Question

Software glitch? Self-employed health insurance premium tax credit smart worksheet has a negative number...

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
May 11, 2021
4 replies
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Had my taxes prepped and ready to e-file with no errors two weeks ago. Opened turbotax today to double-check the numbers and the review turns up the following error: "1040/1040SR Wks: SE Health Insurance the amount of the self-employed health insurance deduction cannot be less than zero." On the forms view, I see that line 16 for the self-employed health insurance deduction is "-2." I've seen someone else reporting exactly the same problem and amount in another discussion today (that one seemed out of place, which is why I'm starting a new topic), so I can only assume that this is a calculation glitch. I've double-checked my numbers, they're all correct, and I see no way around this problem (I can change the number in that field, for example).

S

smallholderAuthor

That last line should read "can't change the number", not "can".

D

DavidDragon

I have the same problem. In my case the negative number given next to Self-employed health insurance is -120. I bought the software cd disc package from Office Max which works for both Windows and Mac. I have a Macbook. It is a glitch, and not sure what to do.

A

AnnetteB6

If you would be willing to share a diagnostic copy of your tax file, it could be helpful to examine the situation in more detail.

To do so, follow the instructions below and post the token number along with which version of TurboTax you are using in a follow-up thread.

Use these steps if you are using TurboTax Online:

Sign in to your account and be sure you are in your tax return.
Select Tax Tools in the menu to the left.
Select Tools.
Select Share my file with agent.
A pop-up message will appear, select OK to send the sanitized diagnostic copy to us.
Post the token number here.

If you are using a CD/downloaded version of TurboTax, use these steps:

Select Online at the top of the screen
Select Send Tax File to Agent.
Click OK.
Post the token number here.

@smallholder

@DavidDragon

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S

smallholderAuthor

I contacted turbotax customer support and was able to resolve the problem with their assistance. Turns out to have been a dollar rounding issue related to my 1095-A.

D

DavidDragon

Great to hear you got resolution. Sounds like the negative number issue happened in a diffrent way to my situation.

For anyone else who may have a similar issues to mine. I'll copy and paste the follow up note from the TTax person who helped me:

I confirmed that the deductible amount of self-employed health insurance premium, reported on schedule 1, line 16, is your total insurance premium paid, minus the premium tax credit. The premium tax credit includes both the advanced portion and the additional credit amount shown on you tax return, schedule 3, line 8. It appears to be calculating correctly in TurboTax, when you indicate that it applied to your business the full year.

When the heath insurance input screen indicated that the policy applied to the business January through March only, the software prorated your premiums, then subtracted the full amount of the premium tax credit shown on schedule 3, line 8. That resulted in a negative number. Changing the ending month from March to December will trigger TurboTax to apply the full year of insurance (less the premium credit) to the business as a positive amount on schedule 1 and clear your error message.

M

modmagpie

Having the same issue. Have spoken with three customer service reps, one who was trying hard to help for 45 minutes until the call was disconnected, without any resolution. Have deleted and re-entered my healthcare info several times. It's clearly not a typo or an error that I can fix. Can I just file anyway? I shared my file with an agent (token number 854358) - no idea if that will resolve anything.

D

DavidDragon

I would say that if you did the file share with the TTax agent there is a good chance that they should be able to sort it out. My negative number showing was -$120 which was quite a bit. If yours is quite a bit less, could probably submit it as is if are wanting to make the 17th deadline.. Could also correct it later as well, and resubmit to the IRS

M

modmagpie

@DavidDragon Thank you so much for weighing in on this, and for providing such detailed information for a possible solution in earlier posts! If I hadn't found this post and your reply I would have been even more frustrated than I am. I was using the online version of TurboTax where you can't directly edit any of the auto-calculated amounts, so I downloaded the desktop version and was able to fix the form manually. Not the most confidence-inspiring solution, but the amount of the error was very small (-2), so I'm just going to roll with it. Maybe this will teach me not to file my taxes at the last minute, but I doubt it, haha!

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nobodyssweetheart

I'm also getting a "-2" on line 16 "Self-employed health insurance deduction" for both Fed and State that I can't change.

Changing the start/stop months didn't affect it.

K

KristinaK

Employee

The first step I suggest you do is "unlink" your 1095-A from Schedule C, and then link it again. To do that, uncheck the box shown on the screenshot below.

If that doesn't work, there is a workaround available for TurboTax Desktop version for this. Follow these steps:

1) Go to Forms Mode

2) Find 1040/1040SR Wks

3) Scroll down to the section with the negative number on line 16.

4) Just above it you will see a box for Self-Employed Health Insurance Premiums Tax Credit Smart Worksheet.

5) Remove amount from box B.

For TurboTax Online, you have two options:

1) File an extension and wait for the fix.

2) Do not claim the health insurance adjustment to income for self-employed. You can do that by unchecking the box for the question in the 1095-A interview about whether you were self-employed. See the screenshot. You can file an amendment after the fix comes through (TBD).

Here are instructions on how to amend your tax return.

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S

sr222

The answer to this is easy: don't include cents when entering amounts. Only include DOLLARS and round up/down. Do not include CENTS even though cents appear on the 1095.

It truly was as simple as that.

So day of angst and frustration that could have been avoided if Turbo Tax has simply pointed out that you should SIMPLY ROUND UP/DOWN TO THE NEAREST DOLLAR AMOUNT AND NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.

So simple.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.