Trust return setup

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
March 12, 2024
3 replies
4 views

basic question... using the business turbotax, how do i setup a trust return (form 1041, plus schedules a,b,d). If i select new return, turbotax asks personal questions and sets up another individual return for myself. Not what i want.

I want to set it up w/myself as trustee and import the 1099. This is a separate return from my individual return. Can anyone help? Tried calling but the nice gentleman had no idea.

TurboTax Home & Biz Windows

Anonymous_

Level 15

If you need to prepare and file a 1041 for a trust, you can't do that with TurboTax Home & Business.

Rather, you need TurboTax Business to prepare a 1041.

See https://turbotax.intuit.com/small-business-taxes

TurboTax Business only supports preparing business income tax returns (such as 1041s for estates and trusts) and can only be installed in a Windows environment. Further, you still need a product like TurboTax Home & Business to prepare your individual income tax return.

kloasisAuthor

Level 2

thank you @ruby

so i would need to purchase the business software (for trust filings) plus the home & business software (for personal filings)?

Sounds confusing... would i need to register using different email id or is it sophisticated enough to allow?

Anonymous_

Level 15

@kloasis wrote:
so i would need to purchase the business software (for trust filings) plus the home & business software (for personal filings)?

Yes, that is correct; TurboTax Business for the 1041 and Home & Business for your personal filing.

@kloasis wrote:
...would i need to register using different email id.......

No. One email address can be used for both products.

MNski

Level 3

I had this same issue. Turns out Home & Business Ttax (no 1041) is different from Business Ttax (has 1041). Confusingly similar names -- so confusing, in fact, that Ttax customer service assured me that H&B has form 1041! If you search forms within the software, you will see it does not (just has Schedule C etc for a home business, but no 1041). Business Ttax is separate software and far more expensive. I found (on the Bogleheads forum) that TaxAct has a 1041 (online only), with state versions available for about half the states. It is reasonably priced - far less than having a CPA do the 1041. That is likely what I will use going forward. Best of luck to you.

Anonymous_

Level 15

@MNski wrote:

I found (on the Bogleheads forum) that TaxAct has a 1041 (online only), with state versions available for about half the states. It is reasonably priced....

True, but it's not much cheaper than TurboTax Business, which has been around $143 on Amazon (state additional).

TaxAct Estates & Trusts is around $125 plus an additional $55 for state (not much difference in price).

MNski

Level 3

re: cost of Ttax Business: I have a Mac so I didn't look at the Windows pricing for Ttax Business. My only options are buying a cheap old windows PC for the sole purpose of doing that one return each year, or cluttering up my Mac with a parallels-type program to run Windows on it, just for this. Both options are expensive and time consuming, and not a one-time cost since they'd continually need updating/tweaking each year. So using TaxAct Business online seems easy and low cost by comparison. Turbotax needs to release a Mac version that has a 1041. Trusts (many needing a 1041) are common these days, particularly as baby boomers age. Turbotax should also make a better distinction between H&B and Business and what each contains for Windows vs Mac.