Question

Problem with Turbotax Colorado state return Federal Taxable Income

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
February 8, 2023
2 replies
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There is a problem with TurboTax Home and Business 2022. This may apply to other TurboTax products as well. The problem is with the Colorado state return. If the filer's Federal taxable income is less than the standard deduction, a negative number is entered by TurboTax on line 1 of the Colorado state return instead of value 0. For example, the filer has total income of $2135 for 2022. The standard deduction for a single filer is $12,950. TurboTax enters -$10815 (negative $10,815) on line 1 of the Colorado state return instead of value 0. It is advantageous to file a Colorado return even if the filer will not be receiving a Federal Refund because the filer is entitled to the Colorado sales tax refund.

TurboTax Business Windows

T

tlallowayAuthor

A TurboTax expert advised me that a negative value for the Federal Taxable Income on line 1 of the Colorado Return is not an error with the program. The instructions in the Colorado 104 book state:

Line 1 Federal Taxable Income

If your federal taxable income is a negative amount, be sure to enter the amount as such on your Colorado return. If submitting a paper return, put the negative amount in parentheses, for example ($1,234)

A

AnnetteB6

After further investigation, the situation you described was confirmed.

However, according to the Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (page 5), "If your federal taxable income is a negative amount, be sure to enter the amount as such on your Colorado return. If submitting a paper return, put the negative amount in parentheses, for example ($1,234)." So, TurboTax is completing line 1 of the Colorado state tax return as instructed.

This will not prevent a user from filing a Colorado return or from claiming the Colorado sales tax refund since the Federal Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) amount, determined prior to subtracting the standard deduction, is reported on line 29.

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R

RH1234

HI - I have a return I need to file for someone who has no income for 2022 but I would like to file Colorado return to get the Colorado Sales tax refund of $153. So this is really two questions-

1- Can we file a state return without filing a Federal return.

2. I know we have to file on paper, but the software makes you fill out a Federal form (we entered all zeros) and puts the standard deduction in as negative Federal taxable income (which is the correct way to do Colorado) - however we don't want to file a Federal form if it is not needed. Can we just fill out the Colorado form with all zeros - and populate line 33 with the $153. I was not sure if this was allowed. But all full year residents are entitled to the refund.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks