Possible bug TurboTax Deluxe 2020 entering SSN for former spuse

how many zeros in a row are there? is this online or desktop edition? 

When something like this happens, it has always worked for me to delete the entire entry for that person and then add them again.  A social security number can begin with a zero.  That should not be a problem.  What happens sometimes with any computer program is that there is some hidden character that is causing the field to be misread.

Programmers used to call them gremlins.  No matter how correct the field looks, it is being misread and giving a very frustrating error.  If deleting and then adding her information back does not work, contact TurboTax help desk to have an investigation opened.

I am sorry that this happened and assure you that any "bug" will be addressed.

Just one....

The bug appears to surface if it the first character

This is desktop version for Windows running on Windows 10

weird - I tried one zero and it worked fine.  I have Windows Deluxe desktop, 

go into Forms view and change it to the correct number - - does it accept? 

Oh trust me I understand.  For the first part of my career, "programmer" was my job title, so I understand so-called gremlins.

One of the first things I tried was removing it.  Pretty confident it's a bug/defect, not a gremlin (or whatever creature we decide to use).

I think the issue might be related to being technically not allowed the deduction on federal because of the date of the divorce and recent tax law changes regarding destructibility of alimony.  However I do still have to enter it so it will carry through to my MA state taxes (where it remains deductible).  So I have to enter it,and be told "You're not eligible" so my MA return works. 

That may be a unique set of conditions that triggers it.  It drops the leading zero (like some software does, enter 013 and it calls it 13x-xx-xxx), and then declares the SSN invalid

Much of the program is not yet complete and there are many bugs/gremlins still in it .... there will be many updates to come.

If you are just doing this as a what if  and need to enter a fake number for right now then 123  456   789. 

Yes,  a definite bug that I too am hitting.   Scared the heck out of me, since it led me to believe I entered it wrong LAST year.  But, I entered it correctly.   It is certainly stripping the leading zero.  I guess they must think it is a dollar amount.      Lovely.  

I forgot to note,  this is build 2020.48.13.49 that I am running.  Just updated this evening.  
I am guessing there automated tests (I assume they are running automated tests, if not, they should be) did not catch this regression. 

I was able to talk to someone in support about this issue.  It will be reported.  
What we learn however was if you go into `Forms`, and look at the Schedule 1 form, the SSN is indeed correct there (which is really want matters).   If it is not correct, it can be change on the form,  then go back to 'Step-by-Step' and hit done.  

The unfortunate part is forms is not available for me as best I can tell.

Doesn't seem to apply in my situation

Because of the change in law regarding deduction of alimony.

I am not eligible to deduct alimony on Federal (based on date of divorce)....so no "form" is available....it's notc reated I guess....all I can see is a place to fill in my spuse's number as if we were filing jointly (we're no longer married obviously).

 One might ask why I would even bother then?  Because this is where one enters the amount for states (like MA) that still treat alimony as deductible.  There is no place I can just enter it into my MA state form to the best of my knowledge.  If there was, it would be a non-issue

There are many bugs in the program still and time will be needed to exterminate them all.  The IRS is not processing returns until 2/12 and you cannot efile the state until the federal is accepted so try again later.  

Most of MA will not be functional until at least 1/28 ...

https://care-cdn.prodsupportsite.a.intuit.com/forms-availability/turbotax_ma_windows_individual.html

Understood.  Don't even have all the forms I need yet.  Just rasising the issues to see if others encountered it, or if I had done something wrong.

Thanks for your patience.

Being a software engineer myself for the last 45 years,  I totally understand 'bugs', although I don't usually openly say there are many yet to be fixed 🙂     Sure seems like automated testing of the software could have caught something like this, even before it was released.  That is another topic of conversation however. 

I usually am able to file mine as soon as the window opens.  I did not want such a silly bug to cause me to be blocked.  If I can bypass it with the forms, and it gets through all of the checks, then I will be happy.  

The person I spoke to on the phone was quite knowledgeable, and very helpful.  Kudos to support!  

The Jan 14 update appears to have fixed this.

Hmmm..... I did an update last night before starting on this adventure.   Then checked this morning for new updates, and none were found.   Interesting. 

My error.  It did not fix it.  It does behave differently however, as it changes the leading 0 to a 2.