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

[MaxTax00]

How can TurboTax legally claim this guarantee if they are rounding at a point in the return when the IRS does not require it? They should at least have to give a non rounding option at the individual transaction level to make such a guarantee. Sure, some might come out ahead because of the unnecessary rounding but half will not. 

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[DBC1014]

This really upsets me.  I cannot finish my e-file because of this tiny bit of money.  I have paid for TT fees with credit card and now I have received on email my fees will go up if I don't file by Feb. 28.  

I am a first time user.  I got to the very end of completing and it stopped me because of this "tax wash" issue. I spent well over an hour with a Turbo agent trying to resolve.  Finally I was told to wait a few days to see if TT resolved the problem and gave me a discount code to use towards my fees, which I can't use because I chose to pay fees with credit card. And told if the issue is not resolved, I will need to MAIL in my return.  What the heck??

Can't at this point recommend TT.  This is a disaster,

[MaxTax00]

It is a total disaster and the issue is worse than I thought.  I just previewed my actual return in the TurboTax software and they are Rounding ALL of the dollar amounts on Form 8949 in its final copy. Every single column that has dollar amounts on Form 8949 is being rounded! That is definitely not allowed by the IRS. I still believe this is such a huge issue bubbling up that the complaints are about to go parabolic.  I imagine many on this thread loved TurboTax in the past so we are not looking to complain.... but this is absolutely an issue that has to be fixed.

[MaxTax00]

A TurboTax live expert told me today this Rounding issue is a known problem with TurboTax this year. He said there are "notes" to get it fixed. He did not provide a specific timeline for TT to fix it but did mention late March as a possibility.  The agent also said they are having many more issues regarding 1099B imports/wash sales/etc compared with last year. My suggestion is we keep letting TurboTax know how big of a problem this is so it moves to the top of the priority list for them. Frankly, I wish we could just file our 2020 returns using 2019 TurboTax software. It was far superior!

Something else new to TurboTax this year is they might only display Wash Sales or Non-Covered Securities on your Form 8949 (you need to preview your return to see this).  It was not done like this in the past at TurboTax but here is a blog where they discuss why you are allowed to omit certain transactions as long as your Broker reports your cost basis to the IRS. 

"

There are two exceptions to having to include transactions on Form 8949 that pertain to individuals and most small businesses:

1. Taxpayers can attach a separate statement with the transaction details in a format that meets the requirements of Form 8949.
2. Taxpayers can omit transactions from Form 8949 if:
   • They received a Form 1099-B that shows that the cost basis was reported to the IRS, and
   • the form does not show a non-deductible wash sale loss or adjustments to the basis, gain or loss, or to the type of gain or loss (short term or long term).

If one of the exceptions applies, then the transactions can be summarized into short-term and long-term and reported directly on Schedule D without using Form 8949."

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/investments-and-taxes/guide-to-schedule-d-capital-gains-and-los...

[Rerun48]

Late March?  That's a month away.  Surely it can't take that long to fix the error.  

[MaxTax00]

Agreed. Should be fixed ASAP.  Nowhere in the IRS guidance does it say you are REQUIRED to Round on Form 8949. Certainly, software should not be forcing us to round as it requires no extra effort for a line of code to calculate numbers.  The rounding is creating problems that would not exist if they just did it like the last ten years and used precise numbers.

[Xer]

I agree 

This is my first time filing tax but I’m almost done filing but only need to fix that issue, wash sale error ( another way to file is entering the info manually). The system already charged me but I need answer on when they can fix. Man if turbo tax doesn’t have a proper answer to when they can fix it, honestly I will file with another system. 

[fanfare]

This is a problem, compounded by thousands of new  Robinhood-ers doing hundreds of tiny trades generating teensy "wash sale loss disallowed" amounts of pennies.

[GrtScott]

This is also generating error messages when the final review is run, particularly when Box 1g of the 1099-B is less than $0.50. Overriding the downloaded value and entering the value from the form results in the same $0.00 and is not accepted as valid. I'm assuming since the box is flagged as such and cannot be removed.

[DawnC]

You can edit and remove the error(s).  @GrtScott    The changes required cannot be performed through the Review and/or Error Check screens.  You must return to the interview section to edit your entries, specifically, the wash sale adjustments.  

The error messaging you are seeing is a result of the automatic rounding of the numbers, either imported or typed in by you.  If the wash sale adjustment is $0.49 or less, then it is automatically rounded to zero.  Although this type of rounding is allowed by the IRS, it causes some fields to show $0.   And unfortunately, zero is not a valid value for this field, so you will get an error for any field with a $0 entry.

To resolve the issue, you can edit each individual transaction (although not from the screen in the review process) and delete the amount entered in the wash sale adjustment if it is $0.49 or less.  This will clear the error message(s).  

To do this, you will need to revisit the Form 1099-B entry interview.  Use the following steps:

• Use the Search feature by clicking on Search in the top right corner
• Type in 1099-B and hit enter
• In the results window, click on Jump to 1099-B
• Click Edit next to the issuer's name
• Click Edit beside each transaction that contains a wash sale adjustment amount of $0.49 or less
• Delete the wash sale adjustment, leave it blank, and then click Done

If you have too many transactions to edit, consider using the summary reporting option.  

[MaxTax00]

@DawnC

I think the problem most of us are having on this thread is that TurboTax did not round in prior years at the individual transaction level even though the IRS allowed (not required) it.  This rounding at the transaction level creates all these new problems and introduces glitches into the software.... so shouldn't TurboTax just make it not round at the individual transaction level since the IRS also allows that?  It seems odd that TurboTax appears to be taking an antiquated position by adopting rounding on Form 8949. A position that  is more suited toward the pen and paper era than that of the software era.

[DawnC]

I do agree with you regarding the early rounding on Form 8949 (it does seem like an option better for pen and paper filing) and I know it is an issue that is being looked at, but unfortunately, I don't know when it will be resolved.   I will forward your very helpful comments along, though, thank you!     @MaxTax00

[MaxTax00]

DawnC

 Thanks for the reply DawnC.  It is nice to hear from someone at TurboTax on this thread. 

[Tyson FC]

This is preventing me from completing the e-file as well because it marks each transaction as an Error and it won't allow me to enter the exact number to finish. Please update this as soon as possible.

Thanks

[Rerun48]

Thanks @DawnC .  That certainly did the trick to clear the error.  It strikes me, however, that we shouldn't have to do work-arounds because the software doesn't work properly.