What do I put in max deferral line 18?

[TMS10]

I have the exact same question! 

[JohnW152]

On Line 18, you're asked to make an estimation of the portion of your net profit or loss, reported on Line 3 of Schedule SE, that you made between March 27, 2020 and December 31, 2020.

The instructions for Line 18 in the IRS's 2020 Instructions for Schedule SE are very vague, but also open-ended, allowing you to use any reasonable method:

Use any reasonable method to divide the net profit or (loss) you reported on line 3 between (a) January 1, 2020, through March 26, 2020, and (b) March 27, 2020, through December 31, 2020. A reasonable method will accurately reflect the time when income was earned or accrued and deductible expenses were paid or incurred, depending on your method of accounting. In most cases, a proportional division of the amount reported on line 3 based upon the number of days in each period will be considered reasonable.

[Paolamontes10]

According to turbo tax support: 
“The SE-T is self-employment taxpayer form. Line 18 is for the amount of money earned between March 27, 2020 and December 31, 2020. The self-employment tax on that portion can be postponed for payment in the following year. You can postpone that portion of your taxes due with no penalties or interest.
You can enter 0 on line 18 if you want to pay all of your taxes this year.
For more information about your 1099 form, please visit https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/form-1099-nec/help/what-is-a-1099-nec/00/1903737.”

-credits to Shanti

[KathrynG3]

What is entered here will depend on if you want to defer any self-employment taxes. However, you cannot defer anything if you are in a refund situation. 

If you are getting an error, it could be from considering the tax deferral, but after entering more details, getting into a refund situation. This would have made you ineligible but could create an error that is best solved by returning to the original entry. 

Go back to the interview section to un-trigger any deferral that you can no longer take and probably later declined. You will need to initially accept it before declining.

To do this in TurboTax, follow these steps:

Enter a temporary amount as income in the self-employment section that will result in you not having a refund.

1. From the left menu, select Federal.
2. From the Income & Expenses, scroll to Self-employment income & expenses and Edit/Add.
3. At Your 2020 work summary, select Edit.
4. Under INCOME, select Add income for this work.
5. Add Other self-employed income, includes 1099-K, cash, and checks and Continue.
6. At Type of income, enter Temp income to remove deferral and enter a large amount, such as $100,000 and Continue.

Decline to defer any self-employment tax.

1. From the left menu, click on Federal.
2. Click the second tab from the left, Deductions & Credits.
3. Scroll down to Tax Relief related to Covid-19 and Revisit.
4. Select Self-employment tax deferral and select Revisit.
5. Answer Yes at the next screen to get back to Let's start by getting your eligible income.
    

1. Enter 280/366ths of your income to reflect the income from March 27-December 31, 2021. 
   1. This amount should be the same as the correct amount on Line 18 of Sch SE.

1. Select Continue.
2. At Tell us how much you'd like to defer, 
   1. Enter 0.

Remove the temporary income.

1. From the left menu, select Federal.
2. From the Income & Expenses, scroll to Self-employment income & expenses and Edit/Add.
3. At Your 2020 work summary, select Edit.
4. Under INCOME, select the Trash can icon next to Temp income to remove deferral and Continue.

For more details, see TurboTax Expert @DawnC's answer here, about 2/3 down the page: Resolve Sch SE-T Max Deferral Line 18 must be entered.

@brvndonheinzz_

@TMS10

@Paolamontes10

[Tinman123]

So If I put $6000 for line 18 and that dropped my taxes due from $1600 to $344, but I'll ultimately still owe $1600, just pay the rest later?

If so when and will I get a bill for it or a notice? Intuit didn't mention upcoming deferral payments so I'm not sure if I owe $344 or $1600 total. 

Thanks

Jason. 

[JeffreyR77]

@Tinman123   You are deferring the payment of $1,256 of 2020 self-employment tax (1600-344). 

You will be required to repay 50% of the deferred amount ($628) by December 31, 2021 and the remainder by December 31, 2022.

Deferral of employment tax deposits and payments through December 31, 2020