I still obtain Audit Defense if I mail the return?

Thanks.

Hi - I didn't get a response the my last follow up:

If I am required to mail the Federal 1041, can I still e-file the NJ 1041?

Also, can I still obtain Audit Defense if I mail the return?

Okay, thank you very much for the reply.

I posted this question elsewhere but it really belongs here, I think?

So I've been advised here that I must paper file the Federal Form 1041 in order to Attach a Statement explaining why the Estate was open for more than 2 years, and I must also paper file the NJ 1041 as well.

If I have to paper file the Federal 1041 and NJ 1041, presumably it will take the IRS a while to process these.

So must I also paper file the corresponding personal Federal 1040 and NJ 1040 for the Beneficiary to whom the Estate income was distributed because the K-1 and NJ K-1 will take a while to be processed by the IRS?

Or can I e-file the 1040s, even though the 1041s (including K-1 and NJ K-1) were mailed?

Thank you.

You can go ahead and e-file the 1040s.

Thank you

Why doesn't Intuit include a feature in TurboTax Business that would allow users to attach a statement with the 1041?  It would save many people, including me, the hassle of printing and mailing a 1041 simply to add a statement explaining why the estate has been open more than 2 years.  TurboTax Business certainly isn't inexpensive software.  Come on Intuit, allow me to e-file!

The way e-filing works is that the IRS or the state defines an XML schema which lists the mandatory and optional tags and their data that make up a valid data set for a tax return. When TurboTax is finished running, it has created a data set in this format. Note that there are no forms in this data set, just tags (think: <xml>).

So in order for TurboTax to be about to add the equivalent of a paper document to a tax return, the IRS must create the ability to accept it on their end, so TurboTax can create it on our end.

It's not just up to TurboTax...

Thanks, BillM223. Clearly TurboTax does have the capacity to attach a statement because to submit the 1041 electronically, you must print, sign, scan, and upload a signature page (PDF). Which I discovered shortly before I realized that I would not in fact be able to e-file. So I gathered that most likely there was also an issue on the IRS side. It's moot for me now, because I printed the Federal 1041 and mailed it with the attached statement, and TurboTax doesn't support e-file for the NJ State 1041 anyway, so I mailed that one too. I would have preferred to e-file both, but TurboTax was still worth it because of the help completing the forms and presenting the required information. And, I found a lot of support through TurboTax Community support pages this year! So, thank you.

The IRS told me that many tax filing softwares have this features so it does appear to be a Turbo Tax choice not to provide it.