Is there a DEFECT in TurboTax, NOT showing any of Section 179 Expense Deduction

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
March 7, 2021
2 replies
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Can someone please check on it?

I tried 3- assets, all new purchased in 2020, but TT shows all $ 0.

I am using TT Premium, and I expect it must be all bug-free.

JamesG1

Level 15

I was able to enter an asset in TurboTax Online Premier and at the screen How do you want to deduct this item?, I was given the option to click I'll deduct the full value of the item this year (Take the Section 179 deduction).

Perhaps you do not qualify for section 179 because you are already reflecting a net loss for the self-employment activity?

This TurboTax Help states:

Here are the rules and limitations for 2020:

The asset must be tangible personal property, including software (not real estate).
It must be used in a trade or business (property used in a rental activity is generally not eligible).
You must take the deduction in the year you start using the asset.
The decision to use Section 179 must be made in the year the asset is put to use for business.
The deduction cannot be more than your earned income (net business income and wages) for the year.

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TbUserAuthor

Level 2

Simple asset - a laptop purchased for work, and used for work. Income is generated and shown on work, that's that taxes are there on positive income.

still, section 179 page is not able to calculate, whatever the option is selected there. I tried all options to see, it always shows $ 0.

macuser_22

Alumni - Champ

@TbUser wrote:

Simple asset - a laptop purchased for work, and used for work. Income is generated and shown on work, that's that taxes are there on positive income.

still, section 179 page is not able to calculate, whatever the option is selected there. I tried all options to see, it always shows $ 0.

Are you self-employed or a W-2 employee?

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**

Anonymous

Where are you seeing the 0? on the screen or the form or both? I've noticed sometimes TT will have an issue with the display screen but not the form itself

Are you certain you are entering it in the section for self-employment income and not job-related expenses? and that you have net self-employment income (not all income counts)?

I am able to get it to work in my account. Sometimes, it can help to just delete that whole section by deleting the form associated with it in the Tools menu and then starting fresh as the online program gets confused sometimes with a lot of back and forth. That would be my suggestion - try deleting the form under tools and start fresh and make sure you are working in the business income/self-employment income section. I am not 100% sure if Premier online actually even handles that, so you may not be. You may require the self-employed edition to do that online.