This isn't really a tax question, it's a tech support question, I just need to know where to go to get help.
I've used Online TT for years but this year I ran into a sticky problem and someone on Reddit said why not buy the desktop version. So I bought Home and Business from Amazon and downloded and installed it. I’ve started it and first thing, I’ve run into a big bad problem.
One of our biggest incomes is from a job my wife has with a foreign student company. They pay her as a 1099 contractor so we get a 1099-NEC form every year. This year it’s about $30,000 of income!
So I started by entering the info from that form, with the company name, its federal ID number, the amount in Box 1, and that’s it – that’s all the boxes on the form with anything in them. I know I entered everything correctly.
I clicked Continue, and the next page says Form 1099-NEC Summary and “Here’s what we have so far”. BUT THERE’S NOTHING THERE. It’s just a blank box saying “Untitled” in the title bar.
There’s nothing there! I click Continue again (I only have one 1099-NEC) And it shows “Business Income Reported to you on Form 1099-NEC” with amount $0.
Any suggestion? Unfortunately Amazon basically says you can't return it, etc etc
???!!!
You can use the Forms menu option to display the form 1099-NEC you entered and if there is missing information, you can enter it directly on the form in most instances. You'll see the forms icon on the top right of your screen. Just double click your mouse on the form to display it:
you may have missing entering info need to link this to schedule C. if you're using desktop H&B switch to forms mode. go to the 1099-NEC and you'll see under box 1 the lines to link to either schedule C or F
only needed if there is nothing there. if it is linked I can't explain the issue.
OK, I see the Form version of the 1099-NEC. On that, the amount for Box 1 is correctly entered. And below the amount I see it is linked to Schedule C, which is how it's always been in Online TT.
But when I switch back to Step-by-Step, it still says 0 for 2024 1099-NEC Income.
In places, it says to not bother with boxes that are empty or $0.
Still a puzzle!
This is getting stranger and more worrisome. I came back to it this morning, and now . . . . !!! . . . . the 1099-NEC Income is showing, and correctly!
It had to sit overnight and finish thinking about it and then it worked!
And next . . .
She also earns money giving in-person college guidance counseling. High school juniors, whose parents want someone to guide the kid along, hire Susan to give that guidance. She was guidance counselor at a small private school for 35 years, and now she does the same work, as a retirement gig, but now for a fee.
So . . .
I went back to the Business Income page, and went to General Income, which showed the amount she had for that in 2023, so I was confident that that was where I was to enter 2024's individual guidance income. That took me to a table for "Description" and "Amount" so I entered "College Guidance fees" and $3,150. When I clicked Continue, it took me back to the page "Business Income" and . . . RATS AND DARN!!!! . . . just like for the 1099-NEC Income, now the General Income just says $0. It makes me want to come back tomorrow morning and see if it says $3150!!
Anyone ever see this kind of thing? I enter data and it doesn't show up as being entered!!!
Wait - I just saw the $3150 in the Schedule C Worksheet along with blank lines for various other incomes not on 1099-NEC or 1099 MISC. So I took a shot in the dark and went back to fill in $0 for those other things, and finally the $3150 showed up in the list!!
So I was just missing a piece of how this works? How the desktop version works?
Sometimes when items are entered that are reported on a different form, such as your Form 1099-NEC, there will be a -0- shown on the screen next to the category for Form 1099-NEC. Instead, that income will be beside the Schedule C section, after deductions have been taken as well. So you won't necessarily see the same number beside Schedule C as was entered on the Form 1099-NEC.
You did not mention what version of TurboTax Desktop you have, but it is recommended that you use the step-by-step method to enter your income and expenses. Making your entries through Forms Mode makes it easy to miss something.
Sorry, it's Home and Business, the same version as I had for a long time with my online TTax.
And yes, Step by Step does seem safer, more like what I have been used to in Online. I only wanted to try the desktop version because this year the Online made me nervous. I'm 1000% sure I chose to do it as Home and Business, but it kept saying "Premium" up at the top left corner of the screen, and seemed to behave differently.
So I'm learning my way into it.
And thanks for the tip!
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