Reporting Passive Activity Loss on Schedule K-1 When No Complete Disposition of Units in Tax Year

[Royston]

The Schedule K-1 for an MLP states that one should not report boxes 1, 10 or 17 if (a) the taxpayer did not materially participate in the activities of the MLP (taxpayer did not), (b) boxes 1, 10, and 17 combine to result in a loss (they do), and (c) the taxpayer did not dispose of his entire interest in the MLP during 2022 (taxpayer did not).

However, if one follows the instructions from the MLP on TurboTax, then Form 8895, the QBI Deduction Summary, and the PTP Worksheet do not seem to populate correctly. For example, the PTP Worksheet will not record Unallowed Losses under column (g) of the PTP Worksheet. Furthermore, putting amounts in boxes 1, 10, and 17 that differ from those on the Schedule K-1 would seem to require filing Form 8082 for inconsistent treatment.

Question: Should one follow the instructions of the MLP not to report boxes 1, 10, and 17 or report boxes 1, 10, and 17 in TurboTax as they are on Schedule K-1?

[nexchap]

@Royston The MLP instructions are trying to say that you can't deduct passive losses on your tax return until you have a) offsetting passive income from the same MLP or b) you do a complete disposition.  But entering the data into TT does not put automatically put the passive losses on your return.  TT will only declare losses that are allowed, and suspend the rest.  So you definitely want to enter everything just as it shows up on the K-1, so that TT can track everything from year-to-year and release as appropriate.