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In March, I filed for an extension (and was approved) for my 2021 tax return. I am trying to complete the return now, but cannot figure out how to "reopen" my return.

 
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In March, I filed for an extension (and was approved) for my 2021 tax return. I am trying to complete the return now, but cannot figure out how to "reopen" my return.

If TurboTax thinks you were finished, and the return interview is closed, here's how to open it back up to continue working on your return, enter the extension payment, etc.

 

  • Log in and at the Tax Home look for a link "Add a State."
  • Click on "Add a State."  (you don't really add one.  That's just to open your return back up.)

If you used TurboTax to file the extension, it "may" be prepopulated on your return, but you need to check to be sure you get credit for it.   If your extension payment has not been reported, here are the navigation steps to do so.  You can also go through these steps as another way to confirm it has been reported.

 

  • In the left menu column, click the Federal tab
  • Then click the subtab Deductions & Credits.
  • Scroll way down on the "Tax Breaks" screen until you see the category "Estimates and Other Taxes Paid."
  • Click "Show More" to expand the subtopics, and choose "Income Taxes Paid."  (click Start or Revisit).
  • On the next screen, titled "Income Taxes Paid," you should see a category of  "Payments with Extension."  Choose the type of extension payment and click Start or Revisit.

NOTE:  If this is a Federal extension payment,  before filing verify that the payment shows up on Schedule 3, Line 10.   It should also be included in the figure showing on your Federal Form 1040, Line 31.

 

If you have a state or local extension payment, verify the respective state/local payment shows up on that return, too.

In March, I filed for an extension (and was approved) for my 2021 tax return. I am trying to complete the return now, but cannot figure out how to "reopen" my return.

Thank you for replying quickly!

 

Your instructions don't seem to apply to my situation. There is no "Tax Home" tab or drop-down for me to click. When I login to turbotax.intuit.com, there is a gray bar on the left side of my screen that has two links at the very bottom, "Intuit Account" and "Sign Out." The center of my screen is all white with two boxes, "See IRS Free File Offers"  and "See TurboTax Products." The bottom of the screen has a drop down,  "Your Tax Returns & Documents." This drop down seems like the place to go, but the most recent document is my 2020 tax return, and I'm trying to complete my 2021 return.

 

None of the links you listed appear on my screen, so I'm not sure how to get to the appropriate menu/workspace. I know I applied for a filing extension through TurboTax because I still have the confirmation email from March.

 

Thank you again for your help!

In March, I filed for an extension (and was approved) for my 2021 tax return. I am trying to complete the return now, but cannot figure out how to "reopen" my return.


@ corycoogan  wrote:

Your instructions don't seem to apply to my situation. There is no "Tax Home" tab or drop-down for me to click. When I login to turbotax.intuit.com, there is a gray bar on the left side of my screen that has two links at the very bottom, "Intuit Account" and "Sign Out." The center of my screen is all white with two boxes, "See IRS Free File Offers"  and "See TurboTax Products." The bottom of the screen has a drop down,  "Your Tax Returns & Documents." This drop down seems like the place to go, but the most recent document is my 2020 tax return, and I'm trying to complete my 2021 return.

 

None of the links you listed appear on my screen, so I'm not sure how to get to the appropriate menu/workspace. I know I applied for a filing extension through TurboTax because I still have the confirmation email from March.


Did you choose a product edition and start a 2021 return when you filed your extension request, and have you worked on the TurboTax return interview previously?    What you wrote above implies you either haven't started a return in that account, or you are in the wrong account.  The Tax Home tab will not appear unless a product has been chosen and a return has been started in that account.  Everything you wrote above is what you would experience if you had not yet started a return in that account.   In your original question you said "reopen", so I assumed you started a return previously.    If you DID start a tax return, then you are likely in the wrong account.   I'll tell you lower down how to look for multiple accounts.   First see these 3 screen images of what the left column menu looks like under various circumstances:

 

leftmenunotstarted.png

 

 

 

 

.

leftmenustarted.png

 

 

 

 

.

Leftmenufullyopen.png

 

 

 

 

.

When you log in, if you are seeing no evidence of the Tax Home tab (as explained in that first image), then that means a return has not been started in that account.   If you did already start one (i.e., if you chose a product and began answering the return interview), then here's how to look for multiple accounts. 

 

NOTE:  The email address shown on your extension confirmation may or may not be the User ID of your account.    The User ID does not have to be the same as the notification email address.  You can have up to 5 accounts that use the same email address for notification purposes.  A User ID may be an email address, but it doesn't have to be.  It might be only part of an email address, or it can be anything at all.

 

To get a list of your User IDs, reset password if necessary, and recover account access, etc., you can use the tool at the link below.  When using the Account Recovery tool, try using your phone number first if you can still access it.   After that, if necessary, then run the tool on your email address(es) you can access.

NOTE: Before running the account recovery tool below, log out of all Intuit accounts including this user forum, or you might end up in a loop.  Then clear your browser Internet cache, close your browser, then reopen it, and go to the link below.  You may wish to copy this link so you can paste it into the new browser session.

https://myturbotax.intuit.com/account-recovery

If still no luck after running that on your phone number you can still access and the email address(es) that you can access,  here's another method:

Go back to the tool again, but this time leave the data field blank, scroll down a bit, then choose the small blue link that says "Try something else", and it will look you up by SSN and other parameters.

In March, I filed for an extension (and was approved) for my 2021 tax return. I am trying to complete the return now, but cannot figure out how to "reopen" my return.

@corycoogan   I edited the above for clarification.  You may have been emailed the original version prior to any edits.  You can view the full response in this forum.

In March, I filed for an extension (and was approved) for my 2021 tax return. I am trying to complete the return now, but cannot figure out how to "reopen" my return.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

You were very thorough, and it solved my problem (wrong account). I was able to finish filing today. Wherever you are, have an excellent day 😁

In March, I filed for an extension (and was approved) for my 2021 tax return. I am trying to complete the return now, but cannot figure out how to "reopen" my return.

Great news!  You're welcome.  Good luck.

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