Tax-exempt interest appearing on Line 2a of 1040

[blayton812]

Does the amount of tax-exempt interest for multiple accounts on line 2a of 1040 include all tax-exempt interest less all accrued interest paid across all multiple accounts?  Because some tax-exempt bonds were purchased late in the year, for some accounts the accrued interest paid in those accounts exceeds interest received in those accounts.  However, across all accounts the interest received exceeds accrued interest paid.  Line 2a seems to include the net of all interest received and accrued interest paid even though the Turbo Tax Federal Review tab flags an account if for that one account the accrued interest paid exceeds the interest received and recommends making an adjustment.  Such an adjustment appears unnecessary if the aggregation works as it appears to.  Thanks for any help in understanding how this might work.

[KeshaH]

Line 2a of Form 1040 should show the total net amount of all of your tax-exempt interest across all your accounts combined. Even if some of your individual accounts show more accrued interest paid than interest received, what matters is the overall total across all accounts.

You should be able to ignore the review flag.

[blayton812]

Thank you for the prompt and clear explanation.  I very much appreciate your help.