How can I enter numbers in to resolve the"Check This Entry" Sch SE-S: Max deferral line 18 "must be entered" error in review? It won't let me enter a number and continue.

[benjamminhansen]

In review of my Schedule SE-S for self-employment tax, TurboTax says I need to enter in the Max deferral line 18 (it's blank currently). I don't really know what this is but believe it's how much of your self-employed income you want to defer paying taxes on. I don't want to defer any of it so I would like to enter zero but doing so does nothing. I cannot continue through the review process.

[KathrynG3 · Accepted solution]

This is a question because of initially qualifying to defer a portion of your self-employment tax, before all the details were entered into the return. Once a refund was established, the deferral was no longer an option.

If you return to the section directly, you may not see the screens necessary to adjust this since you no longer qualify for the option. 

The easiest and fastest solution is to enter nothing--leave the response blank.

If you cannot leave the response blank, then first make sure the program is up to date by following these steps:

Step 1:

• TurboTax Online: Close out of the program completely and close the browser. Re-open using an incognito Chrome browser on a PC, not a Chromebook or iPad.
• TurboTax CD/Download: Check for updates--depending on your version, this is found either under the menu item Online or Help.

Step 2:

1. Delete the Sch SE that applies--(Sch SE-T is for Taxpayer, Sch SE-S for Spouse)--by following these steps:
   1. From the left menu, select Tax Tools.
   2. Select Tools.
   3. Scroll to Delete a Form.
   4. Scroll to Sch SE-T and/or Sch SE-S and select Delete.
2. Return to the self-employment income & expenses interview in the Income & Expenses section and select Edit/Add.
   1. Select Edit for your business.
   2. Scroll down to Done so that the Sch SE is recalculated. 
   3. Finish any other questions in the self-employment interview and click Continue.
3. Review the return again.
   
    

If this box cannot be left blank after updates and after deleting Sch SE, and you are still experiencing unexpected results, then there is one more process to try: temporarily trigger a balance due by adding income long enough to decline the SE tax deferral option, then remove the extra income.

To do this in TurboTax, follow these steps:

Enter a temporary amount as income in the self-employment section that will result in you not having a refund.

1. From the left menu, select Federal.
2. From the Income & Expenses, scroll to Self-employment income & expenses and Edit/Add.
3. At Your 2020 work summary, select Edit.
4. Under INCOME, select Add income for this work.
5. Add Other self-employed income, includes 1099-K, cash, and checks and Continue.
6. At Type of income, enter Temp income to remove deferral and enter a large amount, such as $100,000 and Continue.

Decline to defer any self-employment tax.

1. From the left menu, click on Federal.
2. Click the second tab from the left, Deductions & Credits.
3. Scroll down to Tax Relief related to Covid-19 and Revisit.
4. Select Self-employment tax deferral and select Revisit.
5. Answer Yes at the next screen to get back to Let's start by getting your eligible income
   1. Enter 280/366ths of your income to reflect the income from March 27-December 31, 2021. 
      • This amount should be calculated and entered without the false added income, and will post to Line 18 of Sch SE
   1. ​​​​​​​Select Continue.
   1. At Tell us how much you'd like to defer, 
      • Enter 0.

​​​​​​​Remove the temporary income.

1. From the left menu, select Federal.
2. From the Income & Expenses, scroll to Self-employment income & expenses and Edit/Add.
3. At Your 2020 work summary, select Edit.
4. Under INCOME, select the Trash can icon next to Temp income to remove deferral and Continue.

For more details, see TurboTax Expert @DawnC's answer here, about 2/3 down the page: Resolve Sch SE-T Max Deferral Line 18 must be entered.

[Merle-78]

this solution does not work for me, because I have a business loss. i should not have any Self-employee tax at all. the program should stop at 4c, since the amt (loss) is less then $400. 

when I put in the dummy, it passed the line 18, but when I remove the dummy, it back to error "amount is too large" again.  there are two places the progarm check for defer, one in covid-19 release, one when you did federal review.  if I delete the form, program auto add it back in and flag it as error. HELP! if I cant pass the check, I cannot e-file!!!!

[JamesG1]

Perhaps you could enter a temporary business gain.  Then follow the steps to remove the self-employment tax deferral.  Then correct the entry back to the business loss?

In TurboTax Online Self-Employed, I was able to remove self-employment tax deferral and pass Review.  Follow these steps. 

• Down the left side of the screen, click on Federal.
• Across the top of the screen, click on Deductions  & credits.
• Under Your tax breaks, scroll down to Self-employment tax deferral.
• Click on Edit/Add to the right of Self-employment tax deferral.
• At the screen Do you want more time to pay your self-employment tax?, click Yes.
• At the screen Let's start by getting your eligible income, I have left the dollar amount that was previously entered, others change this amount to $0.
• Click on Continue.
• At the screen Tell us how much you'd like to defer, delete the dollar amount.
• Click Continue.
• Click through Federal Review to make sure than the Review issue has been removed.
• At the screen Some of your self-employment taxes may be eligible, click Skip. 

The self-employment tax deferral is an optional benefit.  It is also a deferral rather than forgiveness, so those amounts will eventually need to be repaid. Half of the deferred amount is due on December 31, 2021, and the other half is due on December 31, 2022.

[benjamminhansen]

Thanks @KathrynG3. This solved it for me! Once I deleted my SE-S form, re-verified the self-income section, and redid the review process in Safari TurboTax Online, it processed successfully, no "Check entry" errors.

[halematt]

This worked for me. I followed every step exactly and the issue was resolved. Thank you!

[MatthewMrHope]

I have the same exact problem.  I have a business loss and the program has a bug and won't let it go.  Dear support people please get this fixed!  Thanks 

[KrisD15]

Did you update your desktop program? 

Click ONLINE when opening then click "Check for updates" 

Delete the SE then try leaving the box blank. 

[MatthewMrHope]

Yes, I updated, deleted se-t and left the box (tried to) leave the box blank.

Thanks for responding

[JamesG1]

In some cases, you may need to add temporary income to your self-employment activity to generate a balance due and allow you to access the self-employment tax deferral questions. 

In TurboTax Online Self-Employed, I was able to remove self-employment tax deferral and pass Review.   Follow these steps.

• Down the left side of the screen, click on Federal.
• Across the top of the screen, click on Deductions  & credits.
• Under Your tax breaks, scroll down to Self-employment tax deferral.
• Click on Edit/Add to the right of Self-employment tax deferral.
• At the screen Do you want more time to pay your self-employment tax?, click Yes.
• At the screen Let's start by getting your eligible income, delete dollar amount or change to $0.
• Click on Continue.
• At the screen Tell us how much you'd like to defer, delete the dollar amount or change to $0.
• Click Continue.
• Click through Federal Review to make sure than the Review issue has been removed.
• At the screen Some of your self-employment taxes may be eligible, click Skip.

The self-employment tax deferral is an optional benefit.  It is also a deferral rather than forgiveness, so those amounts will eventually need to be repaid. Half of the deferred amount is due on December 31, 2021, and the other half is due on December 31, 2022.