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Tax program inaccuracy
Old 02-11-2015, 03:43 PM   #1
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Tax program inaccuracy

I've been working on the taxes, since I have almost all the paperwork now except for Fidelity, and I found a very strange problem with Turbotax.

I've used TT for years,and never had a problem with it importing the previous year and populating the appropriate fields. But I found a glaring error this time. Turbotax entered the wrong amount paid with last year's state tax return.

I looked at my pdf copy of last year's actual filed state return (done in Turbotax) and the amount is correct. I also opened up the TT file in last year's TT program and it was correct there as well. Just as a third check, I looked back in my checkbook register and found the reconciled payment in the same amount.

But Turbotax this year entered a different amount (somewhere between 15 and 20 dollars less than the actual amount). Completely mysterious.

I happened to find it because I'm simultaneously doing the taxes in TaxAct this year as a test (I really want to get away from Intuit). When I compared the two, I noticed the discrepancy.

Note: Totals are slightly different between Turbotax and TaxAct, simply because they use different rounding conventions. But the bottom line difference is only a buck or two, so it's not significant.
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Old 02-11-2015, 04:40 PM   #2
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Good thing you found it. I always check the numbers that TT imports from the prior year's returns, and so far I haven't found any errors. I'm not sure why I do this, maybe due to being in "double-checking mode" or something. I'm always so wary that it might make a mistake.

Oh well, keeps us on our toes I guess.
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Old 02-11-2015, 04:44 PM   #3
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did you apply money to one of the checkoff charities on your state return?
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Old 02-11-2015, 09:16 PM   #4
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did you pay use tax last year? I believe this would have been paid, but not count as an income tax paid. It would not carry over as an income tax paid. This also effect taxable state tax refunds.
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Old 02-11-2015, 09:40 PM   #5
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Mine imported correctly - agrees to my PY pdf.
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Old 02-11-2015, 10:25 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R View Post
Good thing you found it. I always check the numbers that TT imports from the prior year's returns, and so far I haven't found any errors. I'm not sure why I do this, maybe due to being in "double-checking mode" or something. I'm always so wary that it might make a mistake.

Oh well, keeps us on our toes I guess.
+1(?). I double/triple check my Fed and state returns against prior years as well, even though I have yet to find a mistake. Better safe than sorry...
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Old 02-11-2015, 11:20 PM   #7
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did you pay use tax last year? I believe this would have been paid, but not count as an income tax paid. It would not carry over as an income tax paid. This also effect taxable state tax refunds.
+1. That is what happened to me.
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Old 02-12-2015, 05:32 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bingybear View Post
did you pay use tax last year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lemming View Post
did you apply money to one of the checkoff charities on your state return?
No to both of those.
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Old 02-12-2015, 05:51 AM   #9
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I'm not surprised at this glitch, I recall something not too different happening but it's been a while and the details escape me. What I do clearly remember is TT stonewalling - full denial, not one acknowledgement and no effort to even discuss it at the online support site.

Braumeister, is your TT up to date, and are there more updates expected? You might try to delete the return, uninstall the program, reinstall, then try again.

As an aside, once you're done would you mind giving us a comparison of the two programs. I'm doing the same with TT and H&R Block.
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Old 02-12-2015, 06:45 AM   #10
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Yes, it's up to date, and I'm expecting a future update to find and fix it (fingers crossed). Still at least another week or so before filing, so it's not critical.

So far, my experience with TaxAct has been good. The only slight annoyance is that I have to fire up Windows on my Mac to run it. I'm using Windows 8.1 with Parallels 10 and honestly, it's pretty painless and fast. Such a huge improvement over past virtual machines.
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Old 02-12-2015, 09:34 AM   #11
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I am also using TT and found a discrepancy. TT imported a lower number for my NY state tax refund. The program seems to have reduced by refund by the NYC school tax credit that I received. I did a quick check, but could not find any reason for this. I overwrote the amount. Should I get ambitious (), I will go back and see if I can find a justification.

All other items from the prior year imported correctly.
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Old 02-16-2015, 11:39 AM   #12
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I just had the same problem, state refund in TurboTax after transferring 2013 return was $21 off compared to my state 1099G refund amount. Looking at my 2013 return, TT imported the state taxes owed number, but did not include the late payment penalty of $21. The 1099G seems like the last word on this, so I corrected the TT number.
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Old 02-16-2015, 12:12 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Animorph View Post
I just had the same problem, state refund in TurboTax after transferring 2013 return was $21 off compared to my state 1099G refund amount. Looking at my 2013 return, TT imported the state taxes owed number, but did not include the late payment penalty of $21. The 1099G seems like the last word on this, so I corrected the TT number.
So you're deducting the penalty amount? I didn't know it was an eligible deduction.
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Old 02-16-2015, 01:57 PM   #14
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So you're deducting the penalty amount? I didn't know it was an eligible deduction.
creative accounting
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Old 02-16-2015, 02:19 PM   #15
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So you're deducting the penalty amount? I didn't know it was an eligible deduction.
I have no idea, and didn't see anything from a Google search. Didn't review the full IRS instructions. But I'm reporting straight taxes withheld minus refund reported on 1099G, which seemed to be the bottom line. Otherwise I have to tell TT why my 1099G is incorrect somehow.
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Old 02-16-2015, 02:46 PM   #16
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I have no idea, and didn't see anything from a Google search. Didn't review the full IRS instructions. But I'm reporting straight taxes withheld minus refund reported on 1099G, which seemed to be the bottom line. Otherwise I have to tell TT why my 1099G is incorrect somehow.
I had the same issue with TaxAct, so I asked them why they were different. They told me is was because of the USE tax (--mine was a different reason). I believe if you efile or do it online, they have the info to figure it out

If you change a value that TT populates or calculates, this may invalidate e-filing.
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Old 02-16-2015, 03:18 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by bingybear View Post
...
If you change a value that TT populates or calculates, this may invalidate e-filing.
I changed the amount of the prior year's tax refund and successfully e-filed.
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Old 02-16-2015, 03:57 PM   #18
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I changed the amount of the prior year's tax refund and successfully e-filed.
That is probably right. Tax refund is one of the things that you can change without causing efiling problems. The full refund is not always taxable.

Was the original TT # larger or smaller than your 1099G?
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Old 02-16-2015, 05:51 PM   #19
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Bingybear,
NY state does not mail 1099 G's. The amount that was on my 2013 return as an overpayment was higher than what TT imported.
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Old 02-16-2015, 07:13 PM   #20
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This is just my thought.... but I doubt that any update would fix this problem... I believe they only import last years numbers once and do not go back again to make sure they stay the same....

You could have manually changed it and if they overwrote what you put down you would be ticked off....
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