Turbotax asks me to check Schedule E., Passive Operating Loss, saying that the sum of losses should not be greater than the total loss. Turbotax puts there right amount

[gaborbajko]

Turbotax fills the box with the right amount, I manually checked by substracting all expenses and amortization from income. But it still does come up as an error during review.

[PatriciaV · Accepted solution]

When you run Smart Check, TurboTax will present a section of Schedule E Worksheet Carryovers to 2024 Smart Worksheet, Disallowed Passive Losses by Year and Type. For some properties, the carryovers are out of sequence. For instance, 2022 is on the 2021 line. Or the 2023 number is on the 2022 line. 

Note also the amount on the first line for "Before 2018." This amount should be zero (unless you had carryovers from before 2018).

To fix this, enter the correct number starting with the most recent year. Then move up the schedule until all years are correct. This may be easier if you can access your 2023 return and print the Schedule E worksheet.

 

If you're unable to scroll down in the popup window to see these lines, you will need to transfer your return to TurboTax for Desktop so you can use Forms Mode to fix this carryover. See How do I switch from TurboTax Online to the TurboTax software?

[gaborbajko]

Thank you Patricia, I seem to have the problem you mention, as my 2024 Operating loss is filled in by TurboTax correctly, but the 2023 Operating  loss field is filled in with the same amount, and the 2022 field is filled in with the real  loss I had in 2023. However, all these fields are grayed out, and Turbotax does not let me change them. And yes, I also have this "Before 2018" Operating loss filled in with some random value, even though Turbotax should know that the first year I reported gain/loss for this property was 2020. And this field is also grayed out and cannot change it to zero. So what do I do?

Can we expect Turbotax to fix this error in the coming days, by any chance?

[PatriciaV]

You may not be able to resolve this issue using TurboTax Online. Since this relates to the transfer of your prior year return to the current year, the issue may not be addressed in an update before the filing deadline.

Your options are 1) ignore the Smart Check message and file your return by mail or 2) install TurboTax for Desktop so you have direct access to the form.

If you choose the second option, see these instructions: How do I switch from TurboTax Online to the TurboTax software? Also, contact TurboTax Support and request a free download due to the unresolved form error.
 

[gaborbajko]

Hello Thank you Patricia,

Hello Patricia, Thank you for your answer.

I chose to download TurboTax desktop version.

And I did manually enter the operating loss for each and every year for the "Carryovers to 2024 Smart WorkSheet". I took the numbers from the prior year tax returns, all done with TurboTax online version.

All losses were after 2018.

But it is still not accepting it. Under the "Disallowed passive Losses by Year and Type", in the Before 2018 Operating Loss, it should be zero, but Turbotax puts a positive number there. That number is the difference between some total loss turbotax came up with (i dont know where from) and all losses after 2020 I entered into the form manually from the previous tax returns.

At this point i think my option is to ignore this, but I do not know the tax implications of it, once I will decide to sell the property I am renting.

[kaylea_hascall]

Thank goodness, this worked for me. One other quirk: it doesn't work to edit the little spreadsheet thingy in Firefox, it has to be done in Chrome.

[MG26]

Dear gaborbajko,

So did you get any answer to not being able to clear out 'before 2018'? I have the same issue in online version and have to decide if I'll buy the desktop version. It doesn't look like it is totally working to correct this 'before 2018' either. In her example it is whited out unlike the yellow boxes. I am contemplating just using a different company software if that is the case. I think TT should offer a professional to correct it online. That would be good customer service.

[cocon]

Identical issue with desktop version (mac premier). Only way i see to resolve is the put in an amount for a prior year that lowers the total carryover to zero out Before 2018. But this is just kicking the can down the road since the cumulative carryover will be wrong (lower) next year...

[cocon]

Just found that I could change the total carryover in the Activity Summary Smartsheet to get Before 2018 to go to zero. Also fixed the similar issue in the QBI column.

[CJNC]

Hi Patricia,  If I use Live Assist can the turbotax team make these corrections for me so I don't have to download desktop?

[CatinaT1]

I think live assist is still going to have to use the desktop version because the online version doesn't have the capability. You could call Customer Service for more information.

Here is a link:  Turbo Tax Customer Service