Unable to E-file my Indiana state return: two of the four withholding and wage amounts on w-2 statement have same dollar amount

[dan-kenning]

I receive the following message when reviewing my returns:

"We won't be able to E-file your return."

"At least two of the four withholding and wage amounts (Federal Income Tax Withholding, State Wages, State Income Tax Withholding, and Local Income Tax Withholding) on W-2 statement have same dollar amount."  

This is technically true, but this is on a W-2 form with a small value in box 1, and this boxes 2, 17, and 19 are blank.  

Are there any workarounds to this issue, or do I simply need to print and mail in my Indiana state return?

[philiplsmithbrown]

I have the same problem, though with 1099-R forms and no W-2s. Ridiculous! TurboTax is poised to quickly lose this customer! AND how about that 60 day "satisfaction guarantee?" What a joke. They charged my credit card in November, so 60 days was long gone before I even tried to use the product in early February. H&R Block, here I come.

[MichelleLO]

Thank you for providing feedback.  This information will assist us in improving the customer experience. As of yet, this issue has not been reported, however, if you have any additional information on the specific error you are receiving, we'd like to assist you with a resolution. 

[philiplsmithbrown]

Well, I just tried to e-file IN return with H&R Block and I received the same error message. So it is not an issue unique to TurboTax.

[Cass0317]

@philiplsmithbrown Thank you very much for this update. We are going to escalate this and someone may be in contact in this thread.

In the meantime, if you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to us.

[DanielV01]

@philliplsmithbrown  If you'd like, you can provide us with a diagnostic copy of your return.  Your personal information will be protected, but it will allow us an opportunity to see what might be causing the reject you are seeing.  Even though you stated that using other software produced the same error, we'd like to see what might be holding up your return with Indiana.

To provide us with a diagnostic copy, please follow the instructions below:  

1. Sign in to your tax return in TurboTax Online.

2. Go back into your return.

3. Find My Tax Tools in the left menu Select Tools.

4. In the Tools Center, select the Share my file with Agent link toward the bottom of the list.

5. You’ll see a message about creating a diagnostic copy of your tax file. Select OK

6. After you click ok you’ll see that A protected copy of your return has been sent along with your 6 digit token number.

Once you have that token number, please post it here in this thread, and we'll be able to take it from here and get back with you once we've investigated further.  Thank you for your patience.

[philiplsmithbrown]

token number 736224

[DanielV01]

@philliplsmithbrown  Thank you.  We will try to investigate this and provide you at least some answer as to what might be going on.

[DanielV01]

@phillipsmithbrown.  I got a chance to look at your diagnostic file.  For the larger of the two 1099-R forms you received, I did see that you have entered the same figure both for the amount of Federal and State Tax withheld.  I'm quite certain that the entry is in error and that the state tax withheld is a lower amount; however, if you double-check the entry and it is correct, then what you might want to do is e-file the Federal Return and mail-in the state return.  Please post a response here if that does not resolve your issue.

[philiplsmithbrown]

Try again, please. Yes, I know the federal and state withholding amounts are the same on the larger 1099-R AND they are not an entry error. The withholding amounts are percentages of the gross distribution. In 2019 the amounts were also the same and I had no e-file problems with the Indiana return then.

[DanielV01]

@philiplsmithbrown  I am personally familiar with Indiana returns, and have noticed that they have increased some diagnostic checks in their e-filing procedures since last year.  For instance, if someone needed to file an Indiana return and an out-of-state employer withheld only Indiana local taxes, Indiana in 2019 would accept the e-filed return even if the W2 did not have the Indiana state EIN, but this year it's not the same.  That could be the same here also, that Indiana is just simply rejecting a return for 2020 because it is causing a diagnostic error on their end.  I can't verify this with 100% certainty, but the fact that you attempted to e-file through other software and got the same result definitely suggests this.  And we can certainly understand that you are undergoing a frustration, but I'm hoping that this explanation helps.

In any case, it seems like this year you should mail in your Indiana return.  You may want to contact the Indiana DOR to mention your experience as something that perhaps they can improve on their end or what you might need to do so that you don't get the diagnostic rejection you are getting.

[bbnissley]

How do I print and send my Indiana tax since I get this message? I see where it says to delete my completed state tax return and only e-file federal. However, I want to keep the state and mail it in. Can I do this?

[PaulaM]

Have you tried to manually enter each W-2 to see if that clears the efile error? 

If you wish to efile your federal and print/mail your state you can do so. Just revisit the File section to indicate that is what you would like to do. 

[Wendymichelle87]

915876

[dan-kenning]

Very disappointed this year again as I am still having this issue, and nobody from Intuit has been able to reach out to me and fix this.  I am switching to a different tax preparation service.