QBI Deductions for rental properties that are not registered as a business

[fkhalilz]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I replied to a previous thread from last year with a follow up question on this subject, but I did not get any confirmation. So I am starting a new question. Sorry if you get this question twice.

My wife and I own and manage 5 rental properties as our main source of income. We do not have any business registered for this purpose. But we do all the day to day work of managing them ourselves. Last year a TurboTax community person told us that our rentals are eligible for QBI deductions even if they are not registered as a business. This year, while entering my taxes for 2019, I selected again that my rentals are eligible for QBI deduction. In a follow up page TurboTax asks for the "Name and Employer Id Number" of the business, which we do not have. If I leave these 2 fields blank, I will get 0 deduction for QBI. What do I do?

[TerryA]

That's a known defect and to get around it for now enter something in the QBI Trade or Business Name field. That will cause the rental info to flow into the QBI Component Wks.

[DavidS127]

The issue you are having has been reported for investigation.  

As a "workaround" for your issue, go back through the Step-by-Step interview for each Schedule E and you will see a screen requesting Business name and EIN.  Enter the name you are using for the rental property in the box for Business name, and your Schedule E QBI deduction will calculate correctly.  You don't need to enter anything in the EIN box.

You can do this in TurboTax Download/CD in Forms mode on the QBI Component form for each Schedule E by entering the name you are using for the rental property in the first box, "aggregate trade or business name".

[fkhalilz]

Thank you very much!