What do I do? I got an IRS letter: Sec. 2302 of the CARES act- deferred due dates for SS Taxes, now I owe. It says I reported in schedule H, but don't remember doing so.

The page to defer SS came up when you filed your self-employment return.  It was a checkbox that you needed to check if you wanted to defer.  If you agreed to defer, then you need to pay that deferred amount.

The CARES Act allows you to defer paying part of the Social Security tax for your household employee, if certain requirements are met. The deferral appears as a refundable credit on Schedule 3 line 12e. It was subtracted from the tax you had to pay with your tax return. Half the deferred tax is due December 31, 2021, and the remainder is due December 31, 2022. The deferral is only allowed for 2020.

The IRS letter is about the self-employment tax on your tax return, not Social Security tax that is withheld from your wife's pay by her employer. If any of her Social Security tax was deferred, it was done by her employer, not by you. If the employer deferred any of the Social Security tax, the employer will collect the deferred tax in 2021.

See the following IRS notice for instructions to pay the deferred tax for your household employee.

How self-employed individuals and household employers repay deferred Social Security tax

look at schedule  SE part III. I think Turbotax did a very poor job of informing taxpayers with self-employment tax how answering certain questions would affect their taxes.    without realizing it you probably requested that a portion of your SE tax not be paid with the 2020 return but rather 50% of the deferral be paid by 12/31/2021 and the other 1/2 by 12/31/2022

Ok, let's cut to the chase. I also received the mysterious IRS letter declaring that I had $230 deferred from my SE tax. I also did not authorize making a deferral of "employer portion of FICA", as I am self employed and have no employees. (I seriously doubt that the option was explained and made clear, it it was offered at all.) The current updates of the package do not operate the same as they did in April when I filed.

However, it is clear to me that Intuit and TurboTax have made a serious error in calculation of my taxes, specifically regarding SE deferral.  Please note the following:

1. I filed my taxes in April. I save the return as it was filed, both in .pdf format and the native TT .tax2020 format.

2. Line 12e of Schedule 3, as filed, reads  $632.

3. As of 08/27/2021, after software update Line 12e of Schedule 3, reads, $0. (ie no deferral calculated, same .tax2020 file). Apparently I did not request deferral after all!

4. Furthermore, while my letter from the IRS states that my deferral was for $230. Nowhere in my return is there line that contains a value of $230. This part of the mystery is truly confusing as the amounts do not correspond to anything on my return, regardless of whether I "elected" for deferral or not.

Regardless, it is clear that TT has changed their software to operated diferrently when calculating deferrals for SE taxes. The result is that my tax estimate for 2021 is incorrect, and other parts of the return are also incorrect. And I still have a pending expectation from the IRS that I will "pay the deferred amount".

I would like Intuit to acknowledge their error and acknowedge that they have not done or said anything to advise users who have been mislead by their errors.

I would also like guidance as to how I should respond. Do I send the IRS the ($230) amount stipulated in their letter, or should it be that the amount on Line 12e of Schedule 3 of my filed return ($632)? Or, do I submit an amended return, recalculate my outstanding SE vouchers, and wait for a response?  Or just amend the return and ignore the letter?

I have been relying on TT for Many years. Can I trust them going forward?

Thanks so much for this thread.  I likewise did not realize TT did a deferral for me, but great to have the confirmation that this all apparently is legit (just want to pay what I actually owe, so I don't mind payment as long as I actually got the deferral, which I can check).  I take it the fact that I made this payment does not somehow reduce the taxes I have to pay this year (that makes sense). 

I received a letter as well. I did NOT remember completing the section 12.e either. After seeing the TurboTax error in one of these replies, I too would like to see that it is fixed. I paid 1/2 of my Deferred payment by December 2021, and I need to pay the other half by 2022. I missed placed my letter from the IRS and do not have it. Therefore, I am unable to reference the 2022 other half because the IRS does not show that I owe anything. Does anyone know the reference number for payment to the IRS on this deferred payment? I am trying to pay it but my account is not showing that I owe anything. The IRS says that it is two separate accounts - the online account is from your tax return and this deferred amount is totally separate and is recorded separate. I mailed the first payment and wrote a check with a copy of the letter. This time, I do not have a reference or copy of the letter. Is there a way to get another copy? Please advise. Thank you.