Why does it continue to say "Payer 1 has too many characters."this is in the dividend section.

[user3434586265]

I have shortened the name off the dividend payer to be shorter than the others, but it continues to say that and won't let me file.

[LisaBr · Accepted solution]

Sometimes there may be characters in the boxes that we cannot see.  Sort of a computer issue. 

Make sure you go back to the original 1099-DIV entry and not trying to correct as an error.  If it gets corrected on the original 1099-DIV, the error will disappear.

Try clicking on the Payer box and deleting.  Making sure that you are deleting seen and unseen characters. 

Also, the important thing is the tax identification number for the Payer.  Some of the Payer names are rather long so it's ok to shorten it as long as the tax identification number is correct and the name is at least a semblance of what it should be.

If this doesn't work, please let me know.

[scanjo]

Just had this same problem. After much searching I found the solution. Go to VIEW in the menu bar and select FORMS. About half way down you should see one or more FORM 1099-DIV (place where dividend came from in parenthesis). Click this and look at the name on THIS form. If you have more than one then look at all of them. Find the one with the longest name and find a way to abbreviate it. The name isn't really important. The tax ID# is. The name just has to fit. Click on another box so it saves it and exit the form. Go to VIEW in the menu bar again and select STEP BY STEP at the top and it should return you to the smart checker again. Rerun the check. You should be good.

My exact situation was this name:

Walmart Inc c/o Computershare

29 characters is too long so I shortened it to:

WMT c/o Computershare

All good then. The limit is somewhere between 21 and 29... My guess would be 25 but it's only a guess.