Additionally, if you work full time, and you pay for care so you can work because your wife is unable to care for herself, you can claim the child and dependent care credit.  But that only applies if the care is needed so you can work full time.   ... View more

You can deduct the cost of nursing care as a medical expense.  Nursing care means the kinds of care typically provided by a nurse, but the provider does not have to actually be a nurse.  Typical services would include assistance with eating, dressing, taking medication, and using the toilet.  Costs for companionship and household tasks like cleaning and laundry are never deductible.  You must determine the deductible percentage of the cost based on the services provided.   ... View more

Read the long answer below. The short answer is, for the advance tax payments, your girlfriend may be able to enroll her children later this year, and she will need to file a separate tax return in her own name for 2021 starting next January. You should not claim your girlfriend or children as dependents for 2021.   For the 2020 tax return and stimulus payments, your girlfriend probably would’ve received $4900 if she had filed in her name, whereas you received $2000 for claiming them on your return. You will need to file an amended 2020 return to remove the children and the girlfriend, then your girlfriend could file an original return in her name to claim the rebates.      ========== A child who lives in your home but is not your biological child is not a “qualifying child” dependent in the tax code. They are a “qualifying relative“ dependent, or a “other“ dependent and they qualify for a $500 dependent credit but not the $2000 child tax credit. For 2021, a “qualifying relative“ or “other“ dependent does not qualify for the advance child tax credit or the enhanced $3000 child tax credit.   You will never be able to receive the advance payment for these children, and you will not receive the enhanced child tax credit if you claim them as dependents on your 2021 tax return.   For 2021, your girlfriend will want to file a tax return in her own name even if she has no income. If she files in her own name and claims her three children as dependents, she would qualify for a $3000 tax credit for each dependent and probably a $1400 stimulus payment for each dependent plus herself.  Then you would file your 2021 tax return with no dependents.   The next question is whether your girlfriend could enroll to start getting the advanced tax credit payments early. The IRS has said that they will create a website by the end of the summer where parents who are not already getting the advance payments can enroll. But that website is not ready yet.  The advance payments don’t change the amount of the tax credit, only when it is paid. If your girlfriend is not able to enroll, or if she enrolls late and only gets part of the advance payments, she would get the remainder of the amount as a tax refund when she files her tax return.   Going back to 2020, it was a mistake for you to claim your girlfriend and her children as dependents on your 2020 tax return. This is because of the way the coronavirus stimulus payments worked.   In the past before COVID-19, it was perfectly reasonable for you to claim your girlfriend and her children as dependents.  This is because, even though you would only get a $500 credit for “other“ dependent, your girlfriend would get no credits if she did not earn income from working.   However, for 2020, if your girlfriend filed in her own name with her children as dependents, even though she did not work, she would be eligible for $1800 of round 1 and round 2 stimulus payment for herself and $1100 round 1 and round 2 payment for each child.  Meanwhile, if you had left your girlfriend and children off of your tax return, you would have lost $2000, which is much less than your girlfriend would have gotten by claiming the stimulus payments.   For 2020, you will probably want to file an amended return in your name to remove your girlfriend and all the children as dependents. You will have to repay the $2000 tax credits that you received. Then, your girlfriend can file a new 2020 tax return in her own name even if she had no income. She would claim her children as dependents and she would qualify for, I think, $4900 in economic recovery rebates.  Because you have already filed a 2020 tax return and claimed of the girlfriend and her children as dependents, she would have to file her original return by mail. Because the IRS is so backlogged, it may be quite a while before she actually sees that money. ... View more

In most cases, TurboTax can’t prepare city tax returns.  TurboTax can prepare city returns for New York City, and about 1/3 the cities on Ohio that use a shared system.  You can check your city web site to see what your tax obligations are, and you can download the forms and check your taxes yourself.  You may owe several years worth if you haven’t been filing.   ... View more

Assuming the child is placed in your home by the state, or by an agency or process recognized by the state, then your legal right to claim them as a dependent is the same as a biological parent. If they lived in your home more than half the nights of the year, you have the first entitlement to claim them as a dependent even if they were returned to their biological parent. ... View more

Employer contributions are listed on line 9, and limit the deductibility of contributions you make separately which are listed on line 1.  You should not be entering employer/employee contributions separately when the program asks for "additional" or outside contributions.   Under the tax code, any payroll contributions are considered "employer" contributions because you enter into an agreement with your employer to reduce your salary and your employer makes the contribution.  ... View more

@jackie060307 wrote: I have all it says is you didn’t claim anyone and I did. I thought the reason for this was to get help  The Turbotax forum can offer some limited tax help and suggestions.  No one on this forum has the authority to intervene with the IRS and "make" them do something.  The advice and suggestions we can give you is the following: 1. The IRS is hugely backlogged and it's amazing anyone got paid this month.  We don't know why some people who apparently qualify didn't get paid, and the IRS does not give out that information to anyone but the taxpayer (even if they were taking phone calls, which they are not).  2. The IRS is supposed to allow people to enroll new or skipped children later this summer or fall.  There is nothing you can do before then to claim the advanced credit. 3. If you don't get the advance payment or don't get the full amount, it will appear as a credit on your tax return. The advance payment doesn't change the amount you receive, only the timing of when you receive it.  ... View more

Your settlement is taxed based on what kind of income it represents, not who paid it. What did you claim in your lawsuit, who damaged you and how? ... View more

As you describe the situation, you have a multi-member LLC in a non-community property state.  That means the LLC must file a form 1065 partnership return.  The income and deductions flow though the partnership return to a K-1 statement for each partner, which is included on your personal tax return with your other income and deductions.  You can both file your K-1s on the same MFJ personal return, but it's the 1065 you have to prepare and file first, and it does have a different deadline and substantial late fees.    Then, since the income is actually reported on your personal MFJ form 1040, you will have to make quarterly estimated tax payments if you expect to owe more than $1000 of income and self-employment tax. You can make that at www.irs.gov/payments. Select "2021 estimated taxes" from the drop down menu.  The LLC does not make separate tax payments unless it has employees.   It would be much easier for you to file your taxes if the business was unincorporated and not organized as an LLC.  But maybe there are benefits of the LLC you think you want.   Professional advice is suggested.   ... View more

@fanfare wrote: if you do the paper 1040-X, you lose the e-File option.   As I understand it, for TurboTax Online users, you are out of luck. Support can't change the software and can only confirm what has been posted here before about this situation.   with CD/download program, you can make manual edits. It's not clear if doing that would also shut off the e-File  option. If you create a return in the desktop program and use the override function to remove schedule 8812, that will block e-filing the primary return, which you then tell the program was filed by mail but don't actually file.  But then if you make the amended return, I don't think it can be e-filed since the program will detect that the primary return wasn't e-filed.  I don't think there's a way around paper filing.  That means a long backlog and a long wait for your additional refund.  However, amended returns can be filed for 3 years, so it might be better to wait for next summer to even try and file, and see if things calm down.   You will want to get your IRS transcript of the adjusted return, so you will know exactly what to use as the basis of the amended return. The adjusted return might take a while to be posted to the Get Transcript web site.  ... View more