Betterment 1099-DIV doesn't list state interest was erned

[willfxp]

I'm getting this message from Turbotax:
Schedule B -- Form 1099-DIV (Betterment Securities): State (postal code) in which the interest was earned should be entered for Betterment Securities. If more than one state and the states are nonresident states you can enter XX, see Help.

But my Betterment report doesn't say anything about this. The form looks different from the example presented in turbotax. I don't know how to answer this question.

[AnthonyC · Accepted solution]

Brokers often don't report this information directly on the forms.  If it is not listed right on the 1099DIV (which it most often is not), then you would need to contact your broker or financial institution for more information about the funds investments and find out what states the interest was earned in.  It might be listed in your year-end reports or a prospectus online.  But, this information would only come from your financial institution.

In all likelihood, the dividends truly are from more than one state, so you are just going to want to select "More than One State" - see screenshot below.  This is also the default option and the option you should select if you are not sure or don't want to invest the time it might take to find out the information (frankly, brokerages aren't much help in this area and you aren't likely to get an answer even if you call).

But, TurboTax asks for this information because its possible you can get a tax benefit on your state return if you can identify which state the dividends are from.  The tax benefit you would get would be that your home state would not tax the dividends that come from your state, if there even are any.  They would still tax the other dividends.

Also, you can not worry about trying to find the information and just select more than one state and continue if you: 

 - Live in a state with no income tax (AK, FL, NV, SD, WA, WY)

 - Live where exempt-interest dividends from other states aren't taxed (District of Columbia, IN)

 - Have a small amount of exempt-dividends and aren't concerned with extra state tax. Your state will tax these dividends if you don't live in an area listed above.

Note:  If you are getting an error related to this during error check, you can enter "XX" in the error check.  That is the equivalent of the "more than one state" option and will clear the error and allow you to proceed with your filing.