So it is that time of year in the US. Time for the government to square up on taxes.

I filed my Federal and State taxes last night via the electronic method (TurboTax does Fed for free, but I paid the $19.95 to get my states done electronically too). This is around 7:00 pm that I am done filing. I think that all is good. I mean, I've used TurboTax now since 1998, so I've been around this block a few times.

Anyway, around 2:40 am (no, I wasn't awake) I received two emails. One that my Federal return was rejected, and the other that the state return was rejected. WTH?!!?!

The error is something like "Either you or your spouse has been claimed as a dependent on someone else's return." for the Federal. State rejected it because the Feds rejected it.

What? I am thinking identity theft, fraud, something horrible.

What do I find out after a bit of searching? That message is actually more generic than it is written. Yes, it deals with dependents, but no, it doesn't always mean me or my spouse.

Here is what I found out. My daughter wanted to do her own taxes this year (she had a job that she made enough that she needed to file, and the government took taxes, so she wanted to see what she got back.

I walked her through the steps (yes, that means that this is MY fault) of how to do it. I mean, she just had work income and no deductions. In the simplicity of it, I missed a check-box that stated something like "I will be claimed on someone else's return as a dependent." Missing that box means that even though my tax return is accurate, I can't file it without a bunch of review because HER return is wrong and SHE isn't flagged (not my wife or I) to be a dependent on someone else's return.

So, I have two options. 1) Take her off of our return... I tried this, and watched the numbers spin down about a total of $750 between Federal and State. Ouch. 2) Print and mail my taxes in and let the IRS sort it out.

Ugh. The lesser of two evils for sure. So I am going to print and mail them today. So much for a fast return. Not only will there be delays via mail, but now the whole thing will get an extra review. Oh, and I can't get my $19.95 back from TurboTax either.

EDIT: Crap. I just remembered that filing a paper version means that I need to get my wife's signature on them. Dang it. I guess I will be mailing them out tomorrow.

Well, that's a PITA. At least you can fill everything in with Turbotax and just print and sign. I remember early days of filling in the forms by hand. I also use Turbotax and file electronically. So far so good (last 5 years), but my kids are not making any money yet!

If they're out of diapers, you should have them working and contributing to the household!

That's why I had kids in the first place. For some reason my wife does not agree with this philosophy.

I am not wanting to file taxes, as i am almost certain that i am going to owe a considerable amount of money...... Why do now, what you can put off until at least April 15th.......

April 15th? Isn't it April 17th this year? Even more time to put it off!

not sure how you got your TurboTax that cheap? We did their online version, had to do deluxe since we have tons of itemized deductions. I think it was almost $60 to elecgtronically file Fed and Iowa. I used to use Taxcut all the time, but found Turbo much user friendly to follow.

Not sure, but you can always file an extension!!.....

I've been doing the online version for three years now. Since my wife has a home business (which is on hiatus and made no income last year), we've been doing the Home & Business edition. We get it at a slight discount via Vanguard where I have one of my 403b retirement accounts.

When I bought TurboTax Deluxe it said that it came with free Federal filing. Of course, I still had to pay for the software...

State is where they nail you. We file federal online and state by paper.

NH has no state income tax.

Yeah, but you have Bigfoots.

Yes, the regular filing deadline this year is April 17 because the 15th is Sunday and Monday the 16th is Emancipation Day in DC.

Nick, it wasn't made clear if your daughter incorrectly claimed an exemption for herself. If the box(if it was Form 1040)wasn't checked, as you stated, then she(correctly)didn't claim an exemption for herself.

In TurboTax, it asks questions, and one checkbox right below her personal information was "You are going to be claimed as a dependent on some else's tax return" or something like that. The checkbox simply wasn't checked. I went back into her return and checked the box, and it didn't impact her return amount at all, so that is good. It is just frustrating that it will mean nothing yet is going to hold up our return.

Mark, i though they did... i though the income tax covered the short comings of no sales tax?


I lived in NH for 2.5 yr.. in New Market, worked in Portsmouth.. I rented and was military though, so didn't have to worry about NH state anything

Okay, Nick; I don't use TurboTax. The actual Form 1040 has Box 6a(to claim an exemption for yourself), which is not to be checked if someone else can claim you as a dependent.

Nope. No income tax nor sales tax.

The property values are pretty high, but overall the taxes paid are among the very lowest (I think Alaska pretty much is always rated the lowest in tax burden).

I have a friend that lets me use her Turbo Tax package that lets many people use it. She does this to help out her daughter and lets friends use it, so it never costs me anything.

Solution = www.fairtax.org