How do I make my Sch SE-S Max deferral line 22 blank if it already says 0.?

[hlbutterfield]

I think its a glitch.  I cannot clear the entry or change the value to 0.00

[JoannaB2]

The line 22, Part 3 (Maximum Deferral of Self-Employment Tax Payments) of Schedule SE was a portion of line 5a (church employee income) that can be attributed to 3/27/2020 through 12/31/2020.  If you have amount on line 5a, Part 1 of Schedule SE, you need to enter it, if none, skip line 22.

The form Schedule-SE are used to calculate self-employment taxes. You can elect to defer the full amount by 12/31/2021 or pay half and pay the rest by 21/31/2022. You may follow the steps below to defer the self-employment taxes.

1. Login to Turbo Tax.
2. Jump to Business tab, then click Business taxes..
3. Click Self-employment taxes, then continue.
4. The screen "Some of your self-employment taxes may be eligible for deferral" click continue.

If you want to defer your self-employment taxes:

• Answer Yes on "Did you want more time to pay your self-employment taxes?".
• Next screen, enter the net self-employment income you earned from March 27, 2020 through December 31, 2020, or if you received steady self-employment income throughout the year, enter 76.5% of self-employment income.
• The next screen will show how much self-employment taxes you may defer, click continue.
• The next screen will say "okay, you're all set up", an itemized payment schedule will appear.You're deferring and $ amount of your self-employment social security tax.
• $ is due on or before  12/31/2021.
• $ is due on or before 12/31/2022.

[djewett164]

How did I get into that form?? I am not self employed or have a farm or any business.

[lizcoley]

Please help me @JoannaB2 ! I have the exact same problem. Line 20 and 22 on Sch SE-S were autofilled as 0. I can't erase them. I can't find the original source of where it is getting the zero from. And why does a 0 not read as equivalent to blank anyway? I am prevented from e-filing with 0's in those spots.

I said I did NOT want to defer any SE tax payments, so I was never on the page which asked how much was earned in each time period. How do I erase these 0s? Or do I throw out the whole SE-S form?

[DawnC]

When the error shows up and you see the form, is there a box at the top of the screen with a zero (0) also?   You can try deleting the zero on the form or in the box above the form to clear it out and get boxes 20 and 22 blank.   You can delete the Schedule SE-S if you still get the error.    If your return requires the form, it will be added back.  

The SE tax that can be deferred comes from income that is typically reported on Schedule C (profit or loss from business) or Schedule H (for household employees) of your tax return.   You can revisit those sections or try to update the information using the covid relief section TurboTax.  Please follow the steps below after you have entered all of your self-employment income and expenses.   

1. Open your return and click on Pick up Where I Left Off
2. Click on Federal on the left menu
3. Click on Deductions and Credits at the top 
4. Scroll Down to Tax Relief for Covid-19 (for the self-employed)
5. The last option is for deferring the SE tax, but you can visit any section there if you are self-employed.  The link above explains more about the tax relief available. 

@lizcoley

[lizcoley]

The only thing that worked was completely deleting Sch SE-S. Then I was able to manually input Sch SE-T line 18 with the correct amount and pass review. The program is insisting that we take the deferral, so  . . . I will.  

[lizcoley]

@hlbutterfield Try this: Remove the whole blasted form Sch SE-S. That's the only thing that worked for me. I don't have farm income either. There seems to be a misdirecting bug in the new code they added for this deferral situation. After deletion, at review, Sch SE-T line 18 will have an error, but it is a field you can manually enter.

[KathrynG3]

The SE Tax deferral is optional and the workaround listed below has been reported to correct the issue. Yes, you are correct, deleting Sch SE is one solution. 

The Workaround to decline deferring any portion of the self-employment tax: temporarily trigger a balance due by adding income long enough to decline the SE tax deferral option, then remove the extra income.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Run the review again.

The error may have initially happened from the following scenario:

• While the return was in a balance due, the tax return was eligible for the Cares Act self-employment tax deferral option. This section was completed.
• However, as more details were entered and the results changed to a refund, the SE tax deferral option was no longer available.  

For more details, see: IRS: Deferral of employment tax deposits and payments through December 31, 2020.

@lizcoley