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Until 5 April 2019, TurboTax made a W-2 Worksheet error if the total of all Codes in Box 12 of all copies of your W-2 Forms exceeds $18,500. Now there's no warning: Why?

Background:  According to TurboTax, IRS section 402(g) limits an individual's 401(k) combined contributions to $18,500.  The limit of the sum of an individual's Form W-2 Box 12 entries (from all employers) with Codes D, E, F, G, H, S, AA, BB, and EE are not permitted to exceed $18,500.   ( This is explained in the answer at:  https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4709961-w-2g-summary-elective-deferrals-sp-37k-is-more-than-the-al...  and in the answer at:  https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4574677-turbo-tax-is-saying-i-put-too-much-in-my-roth-401k-how-can... )  Up until 5 April 2019, TurboTax would fill out a W-2 Worksheet with an exclamation mark error if you exceeded the $18,500 limit and tell you that you had to remove the excess amount - but you couldn't file because it was impossible to remove the exclamation mark.  This was acknowledged as a bug in TurboTax the previous week, with 5 April 2019 as the date for providing a fix.  I updated TurboTax on 5 April 2019, and the W-2 worksheet no longer appears so nothing warns you about the amount being over $18,500.  Assuming that the total in Box 12 is supposed to include Codes D and AA, and that TurboTax was correct before and the total of Codes D and AA in Box 12 are not allowed to exceed $18,500, what is going to warn us when we are over the $18,500 amount?  It seems that the fix implemented by the programmers at TurboTax just eliminated the warning exclamation mark simply by ignoring the $18,500 limit, so now everyone can e-file:  But they have also eliminated any warning when the limit is exceeded.  So TurboTax fixed this bug by making the problem even worse!  When fixing this new error, the TurboTax programmers should also tell you that you have to add a Form 1099-R with the excess amount (over the $18,500) into your 2018 taxes, after you have had the company administering your retirement plan remove the excess from your account and invest it somewhere else - all before 15 April 2019.

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2 Replies
dmertz
Level 15

Until 5 April 2019, TurboTax made a W-2 Worksheet error if the total of all Codes in Box 12 of all copies of your W-2 Forms exceeds $18,500. Now there's no warning: Why?

The check you are referring to was introduced in a recent version of TurboTax.  However, it was so badly implemented that it caused havoc and the developers removed much of the originally added checking.  Only some of the checking remains.  Some of what remains is still flawed with regard to special catch-up contributions to 403(b) and 457(b) plans, so expect more changes in the future.

brett
New Member

Until 5 April 2019, TurboTax made a W-2 Worksheet error if the total of all Codes in Box 12 of all copies of your W-2 Forms exceeds $18,500. Now there's no warning: Why?

TurboTax - PLEASE get this fixed! In my specific case, contributions were returned to me in 2018 already, I received a 1099-R from Fidelity with code 8 and you (turbotax) clearly know about it since you have added it to my W2 income on 1040 line 1.

Please improve the intelligence of the check before e-filing. This test should not be less aware than all the tests applied when answering the questions. This test is clearly lacking some logic.

I have now paid $25 for a state e-file that I am not able to use (can't e-file state if federal is not e-filed).

Been a happy customer for > 10 years but this is just pushing me over the edge.......

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