Will Turbo Tax be providing the e-fileable PDF General Dependency Stmt of Form 8915-E, released by IRS, as per IRS statement on Feb. 8 - Alternative File Methods? When?

[JohnW152]

@suemartensen There's currently no tentative release date for Form 8915-E, or any contingency for attaching a PDF to your return.

However, you can sign up to receive an email once the form becomes available.

Please see the TurboTax Help article Why am I getting getting a 10% penalty on my 1099-R when I withdrew fund during Covid? (Form 8915-E) for more information.

[Edited 2/10/2021 | 10:38 am PST]

[Matt94]

So are we still going to be able to e file with Turbo Tax? We then just fill out this form separate and mail it in? I don't want to lose my e-file status over this form. Any advice or do you know when it will be available to download on the software? I have the deluxe edition. I am seeing Feb 18th?

[suemartensen]

So can we not e file? I'm very confused. Just went into the tax return again and it still has the 10% penalty attached. I've answered all the questions and qualify to have it waived but then the message says that....

You'll need to revisit this area. The IRS instructions related to disaster distributions weren't ready in time for us to include them in this release. Please revisit this area later. 

The above is the message today 2/10/21.

[suemartensen]

This is my question too...IRS says that the online tax companies need to provide the PDF form so the 8915E can be e filed. I sure am hoping that since Turbo Tax is a large online tax company that they will do this. 

[Opus 17]

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@suemartensen wrote:

This is my question too...IRS says that the online tax companies need to provide the PDF form so the 8915E can be e filed. I sure am hoping that since Turbo Tax is a large online tax company that they will do this. 

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We don't know.  Turbotax has never before had the ability to include PDF attachments.  The idea of including a text file formatted in a specific way (dependency statement) may be easier to program.  We have asked the moderators for information, and they have not posted anything for us.

The Feb 18 date is the IRS date, it is not necessarily the date when Turbotax will be ready to implement the IRS instructions. 

Turbotax has a signup to be informed when the form is ready.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/why-am-i-getting-getting-a-10-penalty-on-my-1099-r...

Here is the Turbotax forms availability table, you will see that as of today, 8915-E is not even listed.  Apparently that is because it does not officially exist since the IRS has not finalized it (not my logic).  Once the IRS finalizes the form, the list will hopefully be updated to show when it will be available in Turbotax.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/forms/help/irs-forms-availability-table-for-turbotax-individual-pe...

From the IRS [emphasis added]

Because Form 8915-E is new and impacted by recent legislation, it has not been enabled in XML for e-filing, and e-filed returns are to include an attached PDF of Form 8915-E. As an alternative to attaching a PDF of Form 8915-E, to increase e-filing and reduce paper filing, software providers may instead include with the e-filed return a general dependency statement that includes all the information requested on Form 8915-E if they have issues with attaching a PDF. Such a statement should look similar to the following.

[Matt94]

Any idea the date on this? When will it be updated on TT?

[ajd878787]

Hello - does anyone know what a dependency statement actually means ? If one attaches a PDF or dependency statement to their efiling documents, is the refund or amount owed correct and reflective of the attached 8915-E statement or does the IRS manually need to review the attachements before making the amount owed or paid correct thus delaying the refund date significantly ?

[Opus 17]

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@ajd878787 wrote:

Hello - does anyone know what a dependency statement actually means ? If one attaches a PDF or dependency statement to their efiling documents, is the refund or amount owed correct and reflective of the attached 8915-E statement or does the IRS manually need to review the attachements before making the amount owed or paid correct thus delaying the refund date significantly ?

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 This is from the IRS specifications for the E-file system.

General Dependency 

As explained above, the General Dependency was created to allow for the submission of information that is not specified in a predefined schema. Starting in Processing Year 2010, MeF implemented three General Dependencies: 

• “GeneralDependency” allows for an explanation of up to 1 million characters (e-file type is LongExplanationType). This dependency is available on Forms 1120, 1041 and 1065 

• “GeneralDependencyMedium” allows for an explanation of up to 100,000 characters (e- File type is MediumExplanationType). This dependency is attached at the parent form level and is available for the following forms; 1040 family, 1041, 1120-F, 1120-S, 720, 2290 and 8849 

• “GeneralDependencySmall” allows for an explanation of up to 5,000 characters (efile type is TextType with maximum length 5,000 characters) 

However, this does not answer the question of whether the return will require manual review before paying (and thus delaying) a refund.    Only the IRS can tell us that, and I don't think they have made a statement. 

