E-file rejected due to ForeignTaxesPaidOrAccruedDt on Form 1116

[Radtree]

Thank you ABitAnnoyed and DeskandChairs! It looks like I'll be buying TaxAct next year.  I'm thinking I'll try that first... if I'm dissatisfied and find myself missing Turbotax, I can always go back to Turbotax. But somehow, I doubt that will happen.

[theTA007]

Reply to ABitAnnoyed

For avoidance of doubt, I was able to efile on Monday evening with the Simplified AMT election.  See my other longer note this morning for more details if interested.

[Radtree]

theTA007,

I wonder if it might be different for different versions. What version of Turobtax were you able to efile with?

I'm using the Home & Biz version for Windows 10.

Also, what message were you getting when you tried to submit for efiling and it didn't go through?

The ones I get come right after I hit the submit button (the final step which is supposed to irrevocably file it--just like dropping the return the mail, Turbtax says. First  a box comes up that says, "We Need to Make One More Check - Everything looks great on your return... But before you e-file, we need a little more information we didn't need earlier."  When I press the "continue" button, I get a second more fatal message:  "We Won't Be Able to E-file Your Return - It looks like you have a form or tax situation in your federal return that TurboTax doesn't support for e-filing. We do support it for filing by mail. Here are the details: You elected simplified AMT Foreign Tax Credit limitation. Print the return and file by mail."

It looks like they have put a hard block on efiling. This seems to be their "fix".

[theTA007]

Radtree,

I'm on Deluxe download version, presumably for Windows 10.

I didn't save a copy of  the message I got, but it was more generic.  It said something like

Some information required for Form 1116 was incomplete or left blank.  Please go back into TurboTax, Federal Taxes, Deductions and Credits, Estimates and Other Taxes Paid.  Then click on Foreign Taxes and complete all questions, check for errors, and file your return again.  If this does not work, you can always submit your tax return by mail.

[Foxbat]

I was using 2020 TT Premiere download.  I received a number of different messages about why each time I was rejected or not allowed to file.  As you have seen from others, the stated TT reject notice reason and the actual underlying reason are not necessarily related.  To understand the real reason, we would have to be in a test environment where filing attempts would not be final if in fact it went through.  At this point I believe that TT internally lacks understanding of what the bug is and throws out various (sorry about the "various" pun) reasons as to why a return is being rejected.  The only thing that seems to be reliably accurate is that involves Foreign Tax Credits.   

Conclusion:  Ignore the stated reason and review in painful detail every entry, line and box that you have input or requires your input in Forms 1099-DIV, Form 1116 Worksheet and Form 1116 itself.  For those of us using the Simplified AMT (nearly all of us) you do not need to touch that form (6251) except to confirm you are electing the Simplified method.

At one point I thought I had things so bollocks that I deleted my Form 1099-DIVs and Form 1116 then reloaded them.  Not sure if that is such a great idea, but I was getting desperate to find the solution which turned out to be that long note I prepared that is now shown on Page 1 of this thread as a/the "Solution".

[irsispita]

I am having a strange experience - TTax Premier online simply cannot efile my returns. All checks are green and it tries to efile, waits for a minute and then gives me "We're having trouble detecting your transmission" without any actual error code. No idea if this is related to the Foreign Tax credit or not. The support has been clueless so far, tried different platforms even Mobile, still not working. 

[Foxbat]

Irsispita,

That does not sound like a Form 1116 related problem, perhaps something with the TT system such as an overload.  I'd give it some time and try again.  If still no joy, try TT Tech Support to see if their system is down or some other problem.

[irsispita]

@Foxbat Yeah, I understand that this is not necessarily related to the topic of this thread. No, this has been going for a couple of days for me. The support has been completely clueless. 

[Deskandchairs]

I was just looking on-line for reviews of tax prep services.  you may want to do the same before deciding based only on this forum.  Try https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/taxact-2021-tax-year-2020

I learned that TaxAct is on-line only, which is a deal breaker for me.  I want the software on my computer.

Also the price they charge you is not based on when you sign up, but rather when you file.  And prices go up as the filing season goes along.

[Radtree]

Deskandchairs,

Thank you for letting us know. Saved me time, because online only is also a deal breaker for me.

The pricing sounds like a bait-and-switch scheme also. 

[ABitAnnoyed]

Absolutely agree about checking out other reviews, etc.   

For what it's worth, I tried H&R Block first, because of online reviews.   For my particular case, it didn't work because it miscalculated my taxes in one spot.   However, chances are that specific issue doesn't affect most people - in particular it wouldn't affect anyone who wasn't in danger of paying AMT.  

On the positive side for Block, they do have people on staff that (I assume) know something about taxes, since they have brick-and-mortar tax stores.   I am not interested in involving other humans, but for those who are, that might be a major differentiator between Block and the others.   They charge extra for that, of course.

I don't know about the reported pricing issue.  TaxAct, Block, and TT are all roughly the same price.   I suspect, but do not know for sure, that the TaxAct price is set when you pay for it, not when you file, just as the others are.   It does sound like TaxAct raises their prices as the deadline gets closer - I think TT used to do that also, don't know if they've stopped.  

I used only the online versions of all three - I prefer that.  But if you want the software on your computer, then that is certainly something you have to take into account.

[KP96]

Hi all - 

Wanted to provide an update on what I decided to do in order for an e-file accepted return.

My income is 100% foreign. 

I went ahead and changed to non-simplified AMT method and verified that the taxes are owe are the same vs. simplified method (which I filed in all previous years).   Technically I need permission from IRS to do this, but given taxes are exactly the same will just address it later when contacted.

The efile was accepted. 

Separately have submitted to TT team my disappointment about the lack of clarify on solving this issue that is affecting so many users.   Also, I live abroad in a COVID lockdown market at the moment in Asia, so going out and mailing something not only increases expenses but also poses a current health risk for me.   

Super disappointed with the TT team that they are very slow to react for an issue that was caught early by so many users and their lack of priority and focus for this fix.   

Hope everyone get through this smoothly.

[irsispita]

Well, I had an "interesting" experience over the past two days - I spent more time trying to file than to actually fill out my taxes. Finally, after a taking a break, and after clearing my browsers' histories, trying three different browsers and mobile, restarts, it worked. However, I am convinced the problem is on the TTax server end. My return was accepted by the IRS within two hours.

I think I used the simplified AMT FTC method (but I cannot be sure after all the tries). I am not even subject to AMT so both methods were generating only one Form 1116. Looking at Form 1116 I have "1099 taxes" as a date, this is actually recommended by the IRS. I also combined my "smaller" dividend countries as "Various", and I also have a column for RIC (luckily one of my brokerages was all RIC for me). This was an interesting thread, thanks to all. Good luck ! Let's see if this will be fixed next year or, hopefully, the IRS will make life easier *yeah, right)

[irsispita]

@Deskandchairs Out of curiosity how does TaxAct handle dividends from multiple countries on Form 1116 ? Thanks. Ironically, TaxAct was the first software I used ages ago, but then I switched to TTax about 10 years ago or so. But after all my issues this year, I might consider switching back next year.

[Deskandchairs]

I have no idea about such details as I am not a user.  Everything I know comes from the review at

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/taxact-2021-tax-year-2020

As far as I can tell on this board, only ABitAnnoyed has actual experience with other software for the 2020 return