Turbo Tax/IRS Acceptance

[cathy63]

While we're fantasizing, here's one: The government already gets all the same forms I do. They already do all the calculations and will call me out on it if I make a mistake.

How about they just complete the form and send me a check or a bill?

It's totally possible, but it will never happen as long as there are tax-prep lobbyists throwing cash at all our elected officials.

As things stand today, the IRS doesn't know nearly enough about U.S. residents to do most people's tax returns. They have no idea what filing status you're going to use this year; whether you are supporting children or a disabled relative or are an in-home caregiver for someone; whether you installed solar or bought an electric car; or whether you have medical expenses, pay property tax, or made charitable contributions; or whether any of a thousand other situations applies to you.

Most of the time spent on doing tax returns is not on calculating income but on handling credits, deductions and exemptions. Even if the IRS told everyone what all their reported income was, for most people it would still take just as long to do a tax return as it does today.

If you want an automated tax system, then either you have to create a stand-alone social safety net and remove all that stuff the tax code (as most other developed countries have done) or you have to authorize the Feds to collect a whole lot more info on everyone.

 

[CaptTom]

If you want an automated tax system, then either you have to create a stand-alone social safety net and remove all that stuff the tax code (as most other developed countries have done) or you have to authorize the Feds to collect a whole lot more info on everyone.

I did say it was a fantasy...

But here's the thing: We already give the government all that information. On the tax forms we submit.

There's no reason we couldn't submit our data electronically, straight onto a government web site, and let their systems do the math.

Inserting third-party tax preparers, software and web sites in the middle adds no value to the process, for either the government or for the taxpayer. It only enriches the tax prep companies, their lobbyists and the elected officials they contribute to.

While I agree our tax laws are overly complicated, there's no reason all those complexities can't be coded into one on-line submission system. It's already being done by the tax prep web sites, so it's clearly possible.

 

[Toocold]

[Updated on TurboTax Feb 17, 2023]
According to Turbo Tax: This issue will be resolved on February 19, 2023. On or after this resolution date you may resubmit this return for electronic filing.

Thank you. Hopefully it will get fixed. I think they had an initial February 5 resolve date and it slipped.

 

[Al18]

I use HRBlock. I submitted Federal and State returns this afternoon. Federal return was accepted in 3 minutes!

 

[Alex The Great]

Filed tax return using TurboTax yesterday on 02/17. Got acceptance emails from federal and state (CA) in a few minutes after transmission.

 

[JackJester]

We spent 6 hours doing the taxes yesterday. The most complicated we have had yet. DW didn't work in 2022 since she retired (so no W-2), and I worked half a year before FIRE in July (my last W-2). My DD passed and I had many 1099-Rs, INTs from his many Life Insurance policies and IRAs, and I had my first 1099-Bs for selling some funds to buy CDs and Treasuries. We learned a LOT by doing the taxes this year; having to do a Schedule B & D for the first time. And we had to do an 8949 for the first time . Wheeeh! We used the IRS free e-file forms (freefilefillableforms) vs TT. I thought about buying TT this year, but I thought it probably wouldn't have been much of a benefit with all these one-off 1099s from my DD's passing which I probably couldn't import (not sure ?). Lots of manual entry with the IRS e-file forms... But, After 3 attempts we finally got a successful acceptance by the IRS. So now we wait.... and hope we get an $11K refund! That's waaaay more than I would want for a refund, but it appears I was withholding a lot from my work and DW was not withholding much from hers (MFJ). Next year things should be less complicated, but we plan to do our first Roth Conversions, so who knows. The Bottomline lesson learned from our experience this year echos what many other threads have said about filing tax returns. Don't pay someone one to do it for you. You learn so much and understand what is going on with your money by doing it yourselves.

 

[RaySharpton]

I filed my TurboTax Federal and State of Georgia recently, too. The Federal was accepted fairly quickly, too.

May I ask someone to explain the following difference from 2021 to 2022?

I presume it was because of my first RMD and that increased my 2022 income.

But this is the first year I have had to apply for the Required Mandatory Distribution as a 72-year-old.

I had to pay $941.00 for 2022 instead of $75.00 for 2021. I tried going back and reviewing my 2022 Federal Tax way too many times to figure out why I had to pay The RMD was basically the only thing that changed for 2022.

My Principal Pension (Fed & State taxes taken out monthly) stayed the same and my Social Security slightly increased (no Fed & State taxes taken out). My RMD was $6,918.18 and I had one-time Fed taxes taken out, but no state Taxes.

My State of Georgia tax refund for 2022 increased to a whopping $957.00 compared to my 2021 refund of $297.00.

I presume the RMD put me over some retirement income limit.

But I question if the State of Georgia tax refund is correct.