[ajd878787]

Thanks for the reply ! I actually received an email from TurboTax today which adds to the confusion: 

“

Hello,

There’s an update on a TurboTax help article you’re following: "Why am I getting getting a 10% penalty on my 1099-R when I withdrew fund during Covid? (Form 8915-E)".

Form 8915-E, which is used for COVID-related early distributions, will

be e-fileable starting 02/24. 

We know it’s frustrating to encounter problems like this. Thanks for your patience while we investigate and work on this issue.

If there’s something else we can help you with, feel free to give us a call. 

Thank you”

It sure sounds like efile will be allowed based on the above ( 02/12/21 email). Anyone else receive something similar ?

[Opus 17]

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@ajd878787 wrote:

Thanks for the reply ! I actually received an email from TurboTax today which adds to the confusion: 

“

Hello,

There’s an update on a TurboTax help article you’re following: "Why am I getting getting a 10% penalty on my 1099-R when I withdrew fund during Covid? (Form 8915-E)".

Form 8915-E, which is used for COVID-related early distributions, will

be e-fileable starting 02/24. 

We know it’s frustrating to encounter problems like this. Thanks for your patience while we investigate and work on this issue.

If there’s something else we can help you with, feel free to give us a call. 

Thank you”

It sure sounds like efile will be allowed based on the above ( 02/12/21 email). Anyone else receive something similar ?

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This FAQ has been updated with the same information.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/why-am-i-getting-getting-a-10-penalty-on-my-1099-r...

I presume that means that turbotax will either generate and attach a PDF, or that Turbotax will generate the required general dependency statement and include it in the electronic return. 

[suemartensen · Accepted solution]

I received an email today saying that the needed form, 8915-E, would be made available for e-file on February 24!

Thanks for all the comments and help! 🙂 

[bomo817]

It appears there is quite a bit of dialogue our there about Form 8915E availability, Turbo Tax work-arounds, and other related topics.  Given the IRS has now finalized the Instructions for this form (I downloaded yesterday, after reviewing the last draft dated February 11, 2021), it would seem to me that Turbo Tax should be able to program these instructions (combined with the latest "draft" Form 8915E) into a new release so that their client base will be able to complete their tax filings.  I am personally waiting on a $10K refund because the Turbo Premier product cannot complete my tax return.  Should I be looking for a "discounted price" on this Turbo Tax product...just wondering???

[Opus 17]

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@bomo817 wrote:

It appears there is quite a bit of dialogue our there about Form 8915E availability, Turbo Tax work-arounds, and other related topics.  Given the IRS has now finalized the Instructions for this form (I downloaded yesterday, after reviewing the last draft dated February 11, 2021), it would seem to me that Turbo Tax should be able to program these instructions (combined with the latest "draft" Form 8915E) into a new release so that their client base will be able to complete their tax filings.  I am personally waiting on a $10K refund because the Turbo Premier product cannot complete my tax return.  Should I be looking for a "discounted price" on this Turbo Tax product...just wondering???

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I'm curious about how people interact with the Live Community, or "real money talk" as it was re-branded.  How did you find this article to make an add-on comment without seeing the 3 previous posts (including one marked "best answer") that all say that Turbotax has announced Feb 24 as the date when the form will be included in turbotax and be e-filable. 

[bomo817]

Let me begin by trying to solve your "curiosity", Champ.  I did read the post about a Feb 24th release update, but have to question who said it, where it came from, and how official it is at this point.  This is based on the fact that I could NOT get any definitive information from either of the 2 EAs at Turbo Tax I spoke with, nor the chat-room contact who put me on hold for 15 minutes before responding "we don't know when the release will be updated".  And to your point about "money talk" - I guess you get what you pay for!