Bug report - joint return w/deceased spouse efile rejected by IRS

[Critter]

Marital  status for a joint return in the year of death is Married not widowed ... Check the return you filed carefully ... are both parties listed on the return ?   Did they get the correct standard deduction ?  

[shellypn]

Thank you so much.  I followed your instructions and thankfully I went back and put and switched what income went to which person.  But it was accepted.  I so did not want to have to redo everything on another website.  I wonder why Turbo Tax took so long to figure out such a simple solution.  I do appreciate that you went on and told us about it.

[abcxyz20]

Hi,

I have the same issue IND-031-04 . I don't know how to switch the income since my 2018 was a joint return with my deceased husband (he was the primary). Can you provide details since I thought the AGI is the same for both persons. Thanks in advance!

[shellypn]

My income was relatively easy to change.  For example, I just went back into the Income Section and clicked update on the Income section that needed to be changed.  On mine it was the 1098-R's.  When you click to update the individual 1098-R- TT asks you, who does this income belong to... I had to switch these items. 

I have to admit that I am so happy to get the IRS to successfully accept it that I did forget to switch the income from Social Security from mine to him.  None of the numbers change, but I will need to amend the return.  I still feel very fortunate that Bonny K. came up with the solution.  Just make sure you go thru the entire tax return and to make sure the income/expenses line up with the right person. Good luck. 

[macuser_22]

A couple things to note:

1) On complex tax returns with carry overs, retirement income, etc, it can be almost impossible to switch the order of spouses.  

2) The IRS instructions say specifically that once a Joint return is filed, then the order of spouses should not be changed or it will cause very long delays in the processing because the return  will be flagged for manual handling and that will take about as long as a mailed return.  There is not much to be gained by switching.

[abcxyz20]

Thanks for responding! If I understand correctly,  you basically  switched the primary to become the secondary. 

I think I agree with other user that doing it potentially cause issue later, but I hope not. A while ago, I called state IRS,  they told me to keep the order of the names the same as 2018 return.  Please report back if you receive refund (or withdraw) . I am very disappointed that Turbo Tax still won't fix the issue while most people with deceased spouse have the same issue. I tried to call IRS 3 times this morning, and got a hold of an agent 2 times but they transferred me and both times I was disconnected.

If IRS lets us switch the primary and secondary, we can always re-enter everything into Turbotax if it turns out the income switching is impossible.   Just hope that TurboTax fixes the issue instead of us jumping through hoops finding a way to handle the issue. It has been more than 3 months since people reported this issue.

[rjs]

---

@shellypn wrote:

I did forget to switch the income from Social Security from mine to him.  None of the numbers change, but I will need to amend the return.

---

@shellypn  The Social Security doesn't matter. On the tax return the Social Security amounts get added together. Entering them separately in TurboTax is just to make it easier to enter. The tax return does not show the separate Social Security amounts for each person.

Do not file an amended return because of the Social Security. Switching the Social Security income makes absolutely no difference in the tax return. There is nothing to amend.

[ljyuc25]

So this is still an issue, does not appear to attempted to be addressed.  I've used TT since 1994. Doing my parents taxes due to my Mom passing away in 2019.  Filed for their 2018 taxes no issue, now 2019 have to go back to a paper filing, absurd.  Shame on you TT for not doing your job, you've lost a customer.  With the deaths in 2020, filing taxes next year should really cause more TT disappointment.  Recommendation use anything but TT!

[mgaucoin]

It has nothing to do with the primary taxpayer. My deceased spouse was the secondary taxpayer on our prior year joint return, and I got the "cannot e-file" message repeatedly before finally printing and filing the paper returns, AFTER paying for $25 state e-file fee. 

[xmasbaby0]

@mgaucoin Contact customer support and ask for a billing adjustment to get the $24.99 state e-file fee removed.  Do not use the word "refund" ---say "billing" in your request.  They will be back after the long holiday weekend.

They are available from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time Monday-Friday.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899263-what-is-the-turbotax-phone-number

[ERA-37]

My token # is 742721.  It looks like TT had this problem over a year and have not resolved the issue.

[Discipulus]

I had gotten a message that the issue for TY2019 was fixed but that didn't come until well after the extended filing deadline and we didn't want to have to file an extension over this.  Ultimately ended up going to Free Tax USA to file my parents taxes due to this issue and the eFile went through without any issues, proving this issue is definitely on the Turbo Tax side and not an IRS issue.  

Since I already filed the taxes via an alternative system I never got to see if this was really fixed or not.  Good luck to anyone still facing this issue.  

[ERA-37]

Problem still not fixed.  Still broke.

[TiffanyL]

If the 2019 adjusted gross income (AGI) or self-select PIN you entered for yourself and/or your spouse doesn't match the numbers in the IRS database, you could get a rejection. You can also try moving your information as the main taxpayer spot. If the issue still persist, please use the FAQ link posted below to reach out to TurboTax for further assistance:

What is the TurboTax phone number?

[shamrockma94]

going through the same, my husband passed away in 2020 and after everything us widows have to endure already we get punished and have to file by mail?  I wish I never used turbo tax.  nothing but glitches and then you pay extra for "live" help and you get no answers but to mail it in.