Frequently I have a year where I go through my Farm Rental Income (Form 4835) and enter information from a 1099-G for items like farm disaster payments, etc., that the USDA reports on a 1099-G. I input the Box 7 amount of the 1099-G and I appear to be done with TurboTax asking me no additional questions. Each year, the amount shows up in Line 3a of my Form 4835, Farm Rental Income and Expenses. Then, I notice that my total farm income doesn't include all my farm income and I go to Line 3b of the Form 4835 where it asks for the taxable amount, and this is blank so it is interpreted as zero. I dutifully check IRS farm publications and it always appears to me that my payments are indeed taxable income. So, I physically enter the 4835 Line 3a amount in 4835 Line 3b as well, and then my total farm rental income is what I expect. It worked this way this year (2025) as I included what I know I'll see on my 1099-G, but I've experienced this in past tax years as well after receiving 1099-G payments from USDA.
My question: Is there a reason that TurboTax Home & Business defaults to making Form 4835 Line 3b zero, and is there a reason that the step-by-step instructions for filling out the 1099-G information does not specifically ask a question about how much of Line 3a (which is Box 7 of the 1099-G) is taxable? And, if I'm missing something in my reading and items like disaster payments (ECAP and SDRP this year) are not usually taxable, I'd definitely like to know this.
