Rental property sold using installment sales

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I sold rental property in 2020. I owner-financed, and would like to report the income as installment sales.

When I get to the "Rental Properties and Royalties" section of Turbo Tax, and the question comes up - Do Any of These Situations Apply to this Property?... The "Learn More" link specifies NOT to check the "sold" box until the final year of payment, if the disposition was reported using the installment method.

But later, in the Installment Sale section, after entering Principal and Interest received, Type of Business Property, and confirming that it was Depreciable Property... I get to the question "Have you reported the sale of this asset in your business or rental activity?" When I answer "No" (because I was instructed NOT to check "sold" until the final year), I get the message telling me to Enter the Asset Sale and then come back.

Please help clear up this apparent contradiction.

RayW7

Alumni - Intuit

An installment sale is a sale of property where you receive at least one payment after the tax year of the sale. You can read more about it here.

Follow these steps to report the sale in TurboTax.

Open your return in TurboTax.
In the search box, search for installment sales and select Jump to installment sales.
Check the box next to Sales of real estate, cars, or anything else for which you receive payments over two or more tax years (installment sales). Select Continue.
Answer Yes to Do you want to report an installment sale?
Follow the instructions to enter your sale details.

-for more information on installment sales follow this link-

Publication 537 - IRS

kuz214Author

Level 2

Sorry Ray, your response did not really clear up any of my confusion. I do understand WHAT an installment sale is, and how to enter the info. It's the "Rental Properties and Royalties" section that seems contradictory.

I start entering the rental property info the same way that I have for the past umpteen years that I've used TurboTax...

But I know this time will be different, because I sold the property in mid-2020. So when I get to THIS page:

The directions seem clear that I should not check that box, because it's an installment sale. But then when I do get to the "Less Common Income" section and begin entering the installment sale info, I eventually get to this screen:

And when I answer "No", (because I left the "sold" box unchecked in the previous section), I get this message:

So, am I supposed to leave the box UNchecked, enter all my expenses for the first half of 2020 prior to the sale, then move on to the section to enter the installment sale info, and then come back to the previous section and check the box?

It's very frustrating to be confused with what should be the "easy part". I haven't even reached cost basis and depreciation recapture yet!

ThomasM125

Alumni - Intuit

I entered a sale of rental property in TurboTax and did not have to go to the installment sale section, everything was handled in the rental area when I indicated that I sold the house. Please see these screen shots:

You may have to delete the installment sale entries you made, and then return to the Rental Income section and try to enter the sale there. Also, make sure you have done the updates to your TurboTax program.

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mjam1984

Level 2

I click on sold under rental property but never come across the option of selling as installment payments

DMarkM1

Alumni - Intuit

You are correct, the option to report the real estate sale as an installment is not in the "Rental Property" topic. Instead scroll down to "Other Business Situations" and use the "Sale of Business Property" topic. On the follow on page select the "Sale of real estate...two or more tax years..." option.

Reporting the property as sold/disposed in the "Rental" topic calculates the depreciation and allows for any prior losses that were unused.

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jaaks6

Level 2

After reading this I had questions. 1)we sold 2 rental properties together as one sale, 1 was land only connected to another with a building on it, neither had a business on it that we owned, just property 2)we are carrying/ financing the note for the new owners for 25 years so we get monthly principal and interest payments. 3) we have received the down payment but paid legal fees and commission on the sale. Really confused how this all needs to be on the taxes. Can you help?

Thanks,

Angela Amos