Reject Error Line 21

[Diane]

Client has foreign earned income Form 2555. The negative amount goes to Line 21 of the 1040. I've gotten a reject code of MEFFDF1040-080 - Form 1040, Line 21 'TotalOtherIncomeAmt' must be equal to the sum of Line 21, 'NetOperatingLossDeductionAmt' and all occurrences of ('OtherIncomeAmt' in [OtherIncomeTypeStatement] attached to Line 21).

What am I missing?

Diane

[TaxCPANY]

As much as I am, Diane -- i.e., I've been filing Expats for years, and've never seen that reject code. What else is going on in that return -- e.g., 'active' losses from Schedule C or E, off-shore or not; a carryforward NOL, off-shore or not? Those are my first stabs at making sense of your problem.

[Diane]

There is nothing else going with this return. One W-2, Schedule A, Form 2555. It's in Washington State, so there isn't even a State return. It couldn't be cleaner. I can't figure out what they are talking about. The only entry on Line 21 is the Form 2555 amount.

Diane

[Lion EA]

Do you have the statement attached to line 21 the message mentions?

[Diane]

The Form 2555 is one of the efiled forms. I don't know what kind of statement they are talking about. The worksheet for Line 21 shows only the info from From 2555. What kind of 'statement' has to be attached?

Diane

[Lion EA]

('OtherIncomeAmt' in [OtherIncomeTypeStatement] attached to Line 21).

[Diane]

And, how do I create this statement?

Diane

[Lion EA]

I don't use ATX. Call tech support. Maybe the statement exists, but needs a box checked or question answered or.... Maybe the software needs an update. Maybe no one has reported this problem yet this year to tech support.

[Lion EA]

New from ProSystem fx, so CCH is aware of the new IRS reject codes:

On Saturday, February 25, 2012, the IRS put in place new electronic filing rejections that are impacting the electronic filing of Individual returns with Net Operating Losses (NOL) and/or the Form 2555 Housing exclusion reported on Form 1040, Line 21. In some scenarios, the IRS is issuing these new rejections in error; in some scenarios, program changes are needed to send more specific data.

We are working with the IRS to reduce the scope of these rejections so they no longer issue in error. We have also completed our program changes to eliminate rejections regarding insufficient data.

In order to ensure these and other miscellaneous electronic filing updates are utilized, on Sunday, March 4, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. CST, we will begin stopping Individual returns that have not been calculated and uploaded on Release 2011.03010, which posts overnight on Saturday, March 3, 2012. Returns that were uploaded prior to that point and are ready to release will not be impacted.

Please plan to update to this most current release of the Individual program and recalculate returns before exporting electronic files after Saturday, March 3.

[Diane]

Thank you, thank you! I have been trying everything I could think of to get this return efiled. At least I know it's not ME! I'll wait until next week. and try again.

Diane