TurboTax forcing me to file 1040?

[teen persuasion]

I'm using TT to e-file our taxes, and at the end I see that it has used the 1040, rather than the 1040A. That also means that our state form is the "long" form, too.

Is there any way to force TT to use the 1040A form instead? I hate the Q&A format, I just want to e-file our forms! I've already done the returns on paper, to make sure TT hasn't missed anything (since I can't "see" the forms until I'm all done).

[cael]

Two years ago, I had to use a higher priced product on TT because I had two W2s - I assume it was a different form, possibly like this. Last year I was back to one W2 and tried to downgrade, and they wouldn't let me. From what I found out you would need to register a new username to use the cheaper product again Maybe the problem is something like that? Did you need a 1040 last year, if you used TT last year?

We sucked it up & went to H&R Block saturday because I just don't have the time to deal with it this year. Money well spend - they caught a few things I would've missed on TT, and it took 15 minutes instead of a whole weekend of aggravation on my part, lol.

[TheOtherMe]

Tax software is only as good as the person doing the input. If you don't have some understanding of tax law, you can get way off course.

I have never used the online version of Turbo Tax, but no matter what form it is using, it will give you the same end result. Unless that makes your state more difficult, it shouldn't matter on the state either. Are you downloading your state for free?

You can switch to form view and see the forms at any time. That is how I check mine as I know what the answer should be.

[teen persuasion]

I've been doing our taxes for 25 or so years - I know enough about our situation that I'm confident, and I deliberately keep things simple. I'm going thru TT JUST so that I can e-file. I am using the free file version, fed and state.

I know that I CAN file the longer forms, but I don't want to for financial aid reasons. If we meet certain qualifications, we can do a simplified needs test, and get automatic EFC=0. One of the qualifications is filing the 1040A.

We filed the 1040A last year, and I can't think of any reason we would need to go to the 1040 this year: standard deduction, w2 income, small amount of interest and div income. Not much else to confound things.


How do you switch to form view? I looked all over for an option like that; maybe it is not on the free file version.

[TheOtherMe]

I'm sorry, but I've never used the free file version.

[ilea]

Your EFC should be the same no matter which form you actually file.

[MN-Investor]

In the other versions of TurboTax, you can switch to the Forms view by either selecting View, Forms, or just pressing Ctrl+2. Ctrl+1 will get you back to step by step view.

On the Federal Information form, there's a box to check if you want TurboTax to use Form 1040 even if you qualify to use Form 1040EZ or 1040A. Make sure you don't have that checked.

[teen persuasion]

Thanks for all the replies and help.

Mystery solved - We had to file form 8889 since DH has an HSA, and that apparently forces us to file 1040. Odd that we could file 1040A last year w/ the same HSA situation. So much for keeping things simple.