Merrill - Unable to Import Information - "Please attempt to login again" error message - TurboTax Desktop 2024 (Windows)

[MW618]

I'm using TurboTax (Home and Business - Windows version) Desktop to do my 2024 taxes.  I am trying to import my investment data from Merrill into TurboTax, but after entering my Merrill Login ID and Password, I get the message "Please attempt your login again.  If you continue to have difficulty, please call 1.800.MERRILL(637.7455)."  After first checking my login credentials about five times, I decided to call Merrill.  The Merrill representative told me that there was no reason on their end for me to have any problems and said I needed to get help from TurboTax.

I am unable to figure out how to get help from TurboTax other than on this Community bulletin board.  Based on my searches on this bulletin board, it appears that there are lots of people having the same problem as me.  I have not found any solution to the problem.  I also have investments with other companies and have not had any problems importing data into TurboTax with them.  It appears to be an isolated problem with Merrill (at least for me).  I know that I can manually enter the data, but that's a lot of typing and the main reason I purchased TurboTax was so that I wouldn't have to manually type in all of the investment data.

I'd love to hear from everyone that has had the same issue.  I'd also love to hear from everyone who has successfully imported their Merrill data in to TurboTax Desktop (although most who are successful probably won't be reading this post).  If you have successfully imported your Merrill data, then do you have any pointers on what I need to do to also successfully import my Merrill data?

Also, does anyone have any advice on how to get support from TurboTax?  This appears to be a problem with their software which they should be trying to correct.

Thanks!

[baldietax]

others with Merrill issues had success after changing their password, for some reason...

[januszb]

I have the same problem, unable to import from Merrill Edge. The same error message. Contacted ML , I was told it is TT. Called turbotax was told it is ML.  Spent hours on the phone, sharing screen with TT's multiple representative. They suggested to enter 1099 manually, some even tried, to do it with me , just to realize, it is too big job, to enter it manually, and accidentally dropping off connection. My 1099 b has thousands of entries, 140 pages.

Some articles on internet pointed to TT limitation of import to 10,000 transaction , 4MB. I cannot find, if my 1099 is affected by this limitation.

Others suggested turning of firewall. Turned off fire wall, tried to import, no luck, the same problem.

I also wiped out my computer to factory setting , reinstal and updated TT, antivirus and trried again to import, the same error.

[trbofax]

changing my password did not work for me.

[MVMacDave]

I have been having the same issue with Turbotax Premier on a desktop Mac.  Changing the password has not worked; deleting all the caches and cookies for both Turbotax and Merrill has not worked  I have checked the sizes of the files, and my 1099 in .pdf is nowhere near the limit (400 kB for 110 p) and the .csv file, which might be the format for Turbotax imports is only about 300kB.  Merrill Lynch support was of little help and simply referred me to Turbotax.  Turbotax support has been completely useless, only suggesting I enter the summary data manually and mail a paper copy of the complete 1099 (about 120p) to the IRS for processing prior to filing electronically.

[baldietax]

how many of your transactions have 'adjustments' for wash sales, AMD or non-covered securities.  If that's not many you can input those as "one by one" with the details which will generate a form 8949, put in the rest at summary level, it will all get consolidated on Schedule D and you shouldn't need to mail anything.  I suspect you're doing a lot of trading which may be generating wash sales so this may not help you but wanted to let you know if not aware.

[asteinberg001]

I, too, have been having this issue for last week.  Using TT Premier Desktop for Mac.  Specifically my issue is encountering unsuccessful outcome after entering ML login credentials to TT import screen when attempting to "establish(ing) secure connection".  Activity meter goes back and forth for several seconds then nothing - some times a beep / tone.  All other institutions (e.g., Schwab, Fidelity, BoA even) connect / download fine.  Problem is specific to ML, though I was able to connect and download 1099s earlier in February prior to recent release of 1099s from ML last week. 

Spent hours scouring online forums including TT community and it appears many people are encountering similar issue.  Also spent A LOT of time on phone with TT "technical" support to no avail.  Verbal response to TT investigation yielded no success, pointing to issue residing with ML.  I have tasked my ML advisor to find someone within ML technical support familiar with TT secure connection functionality to troubleshoot.  So far, no progress. 

I have performed many of the troubleshooting actions you and others suggest - including ML password change, clearing cache / cookies (though this functionality is from TT desktop directly to ML, so no browser involved), and updating TT SW and MacOS.  No change with issue. 

Manually entering 100s or more of 1099B transactions is a non-starter for me.  I would rather find another SW product that works OR revert to last year's tax preparer.  Very disappointing!!! 

[MVMacDave]

I would need to enter 1000s of 1099-B transactions, which is patently absurd, and when my import fails, I don't even get an error message of any kind.

[CatinaT1]

For Merrill, I saw another user changed their password for Merrill and then was able to import. 

User solution:
The ultimate solution, although I do not understand why, was to change my Merrill password. Once I did this, the import worked fine. My previous password worked in Merrill, but for some unknown reason when I used the same ID/Password in TurboTax, I could not log in.. Simply changing my password in my Merrill account and then attempting the import with the new password worked.

[MVMacDave]

I have thousands of transactions and virtually none of these are wash sales, etc.  They're just normal trades.  It would take many days to input all of these manually.

[trbofax]

Changing password did not help.
i am using Mac desktop. Is there a way to exchange product key for a PC?

I believe people that succeeded with password changes were using PC version (not Mac). 

[baldietax]

@MVMacDave so if you don’t have many wash sales just input them at summary level?  If you do have wash sales or other adjustments like AMD or noncovered sales put them in as one by one with detail to avoid having to mail 1099B to IRS

[MVMacDave]

Turbotax support suggested something like this, but also stated I should send the complete 1099-B, which I have as a 110p pdf file to the IRS, prior to filing.  Unfortunately, since the IRS office in Austin TX is a PO box address, this will require using USPS Priority Mail, not FedEx or UPS, and I've had horrible experiences with Priority Mail recently.

[baldietax]

I keep seeing Turbotax people say that you need to mail the 1099-B but this is frankly incorrect and bad advice.  You only need to mail the 1099-B if you enter sales summaries onto Schedule D with adjustments, which does not generate Form 8949 with the details.  If you enter the sales items with adjustments at the detailed level those will generate Form 8949 and go onto Schedule D (line 1b, 8b etc), enter the rest as sales summaries and those go onto Schedule D on line 1a, 8a.  TT should provide a message saying you don't need to mail anything.  If you use desktop version in Forms mode you can confirm that also on the 1099-B worksheets, there is a checkbox at the very bottom indicating if anything needs to be mailed.

I'm not a CPA/Experrt but I've done this for many years and never mailed anything, and I do not import 1099s it's not worth the hassle especially if there are problems.  Give it a try for a few entries to see the process, you don't have much to lose.

[MVMacDave]

Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a try.  Worst case is the IRS will want me to mail in the 1099-B, but if I don't need to do that, I will be much better off, especially considering the state of the US Post Office, and the way it's going.  I'd rather not trust my tax stuff to Priority Mail.