topic My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate in Investors & landlords

My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

AW175 — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:20:10 GMT

My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is making it rental real estate. Under Business Info the type is real estate dev and I have not checked rental.

I sold a property this year that I need to dispose of in Turbo Tax but it was not a rental property. How do I get it to stop insisting my business is rental?

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

ColeenD3 — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 14:14:58 GMT

Where are you entering the sale? Did you enter the asset and report the sale on Schedule C? Did you enter the sale in Sale of Business Property?

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Carl — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 15:57:20 GMT

Turbo Tax is making it rental real estate.

You really need to provide more details on what your business does, and where you're entering things in the program. Also, did you receive any tax forms related to the business? For example, if you received a 1099-MISC with income reported in box 1, then that's passive rental income and the program is treating it correctly.

If it's treating it like rental real estate, then did you start in the Rental & Royalty Income section? Or did the program "take you there" most likely after entering 1099-MISC box 1 income?

Where are you attempting to report the sale of the real estate you sold? Was it raw land? Or land with a structure on it?

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Anonymous_ — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 16:46:39 GMT

Enter the transaction in the Dispose of Business Property section (unless the property was being held strictly as an investment).

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Anonymous_ — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 16:49:51 GMT

Also, go back to the Business Info tab and click the Edit button next to Type of business.

Ensure that the "We rent real estate to others" box is not checked.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

AW175 — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 16:59:01 GMT

Property was held strictly as an investment.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

AW175 — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 16:59:48 GMT

We rent to others box is not checked.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Anonymous_ — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 17:02:42 GMT

No rental, business, or personal use?

In that event, the transaction would be entered as the sale of a capital asset.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

AW175 — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 17:03:04 GMT

@ColeenD3 This is company is a LLC. I have not entered it because there does not seem to be a screen that applies since Turbotax is convinced my Real Estate Development/ Holding company is a rental company.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

ColeenD3 — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 17:08:09 GMT

There have been a number of suggestions in the thread. I think we need more information, such as what function does you RE Investment company do and what is the relationship between your company and the building sold.

The building is either a rental (you said no), a business asset, or a personal property that is an investment that you sold. Is your business such that you acquire buildings as investment properties?

If your LLC does not have rental properties, then what exactly does it do?

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

AW175 — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 17:15:11 GMT

@Anonymous_No use, raw land held for resale. Capital gains or losses does not give an option for a real estate sale. Business property/asset disposals says disposal of depreciable assets used in the business. Raw land is not depreciable as far as I know. That leaves all other income which does not allow for basis entry or purchase and sell dates. This company is not a rental company at all so I think if I can figure out why it thinks it is that might solve my issue.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Anonymous_ — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 17:20:49 GMT

@AW175 wrote:

@Anonymous_No use, raw land held for resale. Capital gains or losses does not give an option for a real estate sale.

@AW175

If you bought the land with the intention to hold it for resale in the ordinary course of business, you are a considered to be a real estate dealer and the land is inventory.

If the intention was to hold the property for appreciation (as an investment), then any gain or loss would be a capital gain or loss. There is an option in the program but it is geared toward the sale of stocks, bonds, et al., since they are the most common types of investments.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

AW175 — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 17:32:22 GMT

@Anonymous_It was held for appreciation. So maybe if I don't tell it what type of sale it is it will work? None of the types apply.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Anonymous_ — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 18:06:02 GMT

@AW175 Just select "Regular Sale of Stocks, Bonds, etc." from the dropdown, enter your description, and then enter the other information about the sale.

Ensure that you check "No" as to whether you received a 1099-B.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Carl — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 18:10:14 GMT

You'll report the sale in the Investments section, in Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Other.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Anonymous_ — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 18:22:27 GMT

@Carl wrote:

You'll report the sale in the Investments section, in Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Other

See the screenshot below. @AW175 is using TurboTax Business (not Home & Business) to prepare a 1065.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

AW175 — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 18:41:25 GMT

@ColeenD3It buys raw land as an investment, holds them until they appreciate in value and then sells them. There was not a building on the land that was sold.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Anonymous_ — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 19:58:09 GMT

There are parameters as to whether the company would be considered a "dealer in real estate" or a "real estate investor".

You can do an internet search using those terms and you will get a huge number of hits.

A few include the length of time the real estate is held, the number of transactions in any given period (or tax year), how the real estate is used (of if it is not used at all), the original intent when purchased, whether improvements are made, the amount of effort involved in selling the properties, etc.

Re: My business is real estate development, Turbo Tax is trying to make it rental real estate

Critter-3 — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 21:05:01 GMT

Back to basics ... the LLC ... is it a single member LLC ? A partnership or corporation?

"IT" buys and holds the property for later resale ... is the "it" the LLC ?