How do I get TT to accept real dates of sale and purchase for short sales instead of "Date acquired cannot be after date sold"?

[dandy48]

Imported data from brokerage is correct. TT says it needs to be reviewed. When I review it all looks correct but when I click continue the error won't let me continue. How can I get TT to accept actual dates options were sold and bought? It also won't let me just exchange dates because the sold date can't be last year which is what it actually was. I sold in 2019 and bought back in 2020.

[JohnB5677 · Accepted solution]

A Short Sale is when the investor sells a stock, or an option with the expectation that it is going to go down in value.  The investor can then re-purchase it at a lower price resulting in a profit.  This is a proven strategy that investors do use.  Tot correctly post a short sale.

To post a Short Sale go to:

1. Income & expenses
2. Scroll down to Investment Income 1099-B or broker statements
3. Select Contracts and Straddles
4. Any Straddles or Section 1256 Contracts?  Yes or No
5. Any Elections?  You can leave this blank
6. Now you can select Gain, or Loss from Straddles
7. Post your information

The dates will process correctly.

@dandy48

Edited: 04/11/2020

[dandy48]

That doesn't work because TT won't accept a sale date in 2019 when the options were actually sold. They were then bought or expired worthless in 2020.

[dandy48]

Oops, my mistake. Lying to the IRS about the purchase and sale dates does get TT to accept it. Looks like I have a lot of changes to make but at least there is a workaround.