# Turbotax says I owe 0 after expenses, but help me on this:



## Andrew Zuckerman (Dec 26, 2014)

I got this error:



> Not Eligible for Electronic Filing
> It looks like you have a tax situation in your federal return that makes it ineligible for e-filing, according to IRS rules.
> 
> Here are the details:
> ...


I really dont want to mail it in, i feel like if turbotax does it then I wont get audited, but if i have to mail in, of course i will. I really didn't end up with a profit last year but I didn't keep my receipts. I got all this info off my bank and credit card accounts going line by line. Should i remove some of my expenses so i owe like $5 and I can let them efile it?


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## IERide (Jul 1, 2016)

Mailing vs filing has no bearing on your chances of being audited..
But, if it only costs $5, i would probably make the change and do it that way.


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## brianboru (Nov 3, 2016)

Andrew Zuckerman said:


> I got this error:
> 
> I really dont want to mail it in, i feel like if turbotax does it then I wont get audited, but if i have to mail in, of course i will. I really didn't end up with a profit last year but I didn't keep my receipts. I got all this info off my bank and credit card accounts going line by line. Should i remove some of my expenses so i owe like $5 and I can let them efile it?


It makes no difference whether you mail or e-file. Either way the return is analyzed by the same computer program. Changing your return to owe $5 will make no difference either. As long as you have submitted accurate information, i.e. not hiding income you will be fine.


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## Andrew Zuckerman (Dec 26, 2014)

I feel like if it goes in electronically, most likely their computer would just check for errors and send it on its way but if its not, then they'd have tax pro's hand type in everything. I just didnt keep receipts for it all. I wanna minimize my chances here :\ This was the first year i ever made enough on Lyft to pay taxes.


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## IERide (Jul 1, 2016)

Just because you feel like it does not make it a reality..
As mentioned, they all go into the computer - automatically.. Even if you have sloppy writing and someone has to hand-enter it, it’s a $6/hr typing monkey, not a “tax pro”.
The computer then runs the lotto program to see who’s life it’s going to jak..


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## Andrew Zuckerman (Dec 26, 2014)

hmm, true. so ill make it just a couple bucks so i dont have to mail it. thamks guys.



IERide said:


> Just because you feel like it does not make it a reality..
> As mentioned, they all go into the computer - automatically.. Even if you have sloppy writing and someone has to hand-enter it, it's a $6/hr typing monkey, not a "tax pro".
> The computer then runs the lotto program to see who's life it's going to jak..


well it's not quite working as planned, i took off about 1300. no change. so i changed some supplies down from 145 down to where i would owe. at $33 it says i owe $61, but if i set supplies to $34. I owe 0.... so i either owe $61 or 0... should i just mail it and let the typing monkey work on it?


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## IERide (Jul 1, 2016)

Make the monkey earn it’s banana...
.. FYI - that’s the same thing the pax say when they make you do a U-turn in the street so you can get them 25 feet closer to their destination..


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

Andrew Zuckerman said:


> This was the first year i ever made enough on Lyft to pay taxes.


I'm confused- from your first post it appears you had no income to report (no AGI, no total income, etc), so no tax owed.
Assuming you had no other sources of taxable income, and little or no net profit from Lyft/Uber, it could be you have no tax liability. Does your Schedule C (or C-EZ) show zero profit? Is it possible you aren't required to file?

I had to mail my return this year for a different reason after using TurboTax Deluxe, CD version. In order to e-file you have to provide your AGI from the prior year. I did a practice run on TT last year, so it put in that number. But my CPA had a different figure for my actual return, and TT wouldn't let me input the correct info. Since it's used to identify the e-filer, I was screwed. However, paper filing doesn't worry me. I did send it certified mail so I know it got there. I'm planning to do my own returns going forward; the CPA was charging more than the tax I owed. 

Disclosure : I'm not a tax professional. Maybe UberTaxPro will will have a good answer.


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Andrew Zuckerman said:


> I got this error:
> 
> I really dont want to mail it in, i feel like if turbotax does it then I wont get audited, but if i have to mail in, of course i will. I really didn't end up with a profit last year but I didn't keep my receipts. I got all this info off my bank and credit card accounts going line by line. Should i remove some of my expenses so i owe like $5 and I can let them efile it?


Did you file a SE tax form along with your 1040. You also need a 1040 Schedule C for business. I don't know about your 1040 Schedule A, that's for personal deductions.


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## Andrew Zuckerman (Dec 26, 2014)

Older Chauffeur said:


> I'm confused- from your first post it appears you had no income to report (no AGI, no total income, etc), so no tax owed.
> Assuming you had no other sources of taxable income, and little or no net profit from Lyft/Uber, it could be you have no tax liability. Does your Schedule C (or C-EZ) show zero profit? Is it possible you aren't required to file?
> 
> UberTaxPro will will have a good answer.


Ok, so what i mean was, all the previous years, i made less than 5k and never filed because i didnt have to. This year with lyft, my earnings were 21k. But with all of my expenses, my tax liability is 0. The government doesn't know that though. So don't I still have to file if I brought in 21k but have zero tax liability. I wasn't filling out those forms, I was doing it all on TurboTax's website under self employeed. They fill it all out. I'm pretty confused now.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

Andrew Zuckerman said:


> Ok, so what i mean was, all the previous years, i made less than 5k and never filed because i didnt have to. This year with lyft, my earnings were 21k. But with all of my expenses, my tax liability is 0. The government doesn't know that though. So don't I still have to file if I brought in 21k but have zero tax liability. I wasn't filling out those forms, I was doing it all on TurboTax's website under self employeed. They fill it all out. I'm pretty confused now.


If you're self employed you have to file if your net profit was $400 or more. Other than that, you go by the Form 1040 minimum requirements.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employed-individuals-tax-center

Still not a tax pro, but it looks like maybe you're off the hook.


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## Andrew Zuckerman (Dec 26, 2014)

Older Chauffeur said:


> If you're self employed you have to file if your net profit was $400 or more. Other than that, you go by the Form 1040 minimum requirements.
> https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employed-individuals-tax-center
> 
> Still not a tax pro, but it looks like maybe you're off the hook.


sweet, ill work on that now and see what's up and write it back here.


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