All Investors & landlords posts

Re: If my total investment income is negative, why is my "capital gains income" positive?

DaveF1006 — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:08:47 GMT

It depends on what you are talking about. If you are talking about overall portfolio income, you might have a portfolio full of stocks that have dropped 20% in value this year. These are unrealized losses. They make your "total investment value" look negative, but they are not reported on your tax return..

If you sold one single stock that you bought years ago for a profit, that is a realized gain.

"Total Investment Income" is a broad category that includes more than just the price of stocks going up or down. It typically includes:

Interest (from bonds or savings)
Dividends
Net Capital Gains/Losses
Passive Income (like rental properties)

If you have heavy losses in one area (like a failing rental property or massive margin interest expenses), they might outweigh your capital gains in the "Total Income" calculation, but the capital gains line item remains positive because it is calculated independently.

If my total investment income is negative, why is my "capital gains income" positive?

brentdavidmartin — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:00:05 GMT

Re: Tax Harvesting ESPP

DianeW777 — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:46:33 GMT

Yes, selling underwater shares (at a loss) later in the same year to offset gains, after taxes have already been withheld on those gains, can result in a significant tax refund, provided the sale does not trigger the wash sale rules as you indicated. The loss reduces your net capital gains, potentially making the previously withheld tax amount excessive.

The wash sale rules, although you seem to understand this, are posted below so that you can review them before taking any actions. Keep in mind it's actually a 60 day window.

Wash sales cannot be combined into section totals. They should be entered individually so that you can track your cost basis and know when you are allowed to use the information on a final sale.

Wash Sale Rule Defined:

A wash sale occurs when an investor sells or trades a security at a loss, and within 30 days before or after, buys another one that is substantially similar.
It also happens if the individual sells the security at a loss, and their spouse or a company they control buys a substantially similar security within 30 days.
The wash-sale rule prevents taxpayers from deducting a capital loss on the sale against the capital gain of other stock.

Affect on Cost Basis:

The loss that occurs on a wash sale is added to the cost basis of the shares purchased that created the wash sale.
When all shares are sold and there is no repurchase, that increased cost basis will be used in full and used to determine gain or loss.

As long as you are tracking the wash sales and are not using them on the tax return when you are not allowed, then you can simply enter the same cost basis as the selling price. This will reconcile your tax return with your Form 1099-B Proceeds which is what the IRS is comparing.

Wash Sale ends:

The wash sale disallowed is not added to the net gain/loss rather it is adjusted and suspended so that it does not affect the total gain or loss for any pending wash sales. The rub is that the broker only knows when a wash sale occurs, not when a wash sale no longer exists. This can spill over between two tax years. Likewise you can have a wash sale during a tax year, and then fully dispose of the stock in the same year which would eliminate the wash sale rule for the final sale of the same stock.

It's up to you to know when you no longer have to consider the wash sale rule.

Example:

X bought 5 shares of ZZZ stock, at $5 per share, then sold it for $3 per share, however immediately before the original 3 shares were sold, X bought another 5 shares at $5.00 per share.

$25 for the first block of shares

15 is the proceeds creating a $10 loss

The $10 loss is now added to the cost of the new shares for an overall cost basis of $35.

Once the second block of shares is sold (5 shares with cost basis of $30) without any repurchase with in the 60 day window (30 days before or 30 days after the sale), and if they are sold at a loss, then no wash sale exists on the sale, and a loss is allowed.

@tjreilly1

[Edited: 04/13/2026 | 7:45 AM PST]

Re: where is box 1d when reporting options expiration capital gains?

DianeW777 — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:34:37 GMT

It depends. Option trades that generate gains often involve strategies like selling cash-secured puts for income, utilizing covered calls, or trading spreads such as double diagonals in flat markets. To enter your sale in TurboTax, follow these steps.

Open or continue your return.
Navigate to the investment sales section:
- TurboTax Online/Mobile: Go to investment sales. If using this application, make sure it is open
- TurboTax Desktop: Search for investment sales and then select the Jump to link.
  - Or Personal Tab > Continue > I'll choose what I work on > Scroll to Investment Income > Select Stocks, Cryptocurrency, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other
Answer Yes to the question Did you sell any of these investments in 2025?
- If you land on the Investment sales summary or Your investments and savings screen, select Add More Sales or Add investments.
- Click this link for more information. Where do I enter Investment Sales?