Any help or similar experience or possible answers would be appreciated. Thank you in advance. Ray

 

[rrs26ja]

I filed my taxes on 02/14/23 assuming I would have gotten everything Not the case, on 02/20/23 I received a 1099 DIV. I looked it up online and it says they are required to mail them out by 01/31/2023. I can't believe that it took 2 1/2 weeks to reach me.

 

[Rustic23]

Return accepted on tJan 32, return in the bank Feb 13th

 

[cathy63]

I filed my TurboTax Federal and State of Georgia recently, too. The Federal was accepted fairly quickly, too.

May I ask someone to explain the following difference from 2021 to 2022?

I presume it was because of my first RMD and that increased my 2022 income.

But this is the first year I have had to apply for the Required Mandatory Distribution as a 72-year-old.

I had to pay $941.00 for 2022 instead of $75.00 for 2021. I tried going back and reviewing my 2022 Federal Tax way too many times to figure out why I had to pay The RMD was basically the only thing that changed for 2022.

My Principal Pension (Fed & State taxes taken out monthly) stayed the same and my Social Security slightly increased (no Fed & State taxes taken out). My RMD was $6,918.18 and I had one-time Fed taxes taken out, but no state Taxes.

My State of Georgia tax refund for 2022 increased to a whopping $957.00 compared to my 2021 refund of $297.00.

I presume the RMD put me over some retirement income limit.

But I question if the State of Georgia tax refund is correct.

Any help or similar experience or possible answers would be appreciated. Thank you in advance. Ray

The easiest way to look at it is to print out your 2021 and 2022 1040s and put them side-by-side. I'm guessing you'll see that a lot more of your social security income on line 6b is taxable this year than in the past. Adding the RMD as another source of income may have pushed your SS from 50% taxable into the 85% taxable range.

If that's not the answer for the Fed, then it's probably just that you didn't withhold enough from the RMD.

I don't know anything about Georgia taxes, but is there anything in the state tax code that changes at age 72? Maybe they stop taxing your pension at that age or something like that? Otherwise I can't see why you'd have more income and the same withholding and get a bigger refund. But again, printing out the two years' returns and placing them side-by-side will probably help you figure out where the difference is.

 

[5Miler]

Georgia state tax is pretty straightforward for seniors. Social Security is not taxed at all and taxpayers age 65 and over receive a $65K exemption on all retirement income if single, $130,000 a year if married. Retirement income includes interest, dividends, net income from rental property, capital gains, royalties, pensions, annuities and the first $4,000 of earned income, such as wages.

Since married taxpayers must qualify separately, did by any chance you file a joint return and your spouse just turn 65 last year to qualify for the higher senior exemption?

 

[RaySharpton]

Georgia state tax is pretty straightforward for seniors. Social Security is not taxed at all and taxpayers age 65 and over receive a $65K exemption on all retirement income if single, $130,000 a year if married. Retirement income includes interest, dividends, net income from rental property, capital gains, royalties, pensions, annuities and the first $4,000 of earned income, such as wages.

Since married taxpayers must qualify separately, did by any chance you file a joint return and your spouse just turn 65 last year to qualify for the higher senior exemption?

Thank you, 5Miler.

I filed as a Single Tax payor.

I was trying to figure out what in the world caused such a drastic increase in the 2022 refund.

I paid the suggested Federal tax on my 2022 RDM. And the only main difference between 2022 and 2021 is the RMD amount from my works 403b which I didn't roll over after retirement. TurboTax says the RMD was income. And I am no expert in these things, but my AGI income increased with the RMD and probably put me above what is allowed by Federal tax rules as retirement income. (just guessing).

My Pension never changes from year to year.

My Social Security increased by the COLA, but nothing else.

I did go step by step in TurboTax side by side for both 2022 and 2021 and there was no explanation in the state tax. It just said I have a much larger refund in 2022 compared to 2021 with the only significant difference being the Federal RMD.

Could the Federal RMD cause the rise in the state refund?

I can't see how? But I'm going to pull up the 2022 TurboTax state software again just to see if I can find anything I might have missed.

Thank you, 5Miler, and cathy63 for responding.

Respectfully, Ray

 

[FLJim]

We would prefer not to get a refund. But we are forced to have 20% withholding for retirement fund distributions. We did ask if they could only w/h 5%, but they said they were required by law to w/h 20%. So I filed as soon as I had all 1099's.

Who is "they"? I have nothing withheld from Soc Security, (2) 401(k)'s, and (2) IRA's. I file quarterly via EFTPS and just make sure I meet safe harbor. For us, "they" are more than happy to withhold whatever we ask, including nothing.

 

[Al18]

Who is "they"? I have nothing withheld from Soc Security, (2) 401(k)'s, and (2) IRA's. I file quarterly via EFTPS and just make sure I meet safe harbor. For us, "they" are more than happy to withhold whatever we ask, including nothing.

If you are less than 59 1/2, 401K withdrawals require 20% Federal Tax withholding per IRS rules

 

[mickeyd]

i received my IRS refund in 11 days using TT.

