topic Re: Roundin errors in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Roundin errors

AnnAtTaxes — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:07:44 GMT

When importing from tax software, rounding by Turbo Tax occurs on individual transactions instead of on 1099 total.

Re: Roundin errors

Spino — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 22:27:37 GMT

Hello, AnnAtTaxes,

I think what you are saying is that the 1099 is itself a tax document, and TT should not round entries on the 1099. When this happens, you may be able to overwrite the entries, but if you do so, TT may then not allow you to file online because you have overwritten "calculated" fields which should have been imported as written instead of calculated. I have actually gotten a letter back from the IRS in a past year because of this problem.
However, if it is from other tax software, it is okay for entries to be rounded to the nearest dollar. It is only the official forms that should not be rounded. Mainly it's not a problem--where I ran into trouble was with 12 monthly entries that were rounded first, then summed, rather than being summed first, then rounded. In most cases the result is both insignificant and not a problem.
All the same, if it is a problem, go back to paragraph 1 :-).

Re: Roundin errors

AnnAtTaxes — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 01:11:44 GMT

The 1099 I am referring to is my Social Security 1099, which exactly agrees with the (unrounded) total from my tax software. But TT's total is $6 more than this since each month's $.50 was rounded up to $1.00. All W-2's and 1099's I have ever seen contained unrounded totals, Do I need to pay taxes on this additional $6 simply because TT goes by different rules?

I have been using Turbo Tax for 30 years, and have never seen (or, at least, noticed) this to happen I think it is a new bug.

Ann

Re: Roundin errors

Spino — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 02:36:25 GMT

I don't think it's new, but who knows. Even if you pay 50% tax on $6, you've only lost $3, which doesn't cover a lot of hassle. Your bigger problem might be that IRS sends you a letter saying they've corrected your return and takes the $6 back off. You can probably handle that without sweating too.

Normally, though, I've only seen annual totals on SS forms, so I'm not tracking with exactly what you're looking at, but the principle is the same. Don't sweat the small stuff :-).

I agree it would be nice if TT got this figured out, though. Life is imperfect and I have an operation for cancer later this week, also imperfect, but definitely an over $3 challenge. All the best, and keep checking those details!

Re: Roundin errors

AnnAtTaxes — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 02:47:13 GMT

It's more likely that the IRS would question Turbo Tax's result, since it disagrees with the 1099-R I received from Social Security (which I presume is what the IRS sees).

I really think you ought to correct this. Not everybody checks the numbers as carefully as I do, and lots of incorrect returns are being filed as a result.

Ann

Re: Roundin errors

VolvoGirl — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 02:51:33 GMT

@AnnAtTaxes What? You only enter box 5 of the SSA-1099. Where are you seeing it $6 more? Where do you enter the monthly amount? Where is the monthly amount being added up? For what?

Re: Roundin errors

VolvoGirl — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 02:56:39 GMT

1099R? No Social Security is on a SSA-1099. Did you enter it in the wrong place?

Enter a SSA-1099, SSA-1099-SM or RRB-1099 under

Federal Taxes on the left side or top

Wages and Income

Then scroll down to Retirement Plans and Social Security

Then the second line - Social Security (SSA-1099. RRB-1099) - click the Start or Revisit button

Re: Roundin errors

Spino — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 13:46:23 GMT

@VolvoGirl exactly. But @AnnAtTaxes says she's been using TT for 30 years. It seems unlikely she would be entering her SSA-1099 since there are no monthly numbers on it--I have one in front of me right now.
She also mentions specifically importing from another tax program, so that too is not consistent with entering an SSA-1099, which so far I've only seen as a paper form.
For this reason I responded to her concern about the numbers rounding first then being added up rather than about what form she was entering.

[Where I ran into the rounding issue in a previous tax year was with the 1095-a (reporting affordable care act insurance bought on a state or national exchange,) which has both monthly entries and an annual total. For Colorado anyway, the entries are not rounded. TT used the monthly entries, rounded, to calculate the annual total rather than recording the annual total as entered on the form. For instance, .49 rounds down, but .49x12 rounds to 6, giving a $6 discrepancy such as @AnnAtTaxes mentions. The IRS looks only at the dollar amounts, so their computers had no idea why I would misreport the dollar amount by $6 and generated a nice letter correcting my tax return as filed.]

These kinds of errors are very easy to imagine if an exchange of information between two tax programs, both independently interpreting IRS forms, was also involved.

Also @AnnAtTaxes , both @VolvoGirl and I are just other members of the community of TT users, not TT employees. Anyone responding in these forums as an employee has that noted in the name badge. Because of these forums, I know @VolvoGirl as we both have been responding to queries for many years now, much longer than the current system of "badges" counts. Our professional experience is not noted here, although judging from her answers I would guess that we both have been doing taxes for more than just ourselves somewhere somehow ;-).

Re: Roundin errors

AnnAtTaxes — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 15:10:32 GMT

You missed the key part of my original post: the tax software generates 12 monthly records because that is what it it saw. Thus TT sees the monthly records and creates its own SSA-1099 from them.

Re: Roundin errors

VolvoGirl — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 16:28:15 GMT

Monthly records? Sorry we don't know what you are talking about. Can you post a screen shot of something? Turbo Tax doesn't create anything. You have to manually enter the SSA01099. It is one amount from box 5 for the year total.

The only monthly thing you enter in Turbo Tax is if you get a 1095-A for having health insurance though the Marketplace ACA (Obamacare).

Are you importing your tax info from Quicken or something? Delete social security from the imports and only enter the SSA-1099 you received.

Re: Roundin errors

Spino — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 17:07:18 GMT

Right, @AnnAtTaxes, you need to go back and overwrite those imported entries with the actual SSA-1099. I think though that you have already figured that out.

Re: Roundin errors

AnnAtTaxes — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 03:24:23 GMT

My personal software generates a .txf file containing the whole year's worth of tax-related transactions by payee/payer. The only time I ever look at my 1099's is just to make a quick check of the .txf totals reported by my software. Errors are rare because practically all my finances, which include social security, pensions, investments, and rental income, are entirely automated.

Turbo Tax accepts this file and accumulates the individual transactions into one 1099 for each payee, which was always consistent with the original--until now. At least, this is the first time I have ever noticed a difference. Turbo Tax should round only the final total of any entry to the official IRS forms, and not before. That is what the IRS recommends, and what most people do when they fill out the forms by hand.