If this is the case enter proceeds with zero cost basis and selecting short term as the holding period. This will process your options capital gain in your tax return correctly. The link below may also be helpful now or in the future.

How to Report Stock Options on Your Tax Return

Re: I am a federal employee living overseas working for the Department of the Army. I own a home ...

MaryK4 — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:22:49 GMT

As a federal employee stationed overseas with the Department of the Army, you are likely still considered a domiciliary resident of Virginia for tax purposes unless you have taken explicit legal steps to establish residency in another U.S. state.

Your tax liability depends on your residency status. If you are still a Virginia resident (domiciliary resident), you must pay tax on your entire income, regardless of where it was earned. Most likely, the biggest factor is if you intend to establish a new domicile in your new location overseas or if you intend to return to Virginia at some point- and even if you do not want to return to Virginia, you have to make affirmative steps to establish a new domicile SOMEWHERE else before you are relieved of your Virginia tax obligations.

Unfortunately Virginia does not have the same foreign income exclusion as the federal.

I am a federal employee living overseas working for the Department of the Army. I own a home in Virginia which I rent out. On what income do I have to pay Virginia tax?

japlanalp — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:09:26 GMT

do I pay virginia state tax if I am a Federal employee living overseas?

Re: Fidelity Investments website is currently under maintenance message. Fidelity is not in maint...

CatinaT1 — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:52:08 GMT

Sounds like something got stuck. You can try these things:

Log Out Completely: Before doing anything else, click Sign Out in the TurboTax menu.
Clear Cache and Cookies: This removes old, "corrupted" data that might be confusing the website.
Use an Incognito (Private) Window: This is the most effective "quick fix" because it launches the browser without any saved history or extensions (like AdBlockers) that often interfere with tax forms.
Check Pop-up Blockers: TurboTax often opens forms (like the 1099 PDF) or payment windows in a separate pop-up. Look at the right side of your address bar for a small icon with a "red X"—click it and select "Always allow pop-ups from Intuit."
Restart the Browser: Close all open windows of your browser entirely and then reopen it.

Most TurboTax errors happen because the browser is trying to use an old "session" from a previous visit. By clearing the cache or using Incognito mode, you force the browser to establish a brand-new, secure connection with the Intuit servers.

Re: How do I get a foreign tax credit to apply against my rental property overseas

CesarJ — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:46:57 GMT

To apply the Foreign Tax Credit for rental property income overseas, you generally need to claim the taxes paid to the foreign country on the rental income. In TurboTax Online, after entering your rental income and expenses for the overseas property, navigate to the Foreign Tax Credit section under Deductions & Credits.

Steps:
1. Enter all rental income and expenses related to your foreign rental property.
2. In the Deductions & Credits section, find and select Foreign Tax Credit.
3. Choose to Take a Credit for foreign taxes paid.
4. Complete Form 1116 with details about your foreign taxes paid on rental income.

Form 1116 calculates your allowable Foreign Tax Credit to offset U.S. taxes on that income. The credit prevents double taxation of your rental income earned overseas.

It's important to note that the credit can only reduce your U.S. tax owed on foreign income and can't exceed that amount.

Re: Software Glitch in Turbotax Premiere - Can't enter info

SteamTrain — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:13:19 GMT

@mschwandt

All we can suggest at this late date...is to shut down and reboot your computer.

Then try a different browser from whatever you are using now (That is IF you are using the "Online" browser-based software)

Re: my stock and RSU investment (DIV, Interest, capital gain from sales) total is way less than w...

CesarJ — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:40:15 GMT

TurboTax may show a higher total capital gain for several reasons beyond just your stock and RSU sales.

Possible reasons include:
1. Including other capital gains: TurboTax totals all capital gains including from other investments besides stocks and RSUs. This may include sales of bonds, mutual funds, or other assets.
2. Adjusted cost basis: If your stated cost basis is lower in TurboTax, it increases the reported gain.
3. Other income from investment transactions: TurboTax includes gains from options, cryptocurrency, or other investment types.
4. Dividends and interest are separate: Dividend and interest income do not affect capital gain totals but are included in overall investment income.

