All Posts

TurboTax allows landlords to use the De Minimis Safe Harbor election to immediately expense rental asset purchases costing $2500 or less per item, rather than depreciating them over several years.    If you spent a total of 20K for roof underlayment on several rentals, you could allocate a % to each rental, if you don't have a breakdown per property, or enter the total as a depreciable asset for one property.    From the Asset Summary, 'Add an Asset.' If you choose 'Rental Real Estate Property' (most appropriate), you'll depreciate the total over 27.5 years.  If you choose 'Tools, Machinery, Equipment, Furniture' you'll have a choice of several depreciation/deduction options, but since this is technically an improvement to the property, it's really not an appropriate category.    If you have enough properties to split the expense to $2500 each, you'll be asked about the 'Safe Harbor' election when you say Yes" to "Did you buy any items that each cost $2,500 or less?"   Here's more info on Rental Property Improvements.   @MikeP3           

@MelindaS1 @PatriciaV  I am using TurboTax Business desktop to file my 1120-S tax return (CA is the state).  Error is only on the Federal 1120-S for 2 assets.  Token 129303321-62423883 [restored] sent.  I need to file my personal tax return this week but need the K1 from my 1120-S first, so I invite you to help resolve this issue!  I already filed an extension for the 1120-S but cannot do that for personal 1040 due next week. Thank you.  

Hi -- thank you for your reply.  I have 2 dependent children for which I had a distribution from their 529 accounts to pay for elementary school tuition.  I received a 1099-Q for each of these distributions.  I have my 2 dependent children listed on the return.  And one point I mistakenly clicked that my spouse had received the distribution.  I went back and changed it to say my two dependents received the 1099-Q distributions.  I suspect there is a bug in the return now that won't clear that my husband does not need an enrollment status.  I don't know what to do because I cannot e-file with this error and now Turbo Tax is also not letting me print the mail in forms.

Form 3520 must be paper filed separate from your return. Mail to: IRS Service Center in Ogden, UT 84409. I suggest you send it certified and do not require a signature.   Here is a comparison of the FATCA (Form 8938) and FBAR requirements. I imagine you need to file both but best to check.

It may happen or it may not happen. When it comes to e-file, if the EIN was obtained earlier in the year, (meaning not in the very recent past - 2026), then it will be matched to the first four letter of the name associated with it. If it's your husband then it will match his last name. In this scenario, it may not trigger anything at all.   If your tax return goes through and gets accepted through e-file there is no concern for a future mismatch.   @user00 

Since you maxed out your 403(b) at your new job, the leave conversion (reported as Code E in Box 12) likely pushed you over the IRS elective deferral limit. For 2026, that limit is generally $23,500 (or $31,000 if you are age 50 or older). Here is how to handle this without getting hit by penalties.   1. The "Excess Deferral" Issue When you have two different employers, their payroll systems don't "talk" to each other. Employer A converted your leave, and Employer B took your per-paycheck contributions. Combined, you may have likely exceeded the annual limit.  The Risk: If you don't correct this, the IRS technically taxes that "excess" amount twice: Once in the year you contributed it (because it shouldn't have been tax-deferred).  Again, when you eventually withdraw it in retirement. 2. How to Fix It (The "Return of Excess") You need to contact one of your plan providers (usually the current one is easiest) and request a Return of Excess Deferral.  The Deadline: You must request this and have the funds distributed to you by April 15th.  What happens: The plan will send you a check for the overage plus any earnings (interest/growth) that money earned. Tax Reporting: You will report that returned amount as "Wages" on your 1040 for the 2025 tax year (since it was 2025 income), even if you don't get the corrective 1099-R until next year.

In TurboTax Online, at the screen XXX depreciable assets, select Edit to the right of the rental property that was sold.   Continue to the screen Tell us more about this asset.   Select The item was sold, retired, stolen, destroyed.......  Enter the Date sold or disposed.  Click Continue.   Continue to the screen Sales Information.   There is a sales price for the depreciable portion of the asset (improvements) and a sales price for the portion of the asset that is not depreciated (land).    

We anticipate the update will include all versions of TurboTax (Online and Desktop). However, if you'd rather not wait, you have a few options.   Request an extension of time to file and pay the estimated taxes (if any) that are shown on the return you have now. The final filing deadline for 2025 is October 15, 2026. File your return now and amend after the software has been updated. IRS processing of amended returns could be delayed two to three months. Use one of the workarounds presented in this thread and file now. You may hear from the IRS in the future regarding an incomplete form. This may or may not affect the tax liability per the IRS.

It's possible to have a main home and a secondary home. The main home is eligible for the sale of home exclusion. A secondary home is a sale of an investment property and is not eligible for the exclusion.   The next question, to be clear, you rented the second home for six or seven months in 2025. If so, that rental income is taxable and you would be entitled to expenses for the period of time it was rented. If it was fully rented during that time, meaning you never used it for personal purposes during the last six months,  you should list it as a rental asset and enter your rental activity on Schedule E for 2025 (June-December). TurboTax will ask you when you placed the property in service which is the date it became available for rent.   In your scenarios based on having a main home the rental home is not your main home so number 1 does not apply. This applies when it is sold. The depreciation will be recaptured to the extent of gain and there is no exclusion available. This is a possibility however, the exclusion will be prorated based on days owned and rented. More details about this below. Home Sale with Rental: In your situation the sale should be reported as a sale of your home. This means that in the rental activity you must be sure to select in Property Info it was sold and when prompted select Special Handling (this stops TurboTax from looking for sale information in the rental).   When you enter the home sale in TurboTax it will ask for a couple of items that are needed to report the sale correctly.   The total depreciation expense that was allowed during the period it was available for rent.   The number of days the property was available for rent during the ownership period. Results: The amount of depreciation that was allowed will be completely taxable up to the amount of gain received on the sale. The remaining gain if any, will be split between taxable and amount eligible for exclusion by using the following formula. The total days available for rent will be divided by the total days owned to determine the portion of the remaining amount of gain that is taxable for the rental period The balance will be eligible for the home sale exclusion TurboTax will do all the calculations based on your entry Steps to enter the Sale of Home in TurboTax: Wages and Income > Less Common Income > Sale of Home On the screen Primary use of home select 'Yes' Enter the number of days used as a rental (nonqualified use) Continue to Depreciation after May 6, 1997 > Enter the total depreciation for rental period in both boxes This will allow TurboTax to handle the sale with the correct amount of taxable gain and excluded home sale gain.    You can decide your actions based on the information provided.

It was J and P.  However, I did do the taxes as if I had to count the income, and my income was lower than the Standard Deduction so it did not work against me at all.  Let me know what code I would have had to use if you happen to know. Thanks for your help.  

Yes.  The capital gains are part of your taxable income as seen on Form 1040, line 9. Capital gains change your tax so that it is calculated differently rather than a straight tax on income.   Total income is the sum of every taxable "bucket" of money you received. It includes: Wages/Salary: The amount from Box 1 of your W-2 (this is already lower than your actual salary if you have a 401(k) or health insurance premiums taken out). Capital Gains: Any profit from selling stocks, crypto, or property. If you had a "taxable event" in a brokerage account, that gain is added directly to your total income. Interest & Dividends: Even the small amounts from your savings account or Robinhood dividends. Retirement Distributions: Taxable withdrawals from IRAs or 401(k)s. Business Income: Profit from side gigs or freelance work (Schedule C) more