Schedule D

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
August 27, 2020
1 reply
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Over many years, my wife and I had thousands of dollars of capital losses. In the last three years, we have been out of the market, so TurboTax Deluxe has not been creating a Schedule D (Cap Gains/Losses) for us. If we get back into the market, how will TurboTax know how to make current the old capital loss figures?

Not A Product Question

TomYoung

Alumni - Champ

If you've been using TurboTax all along and transferring prior tax return information into the current year's tax file, TurboTax should be automatically giving you your $3,000 loss each year against ordinary income and adjusting the carried forward loss for future use. Has the $3,000 been included in the last 3 years of income tax returns? If it has, then all's good.

TMH4438Author

Level 2

Dear Tom, Thanks very much for your reply. The trouble is that, since TurboTax did not bring up a Schedule D in the last three years, none of that three thousand per year allowed tax loss has been accounted for in the last three years. Since we were out of the market during that period, the software kind-of assumed no Schedule D was needed.

TomYoung

Alumni - Champ

You don't need to include a Schedule D in your income tax return if it's not needed, but that doesn't mean that no activity is occurring with that carried forward loss, activity that TurboTax should be tracking. My specific question you you was "have you been receiving the $3,000 loss each year?" Look at your income tax return and answer that question. If the answer is "Yes" then TurboTax is working "as designed" if you've been faithfully transferring prior year tax information into current year taxes.

TurboTax also prepares a "Federal Carryover Worksheet", (typically not printed out with an income tax return "for filing"), that should also show that loss carryover amount. You should be able to look at that worksheet too. (I use "desktop" TurboTax where all Forms/Schedules/Worksheets are always available to me. I assume the "online" versions - if you use that - also have that capability.)