What to do in first year of NOL

[JImClav]

I am using TurboTax Basic to file my 2019 taxes and will produce a NOL for the first time (from my small business). How do I report it now so I can apply it on my 2020 taxes? Or do I even need to do anything this year?
 
IRS Publication 536 is confusing. It claims "you must file Form 1045 on or after the date you file your tax return for the NOL year, but not later than 1 year after the end of the NOL year." But Form 1045 appears to be for claiming a refund. I just want to be able to carry forward my NOL to 2020. Do I need to submit Form 1045? Do I just leave it blank with Schedule A filled out to show how I calculated the NOL this year? Do I need to mark Form 1040 Line 7a ("Other income...") with "NOL" this year?

[AmyC]

You no longer have to claim carry forward or back. The only thing allowed now is carry forward. The program will generate a worksheet showing your carryforward. Nothing else is required. Please see IRS:

About Publication 536, Net Operating Losses (NOLs) for ...

[JImClav]

Thanks for responding Amy. I think I found the worksheet: "Federal Carryover Worksheet" and Line 14a is "Net Operating Loss available to carry forward." However TurboTax has left this blank, so I think I will have to manually enter it. Is this the worksheet you're thinking of?

[ThomasM125]

You do need to manually calculate the net operating loss carry forward (NOL) and enter it on line 14 of the Federal Carryover Worksheet.

You can learn about the NOL and how to calculate it by reviewing IRS publication 536 as follows:

 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p536.pdf

[JImClav]

Thank you Thomas. I will manually enter it. It concerned me that TurboTax did not indicate I have a NOL, even though I do according to Pub536 Wksht 1/F1045 Schedule A.

[AmeliesUncle]

Are you SURE you have an NOL?  That means negative income on the entire tax return.

At any rate, WAIT to file your tax return.  Or another option is to file a secondary statement when the IRS provides more information.

The CARES act just passed a few days ago, and one of the changes involves NOLs.  So now the "default" treatment is to carry it BACK five years.  If you want to do that, great.  But if you want to carry it to 2020, you need to file a statement to "Waive the Carryback".  Because this is brand-new, the program does not have that option yet, and likely won't for several weeks yet.  The other option is to file your tax return now, but then within 120 days after the law passed, file a statement to "Waive the Carryback".  But as of now, there is no information about how to do that outside of your tax return.

[JImClav]

Hi AmeliesUncle,

No I'm not sure but I can't find any documentation that says AGI must be negative to have a NOL, only that AGI minus standard deduction must be negative. For simplification I have 9K capital gains, 5.5K business loss, and 12.2K standard deduction, which leads to -5.5K on the last line of Schedule A. What document says that AGI must be negative?

And yikes on the CARES act. Thanks so much for the head's up!

[AmeliesUncle]

Yes, you are correct in that.

I guess I overly simplified it by just saying "negative income".    I used to be able to say that "Line 41" had to be negative to have an NOL, but the IRS changed all of the numbers on the tax forms so I need to learn how to re-phrase things.  🙂   We come across many people on this forum that think a business loss is a "NOL", when they have plenty of other income on the tax return, so I just wanted to make sure that you actually had a NOL.

[JImClav]

Hi AmeliesUncle, It's somewhat non-intuitive and I had to check many times, so I am glad to be reaffirmed about the NOL. Thanks again for your responses and the notification about CARES. Be well!

[JImClav]

Update: I just realized TurboTax did automatically fill out Line 29 "Qualified business loss carryforward" of the Federal Carryover Worksheet with my NOL, just not line 14a. I will still enter it manually in line 14a.