Wait Stop! If you are in the Online version it is only for 2022 now. You can't do 2021 online. 2021 is now the prior year and you can't efile it.
If you need to start 2021 you can buy the Desktop download here,
TurboTax 2021 Prior Year Tax Prep - File Past Years' Taxes
And you will have to print and mail your returns. So be sure to attach copies of your W2s and any 1099s that have withholding on them. You have to mail federal and state in separate envelopes because they go to different places. Get a tracking number from the post office when you mail them for proof of filing.
Then when you file for 2022 you need to enter 0 for the 2021 AGI since you are filing 2021 late.
If you have a simple return and want to file for free you can fill out the forms by hand. Here are some basic forms.....
Here is the 2021 1040 return
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--2021.pdf
or if you want bigger type use 1040SR for Seniors,
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040s--2021.pdf
2021 1040 Instructions
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040gi--2021.pdf
2021 EIC and Tax Tables
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040tt--2021.pdf
Schedules 1-3
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040s1--2021.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040s2--2021.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040s3--2021.pdf
Don’t forget your state. And you will have to print and mail your returns. So be sure to attach copies of your W2s and any 1099s that have withholding on them. You have to mail federal and state in separate envelopes because they go to different places. Get a tracking number from the post office when you mail them for proof of filing.
The TurboTax online editions are only for tax year 2022. If you need to file a 2021 tax return, clear the online return.
If you have not paid for the online edition you are using, have not filed your tax return or registered the Free edition, then you can clear your return and start over with a lower priced edition. Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the program screen while working on the 2022 online tax return. Click on Clear & Start Over.
To complete and file a 2021 tax return using TurboTax you would need to purchase, download and install on a personal computer one of the 2021 desktop editions from this website - https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/past-years-products/
A 2021 tax return can only be printed and mailed, it cannot be e-filed.
No....anything you entered into the "Online" free tax software , is only for 2022 taxes...which is why it indicates no e-filing until Jan 2023. So for anything you entered there will have to be deleted, or overwritten by you to reflect your actual 2022 income...whenever you get around to doing your 2022 taxes...in the first 3-4 months of 2023.
For 2021 taxes not yet filed. It's too late to e-file those. Those can only be prepared on the Desktop software using a full MAC or Windows computer....and MUST be mail-filed by you on paper. If you really want to e-file them instead, since mail-filed returns are taking many months to get processed, you would have to go to a local tax professional to get them done.
_________________________
Getting a TTX Desktop software download for 2021 can be purchased here (Unless you go to a third party, like Amazon)
TurboTax 2021 Prior Year Tax Prep - File Past Years' Taxes (intuit.com)
IRS e-filing is now completely shut down until sometime in January. No one can e-file anything right now, not even tax professionals. IRS e-filing will reopen sometime in late January. They have not yet announced the exact date.
TurboTax will let you "e-file" a 2022 tax return in early January, but your tax return will not really be filed. TurboTax will just hold it until the IRS begins accepting returns. Nothing will be done with it before then. If you submit it early, be aware that you can't cancel it or get it back to make changes or corrections if you find that you made an error or left something out.
TurboTax does not support e-filing of past-year tax returns. You can no longer e-file a 2021 tax return with TurboTax, even after the IRS reopens e-filing in January.