I’m trying to help my D do her taxes for with unearned scholarship income and most of the tax software I’ve checked says form 8615 won’'t be updated until 3/12 or later!
** Has anyone found an online tax program that has the update to use now? Thanks!
Form 8615 itself and the updated instructions have been available on the IRS website since the end of January. If you and your daughter do her taxes yourselves, not only can you get them done sooner, but you can learn as you go through the process (instead of just plugging numbers into a tax program and hoping that everything was done correctly). You can even use Free File Fillable Forms directly from the IRS website and file electronically for free.
https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/before-starting-free-file-fillable-forms
If she gets a refund and you mail the return in, it might take a lot longer to get the refund than waiting until 3/12, e-filing and doing direct deposit.
Oh, sorry, I just realized that the free fillable forms might be different than I remember.
There used to be pdf files of tax forms that you filled in and then printed and mailed in.
@BelknapPoint you can e-file the free fillable forms, how does that work?
Taxact free file edition lists the 8615 as part of the forms that can be e-filed.
You might want to confirm with them.
Free File Fillable Forms… like using Turbo Tax, etc. except you need to fill out all the forms online (basic math calculations are done for you). It’s an efficient way to learn the tax rules, fill out the forms online, and file electronically for the fastest refund (direct deposit or a paper check). You have to be willing to educate yourself as to what you need to do and how to do it to your best financial advantage. So, if you’re not used to doing your own taxes, the first year can be a little painful.
Give a man a fish, and you’ve fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish…
Thank You everyone. Thanks for pointing me to the free fillable forms @BelknapPoint. I am just not sure exactly how to do all the calculations for the taxes so I would prefer an online package to do it all, transfer the info to the state, etc… This will be my 7th year paying tax on scholarship income for 2 kids but every year it’s a new challenge all over again! Last year for FAFSA and Profile though, yay!
Just in case anyone else is also looking, there are NO programs updated at this point. Most are saying 3/5 at the earliest or 3/12. That’s so suprising to me considering it was a revision reverting back to calculating tax year 2017 so I’m not sure why it’s so delayed. It is corrected on the forms directly from the IRS though like Belknap point said so you could use that right now if needed.
Thanks again!
The kiddie tax law was modified by congress at the end of last year (part of the SECURE Act), so this didn’t give the IRS, or the commercial tax preparation companies, much time to update all the forms and software. That’s why things have been so delayed.
The major modification for the kiddie tax is that for tax year 2020 it will go back to using the parents’ highest marginal rate to figure the tax, as opposed to using the estates and trusts rates and brackets. For tax year 2019, the returns that people are working on now, the taxpayer has the option to use either method to calculate the tax, and there is also the option to go back and amend tax year 2018 returns to use the parents’ rate instead of the estates and trusts rates.
First the IRS has to update forms, then software can be updated. Remember that this is not the only form that has to be updated, and it impacts a relatively small number of taxpayers, so it is farther along the list of updates. I work for a major tax firm, and even our software won’t have it until 3/5
Thank You again! I am now trying to find the form 8615 revised for tax year 2018 so we can go back and amend her tax on scholarship income. She would get a substantial amount back so it’s well worth doing but I can not find the form. It mentions it in the instructions for the revised 8615 for 2019 and has a link but when I click on it, it takes me to 2019 again in a loop.
Do you think it is just a case of more waiting or am I just not looking in the right place on the IRS website? Has anyone else found it? Thanks again.
The 2018 version of form 8615 is here,
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f8615–2018.pdf,
but I don’t think the IRS has “revised” it to account for the latest change in the kiddie tax law. In other forums, people have been wondering how and when the IRS is going to handle the retroactive application of the change to 2018 filings, and as far as I know there is no answer yet to these questions.
Thanks @BelknapPoint. I guess the form itself will not be revised, maybe just the calculations that are found in the revised 2019 worksheet. The only real difference is one figure that is $2100 on 2018 that goes up to $2200 when calculating for 2019. I think I have figured out how to do the 1040X for 2018. There is always something new to learn. Thank you so much!