@DianeW777
Hi Diane,
I have a good grasp on how to calculate the appropriate percentage of deductions and depreciation I need, but have issue with having the correct numbers carry forwards on TurboTax. As far as I can see the software needs adjustment.
You can do either the room method or square foot method when determining what percentage of things to deduct and the room method is more straightforward and favorable for me. So I've rented 3 of 8 rooms (37.5%) for 184 of 365 days. The problem that I've had and that I've seen other folks comment on in this and other threads is that there simply isn't a place to enter the 37.5%. Or, referring to the details in my last post, maybe there is but sometimes it shows up and other times it doesn't. The other issue is that when TurboTax calculates deductions for things like utilities those are calculated based on #of tenants it's split between and not the square feet, but the software can't differentiate it and doesn't ask, so it gives you a smaller deduction than correct (in my case). Same thing for repairs when you converted to rental midyear and TurboTax still is multiplying your repair costs by 184/365.
I've seen advice from TurboTax reps on other threads saying that you can select to just do the calculations yourself, which is fine, but if you're only renting for part of the year (184/365) and enter that as such in TurboTax, then it's hard to tell what calculation TurboTax is doing behind the scenes and what you still need to calculate on your own. (E.g. do I need to enter Y x 37.5% x 184/365 or just Y x 37.5%?).
Tbh, it would have been easier for me to fill out schedule E on my own rather than using the interface since I had to double check all the numbers myself anyways.