 

[misanman]

l don't have all my tax docs from Fidelity and I decided years ago that it was best to sit down and do the taxes all in one shot rather than piecemeal so I haven't started except to fire up TurboTax.

It turns out that the delay is due to a REIT that I have so the thought came to mind that I'd just sell it to avoid future aggravation. I have it in our IRA and Roth so I wouldn't be getting rid of it entirely.

But when I check the account I saw that I have a $18,000 unrealized capital gain on that puppy. To sell out would sink my carefully engineered tax plan for 2023. I guess there are worse problems to have but I may be stuck with delayed filing for the foreseeable future.

 

[rodi]

Hadn't checked my status since originally filing and seeing it accepted... It shows refund in process... and I should receive it this Friday. And when I checked the bank it showed a pending deposit from the IRS. Woot.

As for big refunds being a problem - as someone else mentioned - installed Solar last year and got a huge tax credit.

 

[Morgan22]

Who is "they"? I have nothing withheld from Soc Security, (2) 401(k)'s, and (2) IRA's. I file quarterly via EFTPS and just make sure I meet safe harbor. For us, "they" are more than happy to withhold whatever we ask, including nothing.

If you are less than 59 1/2, 401K withdrawals require 20% Federal Tax withholding per IRS rules

Yes, thank you Al18. We are young 50's and currently withdrawing from 457b during our early retirement.

 

[kgtest]

Hit a snag with one of my business filings. Received a LTR 6042C. Essentially the Ogden office needs more info on my Entity. I faxed them the required documentation and after reading the IRS correspondence it looks like it will be around 90 days before they can process the return. EEEK! I wouldn't care but it's holding up like a 28k check. I overpaid my taxes last year, not realizing I would have some significant write-off's towards the end of the fiscal year. It's not gonna make or break me, but I don't like waiting on the IRS and am slightly concerned there will be something "else" I need to provide to them or handle to get this business return processed. There is really nothing I could have done differently so I can't be too upset.

 

[W2R]

I posted earlier that I filed my taxes (fed and state) using TurboTax, and that both the IRS and Louisiana accepted my return.

So for me, the next step was setting up EFTPS to allow the IRS to automatically withdraw from my checking account the estimated amount I specified, for each quarter of 2023 on the correct date. Louisiana has a similar capability, much like EFTPS (but not too similar, that would be too easy! ). So I got both of these set up. I have used both for many, many years with no trouble and for me they are a necessity. Here's why:

(1) first of all I'm the stereotypical "forgetful academic", a.k.a. "absent-minded professor", but wait, it's worse:

(2) I am still feeling some driftiness from long Covid, so this service is a real necessity for me. I know many do not feel comfortable giving the IRS access to your checking account, but I am OK with it and they have never taken a cent without my pre-approval.

I don't really feel like I have finished my taxes until I have got the estimated payments scheduled for the next year, so now I can relax! I also filed copies of everything in folders on my computer here at home, so I have records of all this and the confirmation numbers.

 

[eytonxav]

Checked my account online and refund was deposited on 2/23, so 9 days turnaround time. I give them A+ for fast processing.

 

[FI_RElater]

If you are less than 59 1/2, 401K withdrawals require 20% Federal Tax withholding per IRS rules

actually, not quite....

I'm way past it... past even 65.... and a withdrawal from my 401k (it was a rollover-eligible non-periodic) required 20% withholding!! (all do, doesn't depend upon age). I withdrew a small amount ($50k) and 10k went directly to tax.... so I stopped all my pension tax withholding as I'd already met the safe harbor limit. (see articles like: https://www.thebalancemoney.com/withholding-on-retirement-plan-distributions-3192942)

I waited until this year to transfer ALL the 401k into my (now depleted IRA... depleted because I finished the last Roth conversion); I waited because I wanted to finally end the pro-rata of IRA's (had regular and non) when doing Roth conversions. Under the new situation, I'll be able to specify exactly how much I want to go to taxes, if any; as I just started SS, I currently have it set up to 10% and then adjust any additional from pension.

edit: haven't filed fed yet, since we owe a bit.... haven't filed state either, but between withholding and estimated payments it's under $20 due .. so no real hurry.

 

[mrfeh]

E-filed on 2/12, accepted almost immediately (hours). Return approved on 2/26...supposedly will have money in account in a day or 2.

So, about 18 days from start to finish.

 

[karen1972]

My BF filed Feb 13th, refund received Feb 18th, like record breaking fast.

I filed Feb 15th and nothing, i checked and I'm in received only status so not processed yet.

 

[Midpack]

eFiled 2/25 11:09am, accepted 11:am! Refund applied to 2023 taxes so I don't care how long it takes. I don't get why anyone who pays estimated taxes would take a refund, but to each his/her own. Done and done...