Have over 150K stock trades with over 10mil sales volume (but with small profit), cannot be imported into TurboTax, what do I do?

[bah9681]

After talking with a TurboTax CPA, he advised me to report summary totals (is this possible with over10mil in sales volume?) and print a .pdf file of my 1099 form from my broker and mail it in.  Does this make sound like a feasible approach to others out there?  Also, does TT allow for attachment of a 1000 page .pdf file in lieu of importing transactions or having to print?  Will the IRS accept this as similar to a Form 8949?  I really am in a pickle on this one, and I can't imagine I'm the only one with all the stock and crypto algorithms and traders this year.

[rjs]

TurboTax does not support any amounts over $10 million.
TurboTax does not allow PDF attachments.
TurboTax is not designed for use by high-volume traders.

You will not be able to use TurboTax to file your tax return.

[bah9681]

Thank you for the response Champ.   I have to say I'm extremely discouraged and a bit panicked to read what you said though.  If others could chime in I would really appreciate it.

My broker, TD Ameritrade, will provide a 1099-B that has all of my stock transaction details, and the IRS should get a copy of this too.  TD Ameritrade also provides a pdf of all stock transactions for the year, with wash sale adjustments included.   I believe this is essentially a Form 8949 and can substitute in lieu of it.   I guess I don't see why I can't just use TT to add the summary data into Schedule (e.g.- my short term gains/losses), and then print out my return and mail it with the 1000 page stock transactions with wash sale adjustments.   Although I wish TT would either support import or be able to attach the .pdf file.  

[bah9681]

Also, FYI I read this from the TaxAct website.   Thanks again to all for your help, and I hope this helps other first time traders who stuck at home during COVID and got themselves into a pickle too.  

The IRS allows taxpayers to enter summary total amounts if their transactions are already listed on a Form 8949 or similar statement. If you have a Form 8949 attachment, you will simply enter the summary totals for each reporting category into TaxAct. If you have a PDF version of this attachment, you will be able to attach the statement to your return during the electronic filing steps. If you have a paper copy of your Form 8949 attachment, you will still be able to file electronically but you will need to mail this statement along with Form 8453 to the IRS.

[Anonymous]

the problem is not the summary of transactions. TT doesn't handle schedule D if over $10 Million.  you'll need a pro. have you discussed electing trader tax status with a pro?  there are pros and cons.  

[bah9681]

Thanks Hack.  I understand now.  To paraphrase you, even with a Form 8949, I simply cannot input my numbers, even summary numbers, into Turbotax if sales are over 10Million.  I suppose I could break into groups under 10 mil to workaround this issue (as some on the forum suggest), but I don't think I can do that if I cannot import the transactions into TT.  I will have a .pdf file that needs to be attached as part of my tax return, another thing TT doesn't support.   I wish TurboTax would address some of these concerns, I hope their staff monitors these forums and realizes how badly some of us are getting affected.   I guess I will try to do my taxes by hand since I cannot afford a pro (not easy when you've been depreciating all kinds of assets in TT), print and mail in the return, and then next year I will need to try to get back into Turbotax somehow.  So frustrating...

[Critter-3]

Correct ... the summary option would take care of the number of trades but the program is limited in the number of characters entered so 10 million or more will not be allowed in an DIY non professional programs. 

[rjs]

Breaking it up into groups won't help. No matter what you do, the total proceeds on Schedule D will be more than $10 million. TurboTax does not support any amounts over $10 million, anywhere.

You will not be able to use TurboTax to file your tax return.

[tagteam]

Has something changed for 2020 in TurboTax? 

It always was the case that TurboTax could not handle numbers higher than seven figures ($9,999,999), but I just entered some random entries on the 1099-B Worksheet and the results on Forms 8949 and 1040 appear below. [note that I have no way of knowing whether this would pass the error check at this time]

[fanfare]

what you do is use turbotax  with your small gain modulo 10 million.

then you get Schedule D from the IRS website and fill it out by hand with the correct amounts of proceeds and costs.

then you look up the Exception to filing Form 8949 for Category  A trades.

replace schedule D  with your schedule D and mail  your tax return.

You don't need an expensive tax professional.

[fanfare]

Form 4797 Line 1 is the place I've found, so far, that will let you enter an amount over 10,000,000, using forms mode, of course.

[bah9681]

Ok this is encouraging so far.  Thus far here are my workarounds to TurboTax deficiencies for active equity, crypto, forex or other traders.   Please comment and let me know if I am on the right track.

1) TurboTax cannot support import of more than around 1500 equity transactions in producing Form 8949 (Gain/loss with wash sale adjustments).  Workaround:  Get form 8949 from broker or other and print form 8949 and mail in manually.  I beg Turbotax management to look at easy fix allowing .pdf attachments as Taxact and others do as this could be 2,000 pages long for me to print out this Form.  

2) TurboTax cannot support more than 10Mil is sales volume.  Still working this out, see previous email threads.  I will add I don't understand why this restriction is in place??  Even though I have over 10Mil in sales volume, my total trading profits (this was just done as a side job for me) were equivalent to a minimum wage employee (I am not a Bigshot).

3) TurboTax does not allow attachments.  Why?  

4) TurboTax appears to be extremely weak or deficient in supporting mark to market trading accounting for active traders.  The mark to market election, which needs to be done in advance by tax deadline for the upcoming year, allows me to avoid the wash sale adjustment mess and I am hoping I won't have to report every stock transaction as it will be the same as the 1099-B.  I will research this more, but thus far from what I have Turbotax may not support much in this area.    If others have more experience in this area, please let me know.  

[rjs]

---

@bah9681 wrote:

Please comment and let me know if I am on the right track.  

---

Here's my comment.

You shouldn't be trying so hard to force TurboTax to do something that it's not designed to do. That effort is liable to lead to problems and end in disappointment. Even though it looks like it will work, you could run into an unforeseen impediment at the end that prevents the whole scheme from working. Or there could be something wrong in your tax return that you don't notice, but the IRS notices.

We don't know the reasons for TurboTax's decisions about what features to support and what not to support. I'm sure it's a combination of how many customers they expect would use the feature versus the cost and difficulty of implementing the feature and providing ongoing support.

You have observed that there are other tax software products that provide some of the features you are looking for. Use a product that is better suited to your needs, instead of putting so much effort into trying to overcome the deficiencies of a product that does not meet your needs.

[fanfare]

You must actually be a professional trader to use MTM accounting, after making the election, which is hard to unwind once made.

Just doing a lot of trades, is not sufficient. IRS calls  that being an active investor.  IRS likely will  deny your MTM  filing .

See my reply above for how to handle your situation with TurboTax.

[bah9681]

Champ - this is easy to say but not easy in practice to do.  I manage multiple rental houses, some split among 2 parties with partial ownership, that have been depreciated throughout the years.  Everything in the building including A/C units, etc. etc. and this is all stored in TT.  One of the best thing about TT is the fact that every year the schedules that I created automatically calculate the depreciation to take on every item.  Going to a new software would require me to build this from scratch again.   Most likely I will be doing the taxes by hand this year.  All I can hope for is that Turbotax will realize that there are many new traders, especially with the advent of Robinhood, crypto, and other forms of electronic trading as well as COVID and stay at home changes, and be able to adapt to support these users as well.  Major changes are not needed, but perhaps just some squeaky wheels so that TT is aware of little things like the attachment of file option and the arbitrary 10Mil sales limit.