topic Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:59:53 GMT

I started a new 2021 tax return in TurboTax Business. We are a multi-member LLC. I imported the 2020 tax return file (not PDF), and everything successfully imported except for the members. We have 5 members, and only 1 member was imported. All of the information for the one member that was imported is correct. I cant add the missing members because it treats them as new, and starts their capital accounts at 0. If I add them I cant manually change their capital accounts (not even in forms view). Is this a known issue, and if so is there a planned fix?

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

PatriciaV — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 14:26:39 GMT

Please clarify: Have you tried re-importing your 2020 return into a new 2021 return? Occasionally the import process is interrupted and not all data is captured.

Recommended steps:

Close TurboTax Business
Reopen and allow any updates to run
Reopen TurboTax if necessary
Start a new Tax Return >> Begin
Choose your 2020 tax return & click "Transfer Return"
Wait for confirmation that Transfer is Complete
Save with new filename.
Close TurboTax
Reopen and check Member Summary under Partner/Member Information

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 15:28:40 GMT

Patricia:

Thank you for your reply. I executed the steps exactly as outlined. What is interesting is that when I opened the newly saved file it was opened using TurboTax Premier. I also have TurboTax Premier installed because that is what I use for my personal tax return. Do I need to uninstall the Premier version until I complete my business return?

Regards,

Andrew

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

PatriciaV — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 15:45:24 GMT

Not necessarily. When you have more than one version of TurboTax installed on your computer, it's best to open TurboTax first, then choose the return to work on. By default, a .tax2021 file would open with TurboTax 1040, not Business. So you would need to have TurboTax Business running before you open your business return.

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

VolvoGirl — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 16:02:50 GMT

If it opened in personal Premier you must have clicked on the wrong .tax file. Both the Business program and personal programs use the same file extension like .tax2020 and .tax2021. The personal programs can not open a business return and visa versa.

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 16:15:46 GMT

Patricia>

I opened the new file from within the TurboTax 2021 software (as opposed to by file extension) and I still have the same issue. Here is what I see in the member tab:

Any Member Changes?

You transferred member information from your 2020 return and the total ownership percentage equals 25.00000%.

You will need to make changes in this area only to:

Enter Capital Contributions or distributions

Change Members Entity Type

Change Member Name or Address

Add a Member

Indicate a final year for a member

The information for the one member imported is correct. Balance sheet items in the partner capital section imported correctly. I opened my 2020 tax file and all members are there with correct percentages and capital accounts.

I can´t create an accurate 2021 return at the moment since partner data is missing, and without partner data a partnership return is useless.

Thanks

Andrew

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 12:48:00 GMT

Patricia:

I have tried everything including reinstalling TT Business 2020, saving a new copy of that return, reinstalling TT 2021 and opening the new 2020 return and I find myself in the exact same place. Do you know of a Tech Support contact I can engage at Intuit? I spoke with a support person at the TT 800 support number but she really wasn´t familiar with the business version of the software. She did check some type of 'support' database and mentioned that some others had reported similar import problems. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Andrew

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

PatriciaV — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 13:08:31 GMT

@Andrewtabor

I've been unable to reproduce this experience importing 2020 to 2021. It would be helpful to have a TurboTax ".tax2020" file to further test your import experience.

If you would be willing to send us a “diagnostic” file that has your “numbers” but not your personal information, here are the instructions:

Open your 2020 business return in TurboTax Business 2020 and go to Online in the header.

Choose Send Tax File to Agent.
You will see a message explaining what the diagnostic copy is.  Click Send on this screen and wait for the Token number to appear.
Reply to this thread with your Token number.

This diagnostic copy (numbers only; no personal info) of your tax file will allow us to see the same experience you are having. If we are able to determine the cause, we'll reply here and provide you with a resolution.

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 14:30:53 GMT

Patricia:

I have sent the file. The token number I received is 926473. Thank you so much for your help.

Regards,

Andrew

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

PatriciaV — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 16:05:22 GMT

Thanks for this info. If we find a solution, we'll post it here.

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 13:24:25 GMT

Patricia:

Have there been any updates on this issue? We are getting close to 3/15 filing deadline and I will need to determine if I need to apply for an extension. Again thanks for your help.

Regards,

Andrew

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

PatriciaV — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 15:39:25 GMT

Andrew - Your 2020 file looked fine. We're currently reviewing your experience and hope to have an answer soon.

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 16:01:07 GMT

Patricia:

Thank you. I agree the 2020 file is good. It´s when I import into the 2021 software that I lose 4 members.

Thanks for your pursuit on my behalf.

Regards,

Andrew

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

PatriciaV — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 16:33:11 GMT

Please review all Schedules K-1 in your 2020 return using Forms Mode. On the diagnostic return we received, four are marked "Final K-1" at the top. Uncheck those boxes, save the return, and import to 2021 again. All five partners should transfer correctly.

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 09:00:42 GMT

Patricia:

Thank you that makes sense. I will try that now.

Regards,

Andrew

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 09:15:39 GMT

Patricia:

That worked. I´m embarrassed I didn´t look at that myself. I have no idea how those boxes were checked, and why for 4 out of 5 members. Thanks again for all of your help.

Regards,

Andrew

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Critter-3 — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 12:06:42 GMT

I just saw this thread and was going to mention the same thing ... have those members look at the K-1 form they got from last year ... was the FINAL box marked ? If so this may have had an impact on their personal returns so they may need to review them.

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

Andrewtabor — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 14:37:29 GMT

Thank you for the reply. I don´t think it will effect their personal return because I doubt they would have reported it as the final K-1. Do you think I need to file an amended return for the partnership (1065) with new K-1´s ?

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

RobertB4444 — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 21:48:25 GMT

@Andrewtabor Probably not.

If changing the K-1's didn't effect any of the numbers on the K-1s then you definitely do not.

There are suspended losses that are only available in the final year of a business and if any of your partners had those on their K-1's you will have to amend the return and they may have to amend their personal returns.

If the numbers didn't change then don't amend the 2020 return for this - do double check to make sure that none of them are marked 'final' for this year. It is possible (however unlikely) that you will receive a letter from the IRS about this. Just tell them the boxes were checked in error and you're done.

Re: Importing 2020 Tax Return

varunagrawal — Sat, 12 Mar 2022 11:10:07 GMT

I see two .tax2020 files from last year in my folder. One starts with ~ and another does not. Which .tax2020 file do I import into Turbotax 2021?