Reject Code F1040-461 doesn't make sense

[m9jub]

Hi, I received the below e-file rejection. I am married filing separately from my spouse. My spouse is being claimed as a dependent by someone else. Unless IRS changed rules, I thought people who file jointly cannot be claimed as dependents? The reject error is telling me the complete opposite. 

Federal return rejection 

Reject Code F1040-461

Description of error:

If Form 1040, 'SpouseClaimAsDependentInd' is checked, then the filing status of the return must be married filing jointly.

What needs to be done:

This return has been rejected by the IRS, because you have indicated that the Spouse can be claimed as a dependent on another return. For e-filing purposes this election can be made only if the taxpayer's filing status is Married Filing Jointly. 1) Review the taxpayer's filing status to ensure that the correct filing status has been selected. 2) If spouse information is present in the return, review the the spouse's personal information. 3) If the filing status on the return is not Married Filing Jointly, do not indicate that the spouse can be claimed as a dependent on another person's return.

[m9jub]

I am sorry to bump this up, but is there anyone who can help me with this issue?

I called TurboTax customer support and they cited VITA publication 4491, which says "You can’t claim a married person who files a joint return as a dependent unless that joint return is only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid."

That is literally the opposite of what the reject error fix is telling me to do. The person on the line said they could not help me any further unless I pay an additional $129 for a CPA. It doesn't take a CPA to see 2 contradicting statements, and I feel it's unfair that I have to pay additional to look into a TurboTax software issue. 

If anyone has any experience dealing with something similar, I would appreciate your response. 

[JohnW152]

While it's generally the case that a married person can't be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return if the married person files a joint return, an exception applies.

According to the Exception under Joint Return Test in IRS Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, "You can claim a person as a dependent who files a joint return if that person and that person’s spouse file the joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid."

This reflects the text in the What needs to be done description.

If you want to file as Married Filing Separately, you can claim the personal exemption for your spouse only if they:

• Had no gross income, and
• Aren't filing a return, and
• Weren't the dependent of another taxpayer.

[m9jub · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your response, I appreciate that. 

I agree with what you wrote there so I wondered if that box was only meant for those who meet the exception to file jointly and be claimed as a dependent. I dug into f1040 instructions for that particular section, lo and behold, those boxes in the "standard deduction" section on 1040 relating to spouse should only be checked if the return is being filed jointly.

For anyone else married filing separately and running into Reject Code F1040-461: If your spouse can be claimed as a dependent on their MFS return, please uncheck the "spouse can be claimed as a dependent" box on your return. Even if it is true, this statement is not meant to be answered by MFS taxpayers.  It says in the 1040 instructions that this box should only be checked if the return is MFJ (in cases under the exception mentioned by JohnW152 above). I unchecked the box and re-efiled, return was accepted.