SOLO for small business / an error in TTax SW?

[HS8]

In Turbotax in 2019, I contributed $6K as employee and $6K as employer to SOLO. On the TTax Summary it showed up as $12K.

In Turbotax 2020, I specified $4K as employer and the TTax suggested max of about $13K as employee to SOLO. BUT! On the Summary Turbotax only showed the $13K NOT the total of $17K (like it did in 2019)

This seems like a BUG!

Why is it different?

[Critter-3]

First the 2020 program is not fully function or updated yet ... and next the max allowed is limited by the Sch C profits.  When you have completed the entire return and the program is operational review that section again. 

[dmertz]

If 2020 TurboTax, which has not yet been updated from the 2019 elective deferral limits, is limiting your maximum total contribution to less than $19,000, it means that your contribution is limited by net earnings and the fact that 2020 TurboTax has not yet been updated is irrelevant.

It seems that your maximum contribution is being limited by net earnings.  It's hard to understand what TurboTax is actually telling you without knowing the amount of your net profit and the deductible portion of self-employment taxes, but it seems that even a $4,000 employer contribution exceeds what is permitted because the results from TurboTax imply that your net earnings (net profit minus the deductible portion of SE taxes) are less than $20,000.  To maximize your total contribution, you first maximize the regular elective deferral, then maximize the employer contribution, then maximize any catch-up contribution.

[HS8]

Thank you! Appreciate this. However, still the problem. I did check the box to automatically maximize the regular elective deferral for the employee portion of SOLO. The software does NOT automatically maximize the employer contribution, it just puts 0 if you don't enter it manually. And, it does not matter WHAT $ amount I put in as employer portion, nothing changes: not the maximum employee contribution, not my income tax owed, not the summary as I first stated, nothing. 

In 2019 it did work.....this seems wrong...

[Critter-3]

Again ... an incomplete unfinished program ... wait until it is fully functional sometime in February. 

[dmertz]

If you mark the Maximize box, TurboTax ignores whatever you put in the dollar-amount boxes when calculating your maximum permissible contribution.  If 2020 TurboTax presently is indicating that your maximum deductible self-employment contribution is any amount less than $19,000, it means that you only have enough net earnings to support a total contribution of what TurboTax is telling you.  Nothing about the behavior in 2020 TurboTax appears to have changed from 2019 TurboTax.  Apparently the difference is because you have less profit in 2020 than in 2019.

[HS8]

I object. I have to know some reasonable estimation of my taxes to do a Roth conversion before the end of the calendar year. (without incurring IIRMA Medicare uplift.) The many missing pieces of TTax 2020 make me think that it is NOT a good solution for doing taxes! They need to have at least the basic functionality working!!! Or an placeholder estimator in there. The stock sales module being nonexistent is another problem. Workarounds???

[HS8]

Thank you again, dmertz! I will take another look at it. 

[Critter-3]

3  work arounds ...

1) use the fully operational downloaded 2019 program in the what if mode

2) use the partially functional 2020 downloaded program and make overrides in the FORMS mode temporarily

3) use the tax caster tool  http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster