TurboTax Early Rounding Issues creating LARGE variances between TurboTax Produced Return and Brokerage 1099-B Data

[MaxTax00]

Edited to be as clear as possible.

"In my 2019 TurboTax Produced Tax Return, Column H on Form 8949 was NOT ROUNDED. In my 2020 TurboTax Produced Tax Return (this year), Column H is Rounded.

The IRS guidance did not change between the two years so please fix it. Rounding every individual transaction on FORM 8949 produces large variances with what the broker sends the IRS on 1099-B for people with hundreds of transactions. Software should not be rounding this number."

*Edited to add the issue is worse than I thought....TurboTax appears to be rounding All dollar amounts on Form 8949 in the final version of returns. Every column that features dollar amounts is being rounded on Form 8949 and that is definitely not REQUIRED by the IRS.  We are not using pen and paper so please be precise.

TurboTax software for this year has a serious issue that is upsetting customers. TurboTax is forcing rounding at the individual transaction level for items like stock sales.  This creates an enormous problem for people with hundreds of transactions. The early rounding results in a large variance between the Broker to IRS 1099-B statements and what a TurboTax produced return details. Some suggest "the IRS allows it."  First off, the IRS definitely does not REQUIRE it.  Just because the IRS allows it does not mean it should be forced upon TurboTax customers. I am sure the IRS intention for allowing rounding (again, not requiring) is to help people who use pen and paper and don't pay for expensive software.  We that pay for expensive TurboTax software expect precise data.  When the early rounding creates a variance, it is possible that other issues with the data are being hidden. It is why anyone who has ever done reconciliation on financial data knows that you tie out to the penny (and then at that point you can round). It is the only way to know 100% that you have accounted for all the data. Come on TurboTax, you should know better. As a decade long customer, I genuinely believed your product got better every year....but this year, it has taken a giant step back.  Please Fix It. 

[mjrengaw]

Thanks for opening a new thread on this issue. Hopefully we will get some sort of response from TT and they won't close it as "resolved" because as of right now it is not.

[gp10237]

IRS says "If you have to add two or more amounts to figure the amount to enter on a line, include cents when adding the amounts and round off only the total."

That rounding applies to Schedule D, where taxes are calculated. The transactions to support Schedule D are shown on Form 8949. The values Form 8949 should include the cents, and the sums should be rounded as they are transferred to Schedule D.

That is the only way to get the 1099-B values to match the Schedule D values. My brokerage firm does NOT round individual stock transaction values as they are entered into the 1099-B form, and I question if the IRS would allow them to do that.

Please fix the TurboTax software so that the Form 8949 matches the 1099-B forms. They have matched for the past 10 years, and the current year's software is BROKEN.

I came across this problem at another tax preparer years ago, so I immediately switched to TurboTax and have used them since. In fact, I have been recommending TurboTax to my friends and relatives for 10 years, specifically because the stock transactions are only rounded after summing, so that the tax forms (Schedule D and 8949) will match what has been sent to IRS in the 1099-Bs.

[MaxTax00]

I have tried calling TurboTax but obviously the people I get in support don't write the software so it is hard to get too angry with them.  This is definitely an urgent matter that TurboTax must address or they are going to have a ton of complaints as we move closer to April 15th. It was NOT like this any of the prior years. The online experts have been of no help unless they are escalating the issue already and this is being worked into an updated version of the software. The product is virtually unusable for anyone with hundreds of 1099-B transactions as it stands now. 

[MaxTax00]

I believe the best thing we can do to get this fixed is to remain organized and continue to post on this thread until TurboTax updates their software.  It should be an easy fix considering their software did it correctly for at least the prior decade that I used it. It was always so easy....I would import and then the number on TurboTax would tie out perfectly with the numbers on my 1099-B brokerage statement.  Now, it is off by an uncomfortable amount  because of this new rounding that TurboTax is doing at the individual transaction level.  My transaction total has been relatively similar year to year so it is not like all of the sudden I have a variance because I have hundreds of transactions. I had hundreds of transactions last year and TurboTax perfectly tied out with my Brokerage 1099-B. Fix this TurboTax. Thank you.

[MaxTax00]

Just to make this as clear as possible so that any TurboTax Employee can forward this on to their technical/software update team.....

I pulled up my Form 8949 from my 2019 TurboTax generated Tax Return and Column H is NOT ROUNDED. I pull up Form 8949 from my 2020 TurboTax generated Tax Return and Column H Is ROUNDED. 

The IRS Guidance between the two years did not change so why is TurboTax doing this? All it does is create large variances between the Tax Return TurboTax produces and the 1099-B statement the brokerage sends the IRS.

[MaxTax00]

To be as clear as possible so a TurboTax expert can forward to their technical team, 

In my 2019 TurboTax Produced Tax Return, Column H on Form 8949 was NOT ROUNDED. In my 2020 TurboTax Produced Tax Return (this year), Column H is Rounded.

The IRS guidance did not change between the two years so please fix it. Rounding every individual transaction on FORM 8949 produces large variances with what the broker sends the IRS on 1099-B for people with hundreds of transactions. Software should not be rounding this number.

Please contact me. I would love to discuss. I am a big TurboTax fan but this error makes the software unusable this tax season for people with a large number of transactions.

[mmckay3157]

This is my first year using TurboTax and coming over from the other Green Logo'd Giant.  This is a MAJOR issue for TurboTax and will likely result in me going back and filing this year with the competition after considering TT.  At least I'll get some recourse for the time I put in on this by saving on TT filing fees.

[MaxTax00]

Hopefully they fix it soon.  Since most people just got their 1099-B this week, I imagine a tsunami of complaints will start to come in to TurboTax as we move closer to April 15th.  If using the desktop version, I recommend leaving feedback where it asks for it at the bottom of the screen. It was not like this last year so clearly they can correct it.

[MaxTax00]

Still zero help from any of the TurboTax experts on relaying the issue to their technical team. I got the generic email asking if the issue had been solved. Clearly not.  I can screenshot the difference between how TurboTax addressed the issue for the prior decade versus this year if needed. Simply, Form 8949 column H is rounding this year on TurboTax after not rounding for any of the prior decade I have used the product. The IRS guidance has not changed so I am not sure why TurboTax is doing it differently this year.

[arsk3121]

I posted a new topic regarding line 25a of the 1040 because I was seeing a rounding error similar to the ones described here. Line 25a is the total W-2 income tax withheld. On my return I entered two values for W-2 federal income tax withheld: $23.17 and $56.46 which adds up to $79.63 and should be rounded to $80. However, the form generated by TT fills in a value of $79.

So, just jumping in to say that this seems to be a problem in other parts of the software where TT is rounding before adding, instead of adding the values first, and then rounding the value that is entered on the form.

I'm seeing a rounding error in line 25a of the 1040 generated by TurboTax 

[MaxTax00]

Thank you. The more people we can get bringing this issue and other very similar issues pertaining to rounding to TurboTax's attention, the better. 

[amahesh]

Wondering if Turbotax support team is going to escalate to the technical team for a fix and provide any update here. Thanks !

[MaxTax00]

Yes.  I hope this gets corrected soon. If you have hundreds/thousands of transactions that get rounded on Column H of Form 8949 then it could potentially cost you money. It might overestimate your gain because of rounding every transaction on Column H.

[Rerun48]

The rounding screws up everything to do with investments.  I can't clear an error on capital g/l adj form because of the rounding.  I agree with everyone on this thread - there should be no rounding on the transaction level.  I have used TT for more years than I can count and this is the first time I've seen this type of rounding.  Very disappointing.