Issue with TurboTax 2020 W4 Calculator

[bail8738]

I'm trying to use the W4 calculator in Turbo Tax 2020.  When I get to the screen to enter the federal income tax withheld to date, Turbo Tax does not allow me to enter anything.  For me and my wife, both of the boxes are pre-populated with "0." and I cannot edit these values.  It doesn't look like I did anything wrong in the calculator to lock out the entry boxes.  Is this a bug in Turbo Tax?  Anyone else having this issue?

[JeanneLO]

You may need to log out and restart your computer, then log back in, or try another browser. You may also need to clear your cache and cookies to use the W4 calculator in TurboTax.

To clear your cache use this TurboTax FAQ

To delete your cookies use this TurboTax FAQ

[bail8738]

Thanks for the suggestions, however, this did not fix the problem in TurboTax.  It's still pre-populating "0." for Federal Income Tax Withheld and I cannot edit the fields.  Please see attached screenshot.  This is preventing me from entering my YTD taxes withheld.

[bail8738]

I think I figured out the problem.  You have to enter your YTD withholding earlier in the W4 calculator on the Enter Your 2021 W2 Wage Information.  Enter your wages and then YTD withholding.  This then populates the Federal Income Tax Withheld fields that are several screens later on the Enter Payments You've Already Made screen.  Alternatively, you can pull up the actual form by clicking Show ES & W4 Wks all the way at the bottom of the screen.  YTD federal income tax withholding can be entered in the W2 box.

Now, the question is, why doesn't TurboTax allow you to enter / modify federal income tax withheld on the Enter Payments You've Already Made screen.  It makes sense to be able to edit the tax withheld YTD here because that's the title of the screen.  TurboTax Team should clarify the Withholding on the earlier screen Enter Your 2021- W2 Wage Information to say 2021 YTD Withholding.  Otherwise, it is confusing because the 2020 column shows the full year withholding, so it makes you think you have to guess your total withholding for 2021, but you just have to enter the YTD withholding there.

[lindsayta]

Here it is March 2024 and this issue has not been fixed. No change. The previous commentor's suggestion are the best way to work around this bug.

[CatinaT1]

The IRS has a W4 Calculator. My suggestion is to use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator here.