How to resolve Lacerte diagnostics for CA Electronic Payment of Estimated Taxes with E-Pay Requirement

For more estimated tax resources, check out our Tax topics page on Estimated Tax payments where you'll find answers to the most commonly asked questions.

The e-file critical diagnostic will generate when the checkbox Electronic payment of estimated tax is marked in the California Direct Deposit of Refund/Electronic Payment section of Screen 3, Miscellaneous Information, regardless of whether the box Requires electronic payments is marked in the California Miscellaneous section of the same input screen.

This results in errors saying that the California electronic payment of estimated taxes account number, account type, and RTN are missing or invalid.

Follow these steps to remove the diagnostic:

1. Go to Screen 3, Miscellaneous Information/Direct Deposit.
2. Scroll to the California Direct Deposit of Refund/Electronic Payment section.
3. Uncheck the box for Electronic payment of estimated tax.

Disaster area tax relief available:

Filing deadlines and estimated tax due dates may be extended for taxpayers in parts of Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and IRS for taxpayers living abroad. See here for more details.