I live abroad. TurboTax says I can't file electronically. Nothing's changed for me since last year, yet last year I filed electronically. This year I can't. WTF?

[mesquitebean]

@rbh1000  wrote:  "I live abroad. TurboTax says I can't file electronically."

I would think there is more to the error message than that.   If so, and if you provide the full message, someone familiar with it may be able to comment in this forum.

BTW, do you have any income items on your return?  Or did you by any chance use the foreign earned income exclusion to exclude all your income and have a zero-income return?

[rbh1000]

All foreign income earned is under the threshold and is fully exempt, and by proxy, 1040 has lots of zeros, because it doesn't apply as the other form has the reported income. Physical Presence is accurate. 

Not Eligible for Electronic Filing

It looks like you have a tax situation in your federal return that makes it ineligible for e-filing, according to IRS rules.

Here are the details:

All of the following lines of Form 1040 have a zero value:
Line 9 - Total income
Line 11 - Adjusted gross income
Line 16 - Tax
Line 18 - Total Tax Before Credits And Other Taxes
Line 21 - Total credits
Line 24 - Total tax
Line 33 - Total payments


Don't worry, even though you are unable to e-file your return, we'll still help you file your return by mail.

[mesquitebean]

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@ rbh1000 wrote:

All foreign income earned is under the threshold and is fully exempt, and by proxy, 1040 has lots of zeros, because it doesn't apply as the other form has the reported income. Physical Presence is accurate. 

Not Eligible for Electronic Filing

It looks like you have a tax situation in your federal return that makes it ineligible for e-filing, according to IRS rules.

Here are the details:

All of the following lines of Form 1040 have a zero value:
Line 9 - Total income
Line 11 - Adjusted gross income
Line 16 - Tax
Line 18 - Total Tax Before Credits And Other Taxes
Line 21 - Total credits
Line 24 - Total tax
Line 33 - Total payments

---

As I suspected, you are trying to efile a zero-income return, which cannot be done.   It sounds like all 7 of those lines you listed have a zero value if you excluded all your income with the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.   You can't efile a Form 1040 with all zeros on those key lines.

  I'm a fellow user, not a tax expert.  But I have seen some folks in the forum say to enter a $1.00 in interest income, and then they could efile.   I also saw someone who said another option is to enter $1.00 in the category "Other Income" and for the explanation box say "in order to efile."  

You may get additional suggestions.  Fewer people are in the forum this time of day.

[rbh1000]

Oh that's right! I had forgotten that that was the workaround. Thanks for the reminder! Awesome!

[mesquitebean]

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@ rbh1000 wrote:

Oh that's right! I had forgotten that that was the workaround. Thanks for the reminder! Awesome!

---

You're welcome.  So that must have happened to you last year, too.   Hopefully, it worked back then, too.  Good luck.

[nylawdawg]

I've having the same issue, but Turbotax is saying I need to provide an EIN for my employer, but I my employer is a foreign employer that does not have an EIN (and has no intentions of applying for one).

Please help!

[Critter-3]

If you did not receive a W-2 for your wages, there is no need to complete the W-2 section.  Report your foreign earned income on Form 2555.

If you started a W-2, then delete the W-2.

Enter w-2 in the Search box located in the upper right of the program screen.  Click on Jump to w-2

To enter Foreign Earned Income -

• Click on Federal Taxes (Personal using Home and Business)
• Click on Wages and Income (Personal Income using Home and Business)
• Click on I'll choose what I work on (if shown)
• Scroll down to Less Common Income
• On Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion, click on the start or update button

Or enter foreign income in the Search/Find box located in the upper right of the program screen.  Click on Jump to foreign income

[Carl]

Take note that after you delete all W-2 entry data, you still have to work through the W-2 section and select the option for "I don't have any W-2's" If you don't select that option, the program will not let you e-file.