2021 Form 2210 Calculation Error

[artg]

@sandy4042 

Good morning Sandy.  Could I get a little more clarity on rounding please?  Specifically, when it comes to the TT interview I simply input numbers exactly as they appear on a 1099 (or any form for that matter.) In my years of using TT I've let the software do the rounding when it deems appropriate. 

Are you and @Scooby19 inferring that I can and/or should do my own rounding at input level?  I think this is a very interesting discussion and thank you.

[sandy4042]

@artg , back when I did paper returns, I didn't round, I included the cents.  Then when I worked as a tax volunteer for a couple years, the directive was to do the rounding ourselves before inputting, in the interest of efficiency.  So I carried over that practice when I began using TT for my own returns.  For example as I'm inputting from a 1099-R with a gross of "106.49", I'll enter "106".  If it's "106.50", I'll enter "107".  The only times I've come across in my own tax returns when I've had a mini quandary about rounding is when entering 1099-B (sales report from a broker).  I haven't gotten to the point where I use TT's offer to import data since I rarely have much to report.  So I enter the detail of each stock transaction rounded up or down.  Sometimes the total from this does not match the 1099-B summary line from the broker.  Understandable since I've cut off the cents.  But if I bump a detail amount up or down by a dollar, it will match.  Maybe another solution is to enter the cents for the detail items, but that would break my protocol of no cents appearing on my return.  My main purpose of having the detail and summary amounts match the 1099-B is to pass any IRS red flags that would compare the amounts, but there is probably a range of at least a couple dollars built in to allow for rounding, one would think.

[artg]

@sandy4042 

Thank you, Sandy.  That was a thoughtful and comprehensive answer.

[sandy4042]

Thank you, @artg .  It was useful to me to recall why I may have adjusted some detail amounts up or down a dollar.  Didn't need to do it this year though!

[pkleeberg]

@sandy4042  "Are the amounts in those boxes correct?  You said you retired mid-year, so your withholding reported on your W-2 should be attributed to the first two quarters.  Did you check box D (withholding to  be calculated as of date paid instead of equal installments) as well as box C?"

D was checked but for some reason C was not. So I went to the calculations and form 2210AI is correct.

I still have a problem using easy step. When I get to the smart check it states: "Form 2210: Line D Withholding. The sum of the four columns does not equal to your total withholding for the year." Then the entry box shows the withholding that corresponds to only the entry for the first quarter.  If I go to the form 2210: Line D Withholding, the first quarter value is in red.  If I sum all four columns they equal the total withholding amount that appears on the easy step page.  If I enter the total was holding for the year on the easy step line D withholding, it will place that amount in the first quarter making the rest of the calculations incorrect.

If I cannot resolve this, I will file an extension and pay the total tax owed and hope that eventually this problem can be solved.

Any suggestions?

[sandy4042]

@pkleeberg 

I'm doing a call out to @wmpyoungx .  From their posts, they had the case this year where they checked box D and specified their withholding by quarter (or IRS's quarters).  Check out their post on page 10....here's a quote from it regarding the quarterly input of withholding:

"Check 'yes' for Tax Withholding by Quarter and input actual 2021 withholding. [Remember: even if withholding tax was the same for each pay period throughout the year, tax amounts withheld from 1/1 through 4/15 are usually greater than the other quaters because the first quarter contains 105 days. This is especially true if you are paid weekly.] When you finish this step-by-step input, go to Forms/Tax Payments and review the Tax Payments Worksheet to see if TT tax payments agree with yours."

The only thing on my 2210 which may be comparable is I had a Smart Worksheet for Capital Gains and Dividends that TT used in its allocating amounts to the various time periods.  It has 4 columns representing time periods: 1/1-3/31, 1/1- 5/31, 1/1- 8/31, and 1/1- 12/31.  So they represent accrued to date, not discrete amounts.  I had to be careful when entering that for instance, for the second column, I took the first column amount and added additional dividends that were paid in April and May.  The fourth column being 1/1 - 12/31 is the total for the year.  And when entering my dividend data it had pre-filled the last column, because TT already knows that from my 1099-DIV entry.  So I only had to enter the first three columns.

I realize this isn't withholding as in your case, but I'm just mentioning in case something will be applicable, or trigger some idea that will help your situation.

[pkleeberg]

@sandy4042 

Thank you again for your thorough reply. I had not checked box C so I had to calculate that and that worked out just fine. But I still had that error that I mentioned before.

I called into Intuit and I was surprised to get someone right away who kicked it upstairs to someone who was even more knowledgeable. It turns out it is a glitch and she recommended that I file my taxes on paper which I will do. There may be a correction sometime in the future.  For now I'll pay what I owe electronically and submit my forms, all 60 single-sided pages. They did reimburse me for the electronica state filing fee.

Thank you so much for hanging in there with me.

Paul

[sandy4042]

Paul, I'm glad Intuit helped you right away.  I guess it's a consolation that you owe money instead of having to wait for a refund 😊.  So it sounds like everything on your return was correct except TT smart check was just not letting your return through.  That last step caught me on a couple things too, that made me go huh?  Like things that didn't pertain to me, e.g., child tax credit.  I didn't pay much attention but just entered zero for the blank field on their worksheet.

This thread will be a good reference for next year if we (the community) encounter the same glitches.

[MJK6]

Just checked, it seems that they finally fixed the Schedule AI line 14 tax calculation errors, in the release dated 4/15/22.  What a joke.

[pkleeberg]

@MJK6 and @sandy4042 

Thanks to both of you for all your help. I just updated my TurboTax and the amount I owe for federal and state has not changed.

I had to mail many pages of paper copies which I'm sure is not gonna make either Minnesota or the IRS very happy. Luckily, I won't have to wait for a rebate.