I keep getting stuck on the screen to enter an amount for Sch SE-T Max Deferral Line 18. I don't want to defer anything. When I enter "0", it says the amount is too large

[sammydancer85]

How can I get past this screen so I can file my taxes?

[KathrynG3]

To get past this screen so you can file your taxes, delete Sch SE-T, take a quick run through of the self-employment to recalculate Sch SE-T, and then turn off the Max Deferral. To do this in TurboTax, follow these steps:

First, delete Sch SE-T that applies 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, select Delete, confirm the deletion.

Next, to replace Sch SE-T, 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. 

Lastly, revisit the section for the Self-employment tax deferral entry:

1. Return to the Deductions & Credits section.
2. Scroll to Tax relief related to COVID-19 and Show More.
3. Select Self-employment tax deferral and select Revisit.
4. Answer Yes at the next screen to get back to Let's start by getting your eligible income.
   1. If you do not want to defer any self-employment income, "Enter your eligible self-employment income" should be blank.
      1. Select Continue.
   2. At Tell us how much you'd like to defer, "Enter amount" should be blank.
      1. Select Continue.
5. Scroll down and select Wrap up Tax Breaks and Continue.
6. Run through the Federal Review again.

[rclerkin]

The fix is not working for me. I still get the same error message.

[KathrynG3]

Typically, leaving the not applicable section blank is preferred. However, in this case, your reply is required.

You have two other options to try.

Option 1: Enter 0, reflecting the amount you wish to use in calculating a deferral.

Option 2: Try entering 280/365 of your income for 2020 in this line. 

[Edited 02/10/2021 | 10:35 AM PST]

@rclerkin

[bbeckham23]

Hoping you might be able to help with my situation.....

Self Employment Tax Schedule SE

Line 2 -  -7080

Line 3 - -7080

Line 4C - -7080

Line 14 - 5640

Line 18 - 5849 - (Max deferral is too Large)

No clue how this is being calculated or where the number came from.  This is first year this has been an issue for me. I do have a Schedule C (Using TT Home and Business).  Any help would be appreciated.  (NOTE: I do also receive a W2 with income so not sure if its maybe pulling figures from that or not).  I have also tried entering "0" and it still says its too large.

[KathrynG3]

It is a new issue this year due to the Covid-19 tax incentives. No, it is not necessarily related to your Form W-2, except that adding the W-2 may have changed your refund status.

TurboTax is asking you to revisit the section regarding deferring a portion of the self-employment tax because before a refund was calculated, you were eligible. However, with a refund, you are no longer eligible.

Therefore, there are some other steps to resolve line 18.

Go back to the interview section to correct these entries and un-trigger any deferral that you can no longer take and probably later declined. You will need to initially accept it before declining.

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. 
   1. This amount should be the same as the correct amount on Line 18 of Sch SE.

1. Select Continue.
2. At Tell us how much you'd like to defer, 
   1. 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.

@bbeckham23

[GregS2]

I keep getting this same error as well. However in my case my side business operated at a loss this year so my business income is negative. Obviously I can't defer anything as there's no income to defer. (I do have income from a W2, but this side hustle was at a loss). It won't let me type 0 in this box.

How can I fix this? (I'm using TurboTax Home & Business)

Sch SE-T

Line 2 =  -3,342.

Line 3 = -3,342.

Line 4C = -3,342.

Line 14 = 5640.

Line 18 = 0. (Max deferral is too Large)

[Whirlaround]

I had the same issue (i.e., having a negative return on my side business, rideshare in my case). I followed KathrynG3's instructions above, and it worked for me. You essentially have to delete the form causing the problem, then re-create it. I ended up going through the process again (in other words, creating the form through the "interview" questions and getting a "maximum value" error) but it only took me through the "loop" one time.

[mofleener]

I did not have this problem for my self employed income, since it was a positive number, but my wife's self employed income was a negative number.  It won't accept any value, 0, less than 0 or greater than 0, but the corresponding 'income' is negative due to deductions.  How do you fix that?

[gloriah5200]

There are two places where you can decline deferral of se tax in the software:

To delete or edit the election to defer your self-employment taxes, do the following in TurboTax:

1. Open your return
2. If you open to the "Hi, let's keep working on your taxes!" screen, click Pick up where you left off.
3. Click Federal in the left pane
4. Click Deductions and Credits in the banner at the top
5. On the Your Tax Breaks page, scroll down until you come to Tax relief related to Covid-19
6. Click Revisit next to Self-employment tax deferral
7. When you're asked Do you want more time to pay self-employment taxes?, answer No

Self-employed taxpayers are allowed to pay 50% of Social Security tax on net earnings from self-employment for the period March 27, 2020 through December 31, 2020.

Another method:

If you go to Tax Tools, then to Tools and then to Federal Review at the top right of the screen, it should open up "Some of your self-employment taxes may be eligible for deferral".

At this point, you can select skip unless you previously selected Continue and entered information in.  If so, you will have to continue instead of skip at that point to remove that information.

When you get to the question, "Tell us how much you'd like to defer", you need to enter 0.  If you leave it blank, the software defaults to the full amount to be deferred.  If you want $0 deferred, you must enter 0 in that box.  Then, it will reset to 0 se tax being deferred.

The opportunity to defer se tax on a return was put in place by the CARES ACT, along with the option of employers deferral of depositing the employer portion of payroll taxes until later.

[abe9]

My problem was that income - expense is negative.

Then even though I deleted SE-T or SE-S, it keeps saying max deferral 0 is too large.

My solution was: I made income- expense was $50 from negative.

       Then it dissolves (even though tax due increased a little bit.)

[JamesG1]

The self-employment tax deferral may have been selected unintentionally.

Are you saying that you added temporary income to qualify for the self-employment tax deferral interview questions?  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.  But I am able to remove the temporary income.

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.

[schnausk]

I believe the issue is that the we are not able to state $0 as the preferred deferral amount. we have negative income and therefore don't want to defer re-payment or $0 not to mention, "we do not qualify for the repayment" but it won't let us e-file. none of these work arounds are working for me.

[schnausk]

just did the same as Abe9 and adjusted the income to a positive $25 and although it increased taxes due with less of a deduction I was able to move past the error.

[MyDadHasATruck]

First, please follow these steps in TurboTax to make sure you did not elect to defer your self-employment taxes:

1. Open your return.
2. Click Federal on the left hand side. 
3. Click Deductions and Credits on the top of the page.
4. On the page Tax Breaks, scroll down until you see Tax relief related to Covid-19.
5. Click Revisit next to Self-employment tax deferral. 
6. Answer no to the question Do you want more time to pay self-employment taxes? 

If that that does clear your error, please try the following:

• Remove the 0 and leave the entry blank 
• Just enter 0 (with no decimal points)