Reporting rental income. no option for multiple years rented.

[cytajiri]

I see First year rented, but it's not first year rented?

[ColeenD3]

How do you mean no option for multiple years? If it is not your first year, and none of the other categories apply, just skip it.

[Carl]

If 2020 is not the first year you started using Turbotax to report this rental, or if 2020 is not the first year you rented this property out, I would highly suggest you completely clear your return and start over from scratch at this point. You need to re-import your rental information from your .tax2019 tax return you filed last year. Note that to do this, you absolutely must log in using the same exact account that you used last year to complete and file your 2019 tax return.

It appears to me that you've made multiple errors thus far, and you 'really" need to start over from scratch before you get to far into the return and find you "still" have to start over to make things right.

[JuristaClients]

I'm having a similar issue, but I have never used Turbo tax before and need to report rental income from 2018 and 2019 for real estate property sold in 2020.  I just purchased the Turbotax Business Tax Year 2020, and do not see an option to report prior year rents.  How can I do this?

[Carl]

You say you purchased TurboTax Business, which is different from TurboTax Home and Business. Please confirm exactly what you purchased. It matters here.

Prior to the sale, who was the owner of the property? You personally? You and your spouse? You and another person to whom you are not legally married to, and therefore could not file a joint return with that person? It's not possible to make an educated guess on this, as we can't be sure if you have TurboTax Business (which can not be used to file a personal 1040 tax return) or TurboTax Home & Business (which can be used, but typically is not used to file a business tax return if that business was owned by two or more people not married to each other. It just depends on to many specifics to cover here.)

          Rental income/expenses are reported on the tax return for the tax year that income/expense is received/incurred. Under no circumstances and with no exceptions will you or can you (legally) reported rental income received prior to Jan 1, 2020 on your 2020 tax return. There are no exceptions.

Now I do understand that you are using TurboTax for the very first time to file your 2020 tax return. Regardless of how you filed your 2018 and 2019 tax returns, did you report your rental income for 2018 on your 2018 tax return, and your rental income for 2019 on your 2019 tax return? If you did not, you have a major problem that you can not fix with TurboTax. You will need to seek professional help, as a tax pro may be able to reduce the amount of back taxes, penalties and fines you will pay for not having reported the income and expenses in the tax year it was received and incurred.

          Otherwise, if you did report your rental on SCH E of your 2018 and 2019 tax return, we can definitely help you with the transition to TurboTax. But you will need all of the IRS Form 4562's (3 of them) from your 2019 tax return that pertain to the specific rental property you sold.

[Anonymous_]

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@JuristaClients wrote:

I just purchased the Turbotax Business Tax Year 2020, and do not see an option to report prior year rents.  How can I do this?

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Regardless of which TurboTax product you purchased, you cannot report prior year rents on a 2020 income tax return (assuming you received the rents in those prior tax years).

I have to suggest that you consult with a tax professional.

See https://taxexperts.naea.org/