IRS is saying we did not pay the underpayment penalty when filing through turbotax. Is this even possible?

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
May 29, 2025
3 replies
0 views

I have been using TT for at least 5 years and owed for at least 3. I have always seen the underpayment penalty calculated for me as part of what I owe. Is it possible it wasnt paid via TurboTax and if so, how?

TurboTax Online

DoninGA

Employee

If your Form 1040 had an amount for an estimated tax penalty on Line 38, that amount was included in the amount of the federal taxes owed on Line 37. The IRS calculation resulted in a higher amount of the tax penalty.

Oasis31Author

@DoninGA Thank you for the reply.

Line 38 is blank on the PDF. I didn’t know we could somehow not pay the penalty portion of what TurboTax calculates: I see another reply that may lead me to the exact section of the software, so I can ensure I don’t miss it next time.

Opus 17

Employee

Download and view or print the PDF of your return and look for form 2210. Turbotax might not have prompted you to calculate a penalty if it did not detect an obvious penalty situation. (There is also a step where you are asked "Do you want to check to see if you need to include a penalty" but you might have gone past that step without noticing it.)

Unless you owe a huge penalty, the only thing that might happen as a result of not including the form is a bit more interest owed.

Oasis31Author

Thanks so much for the reply @Opus 17

I didn’t see a form 2210 with my downloaded forms. I went back in and recalculated and it came up with 1 area to review which was form 2210. It shows we checked box C to have the IRS calculate and send a bill. I do t remember doing it but at least I did find the proof I was after.

Thanks to all who replied

baldietax

TT calculates it based on what it knows, if it didn't have correct 2023 AGI/Tax info (carried over or input), or estimated tax amounts/dates etc then it will calculate a different result from IRS. IRS calculates it independently based on the information in their systems. See Form 2210 lines 1-9 for the safe harbor calculation. You can check details such as estimated tax payments from your account at irs.gov.