Turbo Tax won't accept CSV file upload for Crypto Transactions

[Anonymous]

Greetings, I am trying to upload the transactions from two of my Crypto Exchanges ( Binance.US & Kraken) to TurboTax. I have read the instructions and I am pretty sure I have followed them to a T. From what I see both exchanges are supported by TurboTax. In the case of Binance.US you have to upload a CSV file. Turbo Tax does not connect via API keys. I followed the instructions on how to obtain the CSV file from Binance.US. There are over 4000 transactions that I have with Binance and I see that TurboTax will only except 2200 transactions at a time and it asks you to split up the CSV file to the required number of transactions so it will accept them.

I was able to split the file into two parts. When I tried to upload the first smaller file into Turbotax, it accepted it initially and it ran for about 10 minutes, then I get a message saying" Could not import 1099B". I don't know why it says "1099B" because I clicked on all the right buttons to upload a CSV file. In any case, I tried this several times with different browsers and had the same result.

Now on to the Kraken exchange. I thought I would have better luck here because TurboTax will connect directly to the exchange via API. I followed the instructions on acquiring the API keys from Kraken and plugged them into the appropriate fields on TurboTax and had the very same results as before, getting the same message. There are about 6000 transactions in Kraken, however, I did not see any limitations this time because you could link directly using the API keys. 

Nothing seems to work here and I don't know what I am doing wrong. I am wondering If I first have to use other software programs such as Taxbit or CoinTracking in order to calculate the gain/loss from those transactions. I thought TurboTax would be able to do that.

Can anyone help?

Thanks Much  

[SantinoD]

Some exchanges that produce the CSV files are not fully compatible with TurboTax software. There could also be some areas of the CSV file that is not formatted correctly or has an entry that TurboTax doesn't recognize. 

Try using these steps: How do I create a CSV file for an unsupported source?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply.

The TurboTax website says that Binance.US is supported so I take that to mean their CSV format would work with TurboTax.

Also, I was able to connect TurboTax directly with Kraken via API keys with no CSV file involved and that didn't work either.  

[JamesG1 · Accepted solution]

Are you using TurboTax Premier Online?  You may be able to upload a .csv file by following these steps: 

• Go to Federal / Wages & Income / Your income / Investments and Savings.
• Click Start / Revisit to the right of Stocks, Cryptocurrency, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other.
• Click Add investments.
• At the screen Get ready to be impressed, click Continue.
• At the screen Let’s import your tax info, click Enter a different way.
• At the screen OK, let’s start with one investment type, select Cryptocurrency.  Click Continue.
• At the screen Select your crypto experience, select Upload.  Click Continue.
• At the screen What’s the name of the crypto service, select Other and enter the name of the service.
• Click Continue.
• At the screen Go ahead and upload your crypto CSV file, upload the file.

The .csv should follow this format.

• All the columns from the .csv file were deleted except for the five columns listed below.   
• All other lines other than the headings and the five columns of data were deleted.

•    Purchase Date
•    Date Sold
•    Proceeds
•    Cost Basis
•    Currency Name

.csv file format.

           A                   B              C                  D                   E

purchase date  date sold    proceeds   cost basis   currency name

11/24/2021        2/1/2022    1,779.96     1,916.52         ABFOA

12/7/2021          4/1/2022    1,111.46     1,225.45         ABFOA

11/24/2021        3/1/2022    1,638.54     1,638.54         ABFOA

@Anonymous 

[Anonymous]

Thank You for your reply,

So just to be clear, are you saying the format of the .csv file should be changed to look like the columns and headers you mentioned, just with those 5 headers, and delete the rest? I'm asking because I downloaded the Turbotax "Universal .csv file template" that they want you to follow and it doesn't look anything like that. And quite frankly, I don't understand the Turbotax template. It doesn't come close to what Binance.US gave me and they (Binance) claim they have a working relationship with Turbotax and that their .cvs file should work with Turbotax. It clearly does not.

Thank You 

[JosephS1]

I know this is not the solution you would prefer but one workaround method that will enable you to complete your return would be to request, if you do not already have one, Form 8949 from the issuing agency. Delete any imported transactions that may have occurred, and enter the totals as a single transaction as shown on the 8949.  Follow the 1099-B for the separate types of sales, such as long-term, short-term, etc., down separately but with totals for each.  If this is the case you will have to enter each "group", such as short-term covered, long-term covered, as separate transactions. .  

You may want to attach a pdf copy of the 8949 to your return for verification purposes.

The IRS is concerned that you are properly reporting your total capital transactions with their associated cost basis and while individual transactions are important, the totals are the most important.

[KatValek]

@JamesG1  I formatted my file with those 5 columns in that order... are you saying that is all we need because it still will not accept the file and I am confused on how to input the data into the Turbo Tax Universal CSV file when I only have those 5 columns you listed.   

[JamesG1]

I am able to upload a .csv file into TurboTax Premier Online.  The file may be viewed here.

At the screen What’s the name of the crypto service, I select Other (Gain/Loss) and enter the name of the service.  Click Continue.

At the screen Go ahead and upload your crypto CSV file, upload the file.

The items must be reviewed and edited.

Hope this helps.

@KatValek 

[Anonymous]

Thank You for your reply,

My problem is that my CSV file is too large. TurboTax will only accept a limited number of transactions, and mine exceeds their limitations. I've tried both .csv and pdf uploads and have the same problem.

In my case, I am able to continue to e-file my Tax Return with TurboTax, however, I will have to physically print out all of my transactions on the 8949 and mail them separately.

[talltodd]

What about with TurboTax Premier Download? 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply, however, I  already resolved this issue.  Thanks again. 

[Frustrated Tax Payer 217]

I have a one-line file that looks just like that and it still won't upload.  Saved from Excel as a .csv file.   I wish there was some error message capability in this upload.  The only message of "unsuccessful" is completely unsatisfactory.  
" 

[Frustrated Tax Payer 217]

Row 1 must be a, b, c, d, e    (this is ridiculous you have to enter this into your file)

Row 2 must be the five column headers.  Case does not matter and order didn't seem to matter

Row 3 starts your data

- Date format needs to be d/m/yyyy; standard date in Windows.  Note, no hours, min, seconds, etc. 

- Any Total row at the bottom or non-standard row must be removed
- The file has to be saved as a .CSV
- The Excel file used to create the .CSV must be closed before the upload can be successful.  Not sure how I stumbled upon this issue, but it was after like 27 - 37 failed attempts
- Currency field is really the Description field (if typing in manually) so I think should be a concatenation of the crypto currency type (BTC) and the amount of currency purchased)

I hope this helps. 

One would think that Turbo Tax could

  - provide  solid rules for the .csv file

  - provide some decent error messages

  - could provide a good template.  Oh they did have a template, but it didn't work and is WAAY OFF.  

#embarassing #veryfrustrating

[DawnC]

There are updated instructions for uploading csv files.  

How do I upload a CSV file of my crypto transactions?

How do I create a CSV file for an unsupported crypto source?

[Frustrated Tax Payer 217]

I don't believe the template and instructions in that updated post are accurate (How do I create a CSV file for an unsupported crypto source? (intuit.com)).  If they are, they are completely different than the instructions I and others provided above.  The template located there is very different  (https://digitalasset.intuit.com/DOCUMENT/A6oMzp4uC/Custom_CSV_Template.csv ), than the 5-column format on this thread.  Very different!!!  So which is really the correct upload .CSV format?    This was PART OF THE FRUSTRATION!!