How to enter a capital loss depend on if you are referring to a capital loss carryover from a prior year or a capital loss from a sale for this current year.
1. If you used TurboTax for your prior year, then capital loss carryovers should have transferred over. If you need to manually enter the carryovers, then you can do so following the directions below.
Easiest way to get to this section is to -
- Log into your account
- Click Take Me to My return (you must click this first before searching)
- Click the search icon in the top right hand corner (magnifying glass)
- Search for "capital loss carryover" and click the "jump to" link
- You will get the series of screens below (see attached screenshots) where you can enter your known amounts
- If you don't know your amounts, then use the other option and TurboTax will help you figure them out - you will need your prior year Schedule D and Form 1040.
Alternatively to the search method, you can get to the same section by clicking the tabs Federal tax -> Wages and Income -> Investment Income (you may need to click "Check for More" or "Show All" to get full list of income items to appear) -> Capital Loss Carryover (see last screenshot)
2. If you are referring to a current year loss from an investment sale, then follow these steps -
You will enter the sale that produced the loss in the investment sales section of TurboTax
Follow these steps -
- Log into your account and click Take Me to My Return (you must click this first or you won't get the jump to link below)
- Use the search feature (top right icon that looks like a magnifying glass)
- Search for "investment sales" and click the "jump to investment sales" link
- This will bring you right to the investment sales section of TurboTax
- Enter your sales information and TurboTax will produce the forms to show the loss (Form 8949 and Schedule D)
You can also find investment sales under Federal Taxes > Wages and Income > Investment Income > Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other
