Rejected 2019 return based on my deceased spouse's agi

[eerickso1464]

VolvoGirl, would you please explain what you mean by, “It will mess up your return”? Switching the order of the names on our return was the ONLY way I could get it to accept it. I had to also revise the identity PIN since it had my PIN on the second filer initially. 

[BWWilliamsAssociates]

The surviving spouse must be the first taxpayer on the return as that social security number is what IRS uses.  if the deceased spouse is listed first, the return will reject immediately.  If you already finished the return and it rejected, changing the names around is not as simple as it seems. You will need to go through each form on the return as changing the names, changes the names on W-2s, K-1s, 1099s etc. -- even though you did not want those forms to change.  In the end, it works well and 1040 was accepted quickly.

[Anniebeau]

Not true.  So ridiculous that TurboTax has not fixed this known glitch for at least 3 years.  After getting rejected with the TT version last year I switched to FreeTaxUSA and filled out the return exactly the same way, with my name first as always and my deceased husband second.  I’m looking right at the copy as I write this.  The return was electronically accepted immediately.  TT lost this longtime customer forever.

[Anniebeau]

So ridiculous that TurboTax hasn’t fixed this known glitch for at least three years.  Expending multiple extra hours,  I tried all of these suggested work arounds last year, including switching the order of names, going to IRS to check AGI , etc.

Then I followed the multiple forum suggestions to try submitting electronically via FreeTaxUSA.  I copied the info off my TT return, electronically submitted FOR FREE via FreeTaxUSA and the return was immediately accepted.  After two phone calls, got TT to refund half my money paid for their broken program, cause if I had wanted to submit a paper copy I would have done my taxes that way from the start.  And they admitted finally it was a problem in their product.

FreeTaxUSA all the way for me from here on....it’s easier and free/cheap if you need to pay for extra help or state...TT lost this longtime customer forever.

[Anniebeau]

Not true.  With other programs such as FreeTaxUSA  there is no issue at all submitting an electronic return with deceased spouse.  I did it last year after getting TT to admit the problem was in their program.  They just don’t bother to fix it.

[Anniebeau]

Folks, listen to this post and save yourself much aggravation!  I had to switch to FreeTaxUSA for the same reasons last year and my return was electronically accepted immediately! The problem lies in TT so don’t use it!

[Anniebeau]

After successfully switching to FreeTaxUSA when the TT program kept getting electronically rejected, I got half back from TT last year after speaking with them twice.They wanted to keep my money saying I had used their program and could print out and mail a paper copy.  I said if I had wanted to do a paper copy I would have done it that way from the start and would never have paid them for their program.  They agreed to refund half of what I paid.  I finally agreed. They know this is an issue with their program and yet have not fixed it for several years now, continuing to lie to their customers and giving them suggestions to spend more hours working on the issue when they already know it won’t work.  They are disreputable and unethical.  I figured I’d just better cut my losses and go.

[Tscurlo2019]

So....  Turbotax or Tax Experts keep saying to print and mail them.

That doesn't help the people that got their $25.00 stolen from them when they

get rejected!!!!!  (State fee)

Turbotax needs to work on this.... but what you will reply with is your default disclaimer

about transmission fee's yada yada yada.

Here is a novel idea..... how about a $25.00 coupon off of next years purchase of TurboTax

for those people that got ripped off????

[mpiatt]

Last year, when this happened to me, I politely, but firmly requested a refund of the $24.99.  They actually offered to refund the cost of the software, but I used it to prepare my return so I didn't think that was fair.  They did refund the cost of the rejected state return.

It took some effort on my part and getting to the right party wasn't easy, but it did happen.  What's really disappointing to me is that they haven't fixed it yet.

I assume since I'm filing single in 2020, I can file electronically with no issues.

[BWWilliamsAssociates]

If you already spent the money on TT and one of the joint taxpayers is deceased then you must enter the surviving taxpayer as the first one and the deceased taxpayer second in order to get the the return to be accepted. It will fail every time if the deceased taxpayer is first.  Apparently, the social security number of the deceased taxpayer is flagged.  As I mentioned above, if you already completed the return and it rejected, you need to change the names around and it also requires additional effort.

TT gives you a false error for this situation.  I have read that HR Block has the same problem.  Some of you have suggested that FreeTaxUSA works.  For most returns it is free and you only have to pay for the state.  Give it a try.  I believe that the software and your return reside on their servers and you download a copy of your finished return.  I will leave it up to those of you who have used it, to give guidance.  In this world of hacked information, I prefer to keep the software and returns on my desktop.  But, that is the personal choice of the user.  TT should fix this issue at the beginning of the return when you are double checking the taxpayer personal information and long before you enter all the other tax info.

[RMZ0703]

This is still an issue with TurboTax,  now one year later.   Trying to file 2020 taxes for deceased father-in-law thru e-file, and rejected for AGI and pin # not matching.    I cannot make them match because father-in-law was always the primary filer and now mother-in-law becomes the primary filer, and the AGI and pin cannot match.    Very frustrating to have to resort back to paper filing.   

[danajepsen]

the same thing happened to me.  my wife died in 2019 and i couldnt' efile because of an agi bug.  had to print and fight with turbo tax for my money back.  they wouldn't give it, so i got my credit card company to reverse the charges.  never thought i would praise a credit card company, but they did in 2 min what i couldnt' get done on the phone with turbo tax over what seemed like hours.

[RMZ0703]

Thank you for responding to my message.   I will contact my credit card company tomorrow.   Maybe Turbotax will address the issue if enough users take action that impacts their bottom line.   

[emq1096]

Thank you @BWWilliamsAssociates!  After I put myself as the first taxpayer and my late husband as second taxpayer, IRS accepted the e-file.  It was a bit of a pain to go through the program again and change the names on W2s, 1099s and such.  And I double and triple checked everything to make sure everything is correct.  But in the end it's worth it.  Our state won't allow e-file if one of the spouse is deceased.  So I'll have to mail that in.    

When the programs detects a deceased taxpayer, it should have a message about the surviving spouse should be listed as first taxpayer in order to efile successfully.  Either they don't want to fix it, or they don't know about it.

[Beastie]

Switching the order worked for me.  2021 and this topic is still relevant.

Same story as many others who have posted.  Doing taxes for my Mom, while my Dad has passed.  Previous years, he was always first on the tax form.  I switched it so my Mom was first, and the return was accepted.

The process is that you change the order of the filing people so that the departed is second rather than first.  Then you step through the income, 1099, whatever, and reality check the "owner".  For federal filing I had to reverse all the ownerships after I made my Mom first, i.e. my Dad's jobs showed up as my Moms, my Mom's income showed up as my Dad.  It took about an hour to go through the process.  Rerun on the state returns (partial resident for two states) to a few run throughs to understand, but seems to have worked out.

This is after two support calls with two turbo tax people that were helpful and nice people but whom both had tied the issue to the AGI being incorrect or having a quirk.  In my case it was definitely not the AGI, it was that the surviving spouse needs to be listed first.  If you are reading this, there is probably someone you are close to who has passed, and I offer my condolences on the loss of that person.  This is just a small bureaucratic glitch, try to let it roll off of you and experience the feelings that are important to you instead of the frustration.