reporting an error in TurboTax Basic as of 1/9/2024

[muktax]

Working on a return. Form 1040 shows the following: line 24 = 22,809 (total tax) line 33 =23,950 (total payments), line 34-36 all zero/blank, line 37=914 (amount you owe), and line 38=55 (estimated tax penalty). 

In fact, using basic arithmetic, line 37 should be -1,141, i.e., refund of 1,141 (with no penalty).

I suspect the problem has something to do with mishandling of line 19=2,000 (child tax credit) or, more likely, line 20=2,000 (energy efficient home improvement tax credit from line 5b on Sch.3, part I): 914-55+1,141=2,000??

To TurboTax staff: please fix this.

[DoninGA]

The IRS Form 5695 Residential Energy Credit for tax year 2023 is not yet finalized in TurboTax.

The form is currently scheduled to be available on 01/17/2024 (subject to change)

Go to this TurboTax website for forms availability - https://form-status.app.intuit.com/tax-forms-availability/formsavailability?albRedirect=true&product...

[rjs]

This is a known error that TurboTax is aware of. We expect that it will be fixed when Form 5695 is finalized. Try again after January 17.

[muktax]

I was aware TurboTax hadn't finalized F5695 yet, but I had actually entered the energy tax credit info some weeks ago by overriding the relevant entry boxes; wanted to estimate 2023 taxes at that time.

The troubling part  is that TurboTax calculated everything correctly at that time and it was only this morning, after recent TurboTax updates, that I noticed the F1040 calculations failed. Both several weeks ago and this morning, the correct $2,000 energy credit appears on the correct F1040 line so the basic arithmetic calculations I mentioned earlier (F1040 line 24 minus line 33) shouldn't be affected by F5695 issues.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that it gets fixed later in January.

Thanks.

[rjs]

The error was introduced in an update on December 21. But once you start using overrides you are on your own. An override can break the TurboTax calculations in unexpected ways, even if the override is in a place that you think has nothing to do with the problem. And an override cancels the accurate calculations guarantee. Before you try the energy credit again, after Form 5695 is finalized, make sure you remove all overrides from the return. Then enter the energy credit using the Step-by-Step interview, when it has been updated to allow the entry.

[rjs]

This calculation error has been fixed in today's update, 2/8/24. But an existing return that contains the error will not automatically get corrected. You have to go through the Home Energy Credits interview again to make it recalculate the return correctly.

[muktax]

Thanks for the heads-up.  Using two separate returns to test the 5695, I tried both the "question and answer" process to enter a heat pump purchase/install costs and, alternatively, entering the info directly via the "forms" method.  Both worked correctly, but I did have to be more careful with the forms approach since it appears one has to enter info for both sections of Part II of the 5695 (section A re Qualified Energy Efficiency Improvements, and section B in order to get the correct credit related to the heat pump costs entered into section B re Residential Energy Property Expenditures).  Since neither of the two test returns will actually include these credits, I could then safely delete the 5695s, but will feel comfortable when doing the return for which the heat pump costs actually apply.