Review your detailed investment entries in TurboTax to identify all sources of capital gain and verify cost basis and sale data for accuracy.

Re: I have entered my rental property information twice in this, and I am still not getting the S...

CesarJ — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:27:57 GMT

You need to enter rental income and expenses in the Rental Properties and Royalties section for Schedule E to generate in TurboTax Online.

Schedule E will be created automatically once you input your rental income, expenses, and property details.

To see if Schedule E is generating, you can:
1. Go to the Federal section.
2. Select Tax Tools or Tax Center.
3. Look for Print Center or View Filed Form where you can preview your forms.

Schedule E will appear among your federal forms once it is generated by the software based on your entries.

I have entered my rental property information twice in this, and I am still not getting the Schedule E loading? Help Please!

pereellis — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 07:16:10 GMT

Re: I'm stuck in a check this entry loop. QBI Passive Op Loss

tt2025issues — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 05:24:05 GMT

TLDR; Keep going back to the Schedule E / carryover form and resetting the form to the correct values until the error goes away.

I had a similar problem. I followed the TT AI's recommendation to delete and re-enter the Schedule E information (deleting caused all past history/assets to be removed with no way to import again from last year). After redoing Schedule E from scratch, I still got the QBI Passive Op Loss validation error.

I followed these instructions - went back through the Schedule E / carryover section, entered 0's where there were blanks. Still got the QBI Passive Op Loss validation error.

Went back again and found that TT had put the sum of the Op Loss in a previous year (that was previously set to 0). Set back to 0, failed to validate again - this time "Op Loss must be less than $$$".

Went back again and found that TT had put more numbers in previous Op Loss years. Set all to 0. Finally, the form validated.

I can’t finish my stock sales reviews with Robinhood, it does not let me save the review. How can I move forward?

femzags — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 05:23:45 GMT

I have review all of the lines in this section and they are correct, however, once I click submit, it continues to give me the same problem, that I have to review the stock sales

Re: For rental income, should I deduct my mortgage payments? The tenant didn't pay for 3 months, ...

DawnC — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:47:05 GMT

You enter the total amount you received from your tenants as Rental Income. Then, you enter your mortgage payments as expenses for the rental property. You can't deduct rent you did not receive - but you also do not claim that rent as income. Only enter the amount (the full amount) you received from renting the property as Rental Income.

The mortgage interest is entered separately as a Rental Expense. Where do I enter income and expenses from a rental property?

For rental income, should I deduct my mortgage payments? The tenant didn't pay for 3 months, so I took a loss

KaraDeeWilliams — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:43:40 GMT

I have a rental property with a mortgage on it. For the 2025 Rental Income portion, should I put the total that I received after I paid my mortgage as the income amount or the gross I received before I take the mortgage payment out?

my stock and RSU investment (DIV, Interest, capital gain from sales) total is way less than what Turbo Tax shows for total capital gain. why?

newsha-mirzaie — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:20:46 GMT

Re: Where do I input short-term capital gains/losses in the underpayment penalty section of other tax situations?

Mike9241 — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:19:25 GMT

when you go to other tax situations > underpayment openalty and select tyo use the AI method you should eventually see a screen that says NET CAPITAL GAINS whjich allows input of both long and short term items

perhaps you have to scroll up to see short-term line.

Re: Entering expenses for not for profit rental

MaryK4 — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 03:35:15 GMT

Because this is a not-for-profit rental, your expenses are considered "hobby-like" expenses. Under current tax law (the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), most of these expenses are no longer deductible on your federal return, even though you must still report 100% of the income. For tax years 2018 through 2025, the IRS has suspended the deduction for "miscellaneous itemized deductions," which is where not-for-profit rental expenses (like repairs, insurance, or utilities) used to be reported.

However, you can still deduct the mortgage interest and property taxes if you itemize your deductions.

How do I get a foreign tax credit to apply against my rental property overseas

patrick — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 03:34:04 GMT