Supporting Details NOT Working (Working Intermittently)

[mfsmithabq1]

I had the same problem with supporting details not working on my desktop PC version of TT.  But, the cntrl + I solution worked for me.  Thanks for the tip! 🙂

[EbonyA]

Glad to hear that the proposed solution worked for you @mfsmithabq1.

[mandpbotts]

Thanks, Ron for your detailed note.  It helped me understand the problem/issue I'm having.  As a past programmer (way past, like 60 years ago in college) of much smaller programs than TT must be, I can say the sub-routines at so many levels may well make this issue totally impossible to fix.  Your notes made it much easier for me to understand.  Thanks again!

[roninshawneeKS]

mandpbotts-

Thanks for the note - and that people out there are still reading, have questions about Suppoorting Details - a small indication that TT has never really cleaned up this area.  I continue to save a LOT of information in the Supporting Details, that makes it easier to remember or understand what is going on.

ron, now in shawnee

[richlux]

Regarding Supporting Details, does anyone know a way to save them when saving a copy of your taxes for your records?  No matter what I do, those details don't save anywhere in the PDF. I can only see them in TurboTax, which does me no good once I remove the software from my computer.

Thanks,

Rich

[roninshawneeKS]

richlux-

Was responding below, but it just occurred to me that you may be talking about the on-line version of TurboTax - and I am not sure about that guy - it might be different.

But for the downloaded or DVD products, I think you can find your Supporting Details in the PDF if/when you save your tax return with Key Worksheet Calculations or All Worksheet Calculations - at least I see those details in my PDFs.

ron in shawnee

[richlux]

Actually, I'm using the Desktop version, but my issue appears to be specific to TurboTax Business.  It works fine in the personal product, but the Business product does not print these for some fields. I spoke with TT support and they confirmed that if the value being entered in the Step-by-step screen doesn't actually have it's own worksheet behind it, then the supporting details will not be saved in the PDF.  They are only in the program itself.

Rich

[kagorall]

It doesn't work for me. The Edit menu options are grayed out. And Ctrl+I doesn't work either.

[Sandwichmaker]

I can confirm that this problem is still not resolved in TY2023. My troubles are confined, as far as I know, to the Medical Deductions entries. Sometimes I can't click in the box, and have to go to Forms to enter the requested amount. Add Supporting Details is available there, too. Sometimes right clicking for Supporting Details does not work, but Edit > Add Supporting Details does work. This can't be hard to fix, as it works in other sections of the program. TurboTax needs to give this some priority.

I also hate it when I enter an amount too quickly and the transferred Add Supporting Detail first line from the previous year's return is erased.

[GatorRay26]

It’s possible that the supporting details option is grayed-out/disabled if you have selected standard deduction previously. Typically when I do my taxes and I want to find out if it’s worthwhile to itemize, I proceed as if I plan to do so, and it may be the case that it is programmed into the software wherein you cannot add any details if the software “knows” that you were planning to take standard deductions. In previous years when I had very high deductions from medical expenses, etc. it was always worth while to itemize and I always like to put in supporting details for my own benefit when I went back to review. It used to be simple because each box allowed a simple right click to select the details option. Now clicking on edit and going through other screens is not user-friendly. In any case, once again, I did the standard deduction in the end, submitted both federal and state a month ahead and got both accepted within three and five hours, respectively. 

[Sandwichmaker]

That's certainly a possibility, though if true it sounds like a feature that's too smart for its own good. It would be better to just keep the behavior of Add Supporting Details consistent no matter where you wish to use it. Also, in my case I've itemized for years, so it's probably something else. I suspect it's a bug.

[GatorRay26]

@Sandwichmaker Given the size of the program and the number of programmers it’s highly likely our issue (details option)  isn’t interfacing with other programmer components and a drop-down option  has been omitted in favor of the work-around under the “edit”  in the main menu. For many that translates to a change for the worse.  (Especially when that work-around is obscure and the user has to plow thru community forums to discover it). Surely the type of people that choose to do their own taxes are every bit as detail-oriented like me/us so having “additional details” is  an important option for making sure the end-result is clean, mathematics not-withstanding. Are you listening Intuit programmers?  Please don’t “dumb it down” and create more hassles for your TurboTax users. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it is the bottom line.