TurboTax 2020 refuses to correct cost basis for ESPP

[webster2004]

I spent 3 evenings before finding this thread, blaming Turbotax, I will definitely switch to others next year.

Step-by-Step did partially work now, but there is still an issue: After it went through the questions form 1099-B it still asks you if you have reported the gain(which is calculated based on the incorrect basis by TT) on W2...I have to answer 'Yes' to avoid double taxed by TT, fortunately this question only shows up in worksheet, deosn't Form8949.

Hope Intuit entirely fix this issue sooner,.

[bobbyk12]

Hi drewbren,

Just to let you know, I am still having the same problem mentioned above-- for my ESPP sales, the corrected cost basis that I entered is not carried through to the forms.  I've been updating TurboTax and I tried deleting and reentering  the information.  In my case, I'm dealing with short term sales, though I don't know if that matters.

[Andking]

I have been stuck with this bug issue for 3 days. I also reviewed the Intuit posts for a few hours. It is very frustrating - not able to fix the adjusted cost basis (not taking by Turbotax for final gain/loss). So I am paying double tax because of this bug in the 2020 Turbobax.  I wonder if Intuit still wanted us to continue using it next year. Now it is March 9, still could not fix a simple bug!!!

[eeggel]

Update on my part.  I've no clue if they fixed it.  I did as others have suggested and entered a different account for each ESPP transition. ( the work around probably stated different brokerage but I found it worked under one brokerage and different account designations ).  After entering my transactions the corrected cost basis totals were very close to my W2 value reported so I called it good.  Intuit / TurboTax has been absolute crap in handling this.  They owe everyone purchasing this a refund of the price dif between the NON-ESPP versions and this up sell.  It is just a stupid software bug.  They took my data and were to have emailed me when the defect was fixed.  Never got an email.

[drbjmoore]

I wonder how many have filed without catching the issue.  What a mess TurboTax created.   After hours and hours of trying to speak to someone, they said a magical patch would be released Friday.... my confidence in this is low.  

[hijennyk]

I am experiencing the same issue. After getting all TurboTax Premier Desktop version updates through March 14, 2020, issue remains with "I have all my info". If you choose "Walk me through adding more info", adjusted cost basis will be reflected correctly in capital gain calculation. 

[drewbren]

I tried again over the weekend and still the cost basis isn't updated automatically. I tried uninstalling TurboTax and reinstalling it from scratch, and starting an entirely new tax file as well, so it was all fresh - same thing. Then, I went ahead and copied down the cost basis Turbo Tax calculated, and entered it manually (with the purchase date and short/long). I kept a close eye on the amount of tax owed, and it matched up with the amount I estimated that it should be, so I am pretty confident it should be correct (I am not familiar with the form, but if the end result is the right amount of tax paid, should be good). The disqualifying distributions that my company listed on my W2 matched the amount calculated by TurboTax, not to the cents, but to the whole dollar. That's better than its been in previous years when its within a few dollars. I feel pretty good that its accurate now. I haven't actually pulled the trigger and filed yet, but I'm a little afraid that the next update could mess it up, so I am writing down the amount owed/refunded, just in case it changes with an update.  Best of luck to everyone with this issue. 

[ajabon]

Can confirm step-by-step work correctly for imported ESPP transactions. I am using TT Premier for Mac.

There is a TT update today. Let's hope that one doesn't break anything.

[2223alice]

I had this same problem with TT Premier on a Mac.  I tried again yesterday and got fixed, but I had to do something different. 

Previously, when I got to the point where TurboTax asked if I had all my ESPP information or if it wanted me to go "step by step," I said I had all the information.  I entered everything including the adjusted cost basis, TT would report back the correct basis and gain, but it would not put that on the forms. 

Yesterday, I had an idea and when I got to that decision point I selected the option to have TT take me step by step and it worked.  

I figured I would post that as it was very frustrating to me for a long time.  

[philslinuxttexp]

Same problem here. I'm being TT is taxing me twice, as the income is on my W-2. This really sucks. In past years TT had a question "Is this reported on your W-2?", now it doesn't ask that. Now that I have to be a tax expert to use TT, what's the point? What else am I missing? It's the end of March already and they should have fixed this by now. I have no faith in this program. It may be costing me a lot of money.

[2223alice]

A couple earlier posts point out that if you choose 'step by step" instead of "I'll enter the information myself" it works.  Have you had a chance to try that? 

[mvoswhc8364]

I'm having a similar problem using a Mac and the online (Premier?) version: TT complains that I have a negative basis for stock sales, though that is not true in the 1099s I uploaded.  I tried H & R Block online and imported my 1099s but it did not register many stock sales, so grossly underestimated my income.  That does not appear to be a useful way to go.

[philslinuxttexp]

I think I solved my problem, but I think there's an error in how TT computes RSAs. My 1099 reports each fragment of a sale, like say I sold 300 shares from one lot, but the transaction logs it as 290 shares, then 8 shares, then 2 shares.  On each transaction TT asks how many shares (for the lot) were sold to pay the taxes, let's lot was issued as 500 shares, and 200 were sold to pay taxes, TT seems to then say OK, you had 1500 rsa shares on your W2.I think the purpose of the question is to determine that some taxes were paid when the gain was realized (thus avoiding a penalty for not paying tax in the quarter when the RSA's vested), but its saying I have about $10K more RSA income on my W-2 than I actually had. I couldn't see where it mattered on the tax filing, but its still wrong. Also, the W-2 income for ESPP is off by $2 and change (I assume from accumulated rounding errors), which there is no easy way to fix. It would be so much easier if TT had a more intuitive tabular form in which to enter stock sales. Then I could group the sales by purchase lots rather than by the fragmented transactions.

[ajabon]

@philslinuxttexp  TT did ask that question when I was finished with my ESPP. I also confirmed it by reviewing the output of the "summary of compensation income from employer stock transactions" form.

@2223alice Step by step for ESPP entries worked for me. I receive a stock plan transactions supplement from my broker with adjusted cost basis and gain (loss) for RSU/ESPP and I was able to match that with the 8949s generated by TT (minus the infamous TT rounding issue). Never tried manual entry.

I am using TT Premier for Mac (3/25 update).

[philslinuxttexp]

I didn't get the question my first couple of times through the step by step. After I had gone into the forms and (I'm not sure what I did), the next time through, at the very end, it asked the question, but I still couldn't correct the values, even in the forms. For ESPP it was only off by between 2 and 3 dollars , but for RSU it was off by about 20-25%. I could not determine how TT was calculating the value for RSUs. For ESPP it was obvious, and I think due to rounding errors.