Blank dollar amounts on a Supporting Details form propagate to 0.00 on a 1099-INT and since there is a number there TurboTax thinks the 1099-INT is finished

[dmr0]

I did my 2019 taxes with the desktop version of TurboTax Premier 2019 Mac. I'm trying to do my 2020 taxes with the desktop version of TurboTax Premier 2020 Mac. In 2019, I had some 1099-INTs for which I used the Supporting Details feature to sum the interest from a few accounts at the same institution. When I imported the 2019 tax file into the 2020 software package, it created the 1099-INT forms with the Supporting Details forms and blanked out the amounts on the Supporting Details forms. All that is expected and fine.

The problem is that since there are no amounts on the Supporting Details forms, TurboTax put 0.00 on the 1099-INT forms and since there is a number there, TurboTax thinks that those 1099-INTs are finished with no errors - so I'm not warned that I have to go back and put dollar amounts on the Supporting Details forms.

What I wanted was to have the missing dollar amounts on the Supporting Details forms propagate to a missing dollar amount on the 1099-INTs, so that TurboTax would warn me that I haven't finished that 1099-INT.

In the absence of that behavior, is there some way that I can manually mark a 1099-INT as "Incomplete", so that TurboTax will warn me if I try to file the return without putting dollar amounts on the Supporting Details forms?

[dmr0]

@macuser_22, @DoninGA, I was hoping that one of you might be able to comment on this issue - perhaps suggest a workaround. Thanks.

[macuser_22]

Yes I have noticed that and I do not think it is new this year.

I know of no way to mark it incomplete. 

The only thing I can think of is to use the Top Menu bar -> Flags -> Flag this form  and leave a reminder for yourself.

[dmr0]

Thanks. I thought that perhaps I could use "Mark Estimated", but "Mark Estimated" appears to be disabled for both the Supporting Details and for Box 1 of the 1099-INT. Maybe there is something else that I can do to enable "Mark Estimated".

[macuser_22]

Unfortunately, I do not think so.   Supporting details is a "transferred amount"  and a transferred amount cannot be marked estimated and neither can the content of supporting details.

About the only way know is to delete the supporting details and enter them when you have the data.

[dmr0]

Thanks again. I'm still grasping at straws here. Is there any way that I can move the Supporting Details from 1099-INT Box 1 to some other box on the 1099-INT (without deleting and re-entering it)? If that were possible, I could have Box 1 be blank and when I was ready to enter the actual amounts, I could move the Supporting Details back to Box 1. Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to move Supporting Details from one field to another.

[macuser_22]

No.  I cannot be "moved" only added or deleted.

[dmr0]

I should stop trying to come up with workarounds and instead just submit a bug report. How should I submit a bug report? Is there a way that other people can support a bug report.?

I think that the desired behavior is TurboTax should import a previous year's return, including forms and Supporting Details, as it does now. The import should blank out dollar amounts, as it does now. So I suspect no changes would be required to the import process. When amounts are being added together, if all the amounts being summed are blank, the sum should be blank. I don't know of any instance where this is violated, so I suspect no changes would be required here either.  The only change necessary would be how blanks are transferred from one form to another. If the amount field being transferred is blank, the field to which it is transferred should be made blank (not set to 0.00). The one example I have of where this violated is the transfer of the total from a Supporting Details form to Box 1 of a 1099-INT (but there be other cases where this happens).

[dmr0]

Allowing Supporting Details to moved might be a useful enhancement. How do I submit an enhancement suggestion? Is there some way that other users can support an enhancement suggestion?

[macuser_22]

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@dmr0 wrote:

Allowing Supporting Details to moved might be a useful enhancement. How do I submit an enhancement suggestion? Is there some way that other users can support an enhancement suggestion?

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The only way to submit a bug report is by calling customer support, but you would be beating your head against a wall, because it is working as designed.   It is the design that you don't like, but changing that is a feature enhancement that is best submitted in writing, attention of the VP in charge of TurboTax at Intuit headquarters in Mt. View. CA.   If it has merit, it might be considered for the 2022 or 2023 product.

Correction: Address is  Intuit Inc., 2800 E Commerce Center Place, Tucson, AZ 85706 

[macuser_22]

@dmr0 -

I had not noticed this before (or maybe is is new with the update), but if I use the Top Menu Bar -> Flags -> Flag this topic then the open flags are displaced on the home screen as a reminder.  You can add a note to the flag.  This might be of use to you.  (I will probably use it myself).