ESPP sale compensation income locked at 0.00

[AArnott]

When originally providing the additional data for my ESPP sales, TurboTax (desktop) asked me for Compensation Income, but for some of these I left it at 0, intending to come back to it later. 

Now I find that editing that sale later, it's no longer a text box  that I can edit, but simply text box with 0.00 in it. In fact when I click Continue, TurboTax even warns me that "Most ESPP salse will have a compensation income element. Please verify your entry below." but it won't let me edit the amount to anything else.

The irony of this whole thing is I don't know why TurboTax has to ask me for this. I entered the original cost basis and the adjusted cost basis already, and from what it seems, the compensation income is just the difference between these two, so it seems TurboTax ought to have what it needs to calculate this amount. I also told TurboTax about my W-2 box 14 DQDIS line that had the sum total of these differences.

So what should I do so that TurboTax fills out the form correctly?

[ThomasM125 · Accepted solution]

If you entered your adjusted cost basis, which is normally the reported cost basis plus the income portion reported on your W-2 form, then your gain should be properly reflected in TurboTax. If for some reason the ordinary income portion of your trades (the discount) was not reported on line 1 of your W-2 form, which is rare, then you may have to report that amount in TurboTax so that it be reflected on your tax return.

I suggest you look at your tax return before you file it. You'll get a chance to do this after you pay for your TurboTax program. On form 8949 you will see the detail of your investment sales, where you can verify that the capital gains are correct, based on your adjusted cost basis and sale amount of your ESPP securities.

Also, if there is any ordinary income that should be reflected on your tax return in addition to what appears on line 1 of your W-2 form, it will appear on the total of your wages reported on line 1 of your form 1040.

If you find that your ESPP sales are not property reported in TurboTax, you may need to delete those investment sales and re-enter them.

[blueaggue]

I have the same problem. The text box for compensation income was locked at "0.00" not allowing change.

[MarilynG1]

If you know the correct Cost Basis for your stock, simply enter your 1099-B and enter the Adjusted Cost Basis, if incorrect on your 1099-B. 

When asked if this is 'employee stock' say NO and you won't get tangled up into calculating compensation income already reported on your W-2.

[wminner]

Same issue for me.  For some reason it only affects my first ESPP sale.  The others I can edit the compensation income.  I am not able to add more transactions manually, so I don't want to delete the whole imported document and start over.  It already took me hours to fix all the adjusted cost basis calculations...

TurboTax please fix this.

[BrittanyS]

Can you clarify which version of TurboTax you are experiencing the issue in?

@wminner 

[wminner]

TurboTax Premier 2022 - version 022.000.0457

[tetrachord]

Just noting that I also have this issue with the locked compensation. The first 2 entries are locked. 

TurboTax Premier 2022 - 2022.r20.041

Build Date:  Feb 28, 2023 at 11:47:28 PM

[echiquet]

Same problem:

Build 2022.r19.039 of Turbo Tax Premier

[AmyC]

@wminner @tetrachord @echiquet If one of you would reply, I am hoping it will solve everybody's issue.

I would like to take a deeper look at this. However, I need a diagnostic file which is a copy of your tax return that has all of your personal information removed. You can send one to us by following the directions below:

TurboTax Online:
Sign into your online account.
Locate the Tax Tools on the left-hand side of the screen. 
A drop-down will appear. Select Tools 
On the pop-up screen, click on “Share my file with agent.”
This will generate a message that a diagnostic file gets sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number that was generated in the response.

TurboTax Desktop/Download Versions:
Open your return.
Click the Online tab in the black bar across the top of TurboTax and select “Send Tax File to Agent”
This will generate a message that a diagnostic copy will be created. Click on OK and the tax file will be sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number that was generated in the response.

[tetrachord]

Hi Amy,

I sent it in. The token is:  1090594

Thanks,

Mark

[K_NC]

We have the same problem with not being able to enter compensation, and TurboTax won't let us leave the page without entering something.

[K_NC]

We started completely over with a new return. When we got to the ESPP pages, the compensation field was editable, and everything went OK from there.

[AnnetteB6]

Thank you for submitting your token number.  This issue was investigated further and a root cause could not be found.  

The result was that the best possible workaround is to delete the entries where the compensation element field is locked and re-enter them.  This should allow you to enter the appropriate amount in the compensation element field.

@tetrachord 

[sean58]

I had the exact same issue. The first ESPP entry has compensation at 0.00 as a text, not a editable box. The rest of the ESPP seems to be fine. Very strange bug. I think i had the same issue last year, too.