topic Not self employed anymore in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Not self employed anymore

bgruber00 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 22:03:05 GMT

I need to get out of the self employed area, no longer self employed

No business this year – closed last year Most likely whe...

Carl — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 22:03:05 GMT

No business this year – closed last year

Most likely when you started this year's tax return, you did indicate that you do NOT have business income/expenses to report. But the business stuff was still imported anyway from the previous year's return. This will happen if you did not completely and correctly report your disposition of this business on the previous year's return. You can always go back and edit last year's return using the guidance below. But if your business is not that complex, you can just report it's "final" disposition with a date of 1/1/2016

Otherwise, with the online version of the program, you must have your return open so that you can edit it. Then click My Account in the upper right and select the clear and start over option. A few screens later you can select the flavor of TurboTax you desire to start with.

However, if you did not *completely* report you business disposition on the prior year's tax return. then as far as the IRS is concerned, you are still in business. To completely report your business as being no longer, you must do all of the following:

At the beginning of the business section one of the screens has a selection on it for "I sold or otherwise disposed of this business in [tax year]. You must select that option and press on "as if" you still own the business.

WHen you get to the business summary screen, you have to work through income and expenses, even if those amounts are all zeros.

Next, you must work through the Business Assets section, and if any assets are listed there you must show your disposition of each and every asset one at a time. Start working through the first asset and on the screen that ask, indicate that YES you DID STOP USING this asset in [tax year]. Then continue working the asset through to report it's disposition - be it sold, removed for personal use, given away, stolen, destroyed, whatever.

Note that you must show your disposition for each and every asset listed, individually.

After you're finished with all the assets, if your business claimed ANY vehicle use at ANY time you were in business, then you will need to work through the business vehicle section to show the disposition of the vehicle - even if that vehicle was a personal vehicle not used 100% for the business. Most likely, your disposition of the vehicle would be "removed for personal use", beucase while not unheard of, it's rare that the sale of a business reported on SCH C would include the vehicle in that sale too.

Finally, if your business carrys inventory and you still have unsold inventory, then you must make your EOY inventory balance $0. To do that, on the COGS screen simply indicate that all remaining inventory was “removed from the business for personal use” and this will make your EOY Inventory balance $0.

Once you've completed all the above, just work it through to the end, and this will be the last year you file a SCH C for this specific business that you no longer have.

In TurboTax Online, you can clear and start over as long...

CarolynB — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 22:03:07 GMT

In TurboTax Online, you can clear and start over as long as you haven't paid or registered yet (free users are asked to register their accounts before they file).

Note: You can’t clear and start over using the mobile app. Instead, log in to your TurboTax account from a desktop or mobile browser to clear and start over.

Sign in to TurboTax Online and open your return by clicking the orange Take me to my return button.
With your screen maximized, click My Account (at the top of your screen toward the right) and select Clear & Start Over. (If on a tablet or phone, you may find the Clear & Start Over option by clicking the three parallel lines, or “hamburger”, in the top left corner.)
Answer Yes to Are you sure you want to clear your return?
After your entries have been cleared out, we'll prompt you to select a TurboTax product so you can start over from the very beginning.

A reason you might want to clear and start over is if you think you’re in a higher-priced version of TurboTax and don’t need to be. Have a look below under Related Information for more details.

If you're signed in under last year's login, once you clear and start over we'll automatically transfer last year's info over if you select the PLUS upgrade, Deluxe, Premier, or Self-Employed. Federal Free Edition (without PLUS) does not include the year-over-year transfer feature.

Just FYI, but they did not indicate one way or the other...

Carl — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 22:03:08 GMT

Just FYI, but they did not indicate one way or the other that they reported the business as closed, sold or otherwise disposed of on the previous year's return. If they did not, and just delete the SCH C, it'll come back to bite them in 24-36 months after filing the return without it.
Also, if they did not report the disposition of the business on the prior year's return, then if they clear and start over, the SCH C information will still be imported anyway (as it should be) even if they still indicate they didn't have a business in 2016. Until a "final" SCH C is filed with the IRS, it will keep doing this.