Real Estate Property Tax bug was VERY troublesome

[The Cocoa Kid]

Why was the bug with real estate property taxes not fixed? I don't start with the return until 3 days before the due date because I want everyone else to hit on it, discover the bugs, have you all fix them, so that by the time I get around to doing taxes, the software has its best chance to be bullet-proof. Until now, it has worked every year since 1989.

[maglib]

@The Cocoa Kid  what bug are you talking about?  RE property taxes are handled correctly by TT unless you entered you owned a % of the property and you asked it to do the allocation which many forget they asked the program to allocate....

I have multiple rental properties and have not seen a bug regarding property taxes.

If a portion is personal, you still must enter that portion during the personal interview.

Please let me know

[The Cocoa Kid]

I used TurboTax Deluxe: Federal & State. Did you? BTW, there are numerous reports of the bug on Google. That’s where I went to get the fix

[maglib]

what bug, be more specific.  I use TT Home and Biz and do it for multiple rentals and multiple states.

[The Cocoa Kid]

I re-read your response. RE: reallocating the expense, I never got the question in the Deluxe version of the software, or, if I did, its prominence was insufficient, and not in accord with all previous versions of the program since 1989. 

[The Cocoa Kid]

There you have it. Difference in programs. I don’t have rental properties, so I use the Deluxe version, not Home & Business.

[VolvoGirl]

So what is the problem/bug with property taxes?  As a Schedule A itemized deduction?  Or for Home Office on Schedule C?  

[The Cocoa Kid]

Schedule A.

[maglib]

if you went through the interview the question about real estate taxes paid was there like always. I have access to the software.  Most don't bother as they can't itemize although for their state it may still be deductible.   I searched the boards and was not a common problem.    If people do not go through the whole interview, not much TT can do.

[The Cocoa Kid]

Hello,

You said:

"if you went through the interview..."

I say: I did.

You continued: "the question about real estate taxes paid was there like always."

I say: Yes it was.

You said: I have access to the software. 

I say: So do I. I hope "the software" to which you refer is  Turbotax Deluxe Federal and State. That's what I was using. If "the software" you refer to is Turbotax Home & Business, the programs may vary.

You said: Most don't bother as they can't itemize although for their state it may still be deductible. 

I say: I bother, because since the 2017 "Tax Reform," I don't know in advance whether the Standard Deduction or Itemized deduction will be higher.  It's usually a close call.

I searched the boards and was not a common problem.

[maglib]

The other thing TT does is give you a comparison by category of this year to last year, it would be noticeable there too.
I have access to all TT software if I choose to use it for test cases as I have volunteered many years helping others.
I tried to recreate your issue to no avail as interview was included.
you have state something, provided no proof of issue, spoke vaguely and I tried to recreate it. There are many complaints about the software justifiable, this one I just can't confirm.

[The Cocoa Kid]

(continued)

You said: I searched the boards and was not a common problem.

I say: I searched Google, because it gets hits from Turbotax, the Turbotax community, and those outside the community who use Turbotax. I used Google because I tried Turbotax online help-- a chatbot-- absolutely no luck. I didn't then go to TurboTax online community because I have found it most productive to use Google, as it is a superset.

To back up a bit... When I entered the interview section for Schedule A, Real Estate Property taxes, Turbotax had pre-entered "0." I tried to delete and enter my info. No luck. I then tried a manual override within the interview section. No luck. I then used Turbotax HELP. No luck. I then went to Google. I found a workaround that directed me to use Forms, go to Schedule A, and correct it there. I believe I had to manually override, but it took the override.

I then completed the rest of my tax return. When I went to submit the returns electronically, it said that in order to do that, I had to correct the manual override. There were no instructions on how to do that, so I went back to Google. Turbotax Help Technical Support had posted the instructions on Google. I used them, and it worked.

In my opinion, the fact that Turbotax Help Technical Support posted the instructions for the workaround on Google  is proof enough that Turbotax was aware of the problem, is it not?

I was then able to electronically  file. By then, it was past midnight, April 15. Both federal and state returns were accepted. We shall see if either assesses me a late filing penalty plus interest.

In order to address the rest of your comments, I'll have to CONTINUE once again, because my screen shows only Part One of my response and not your post.

[maglib]

@The Cocoa Kid   I googled it too... "turbotax real estate taxes bug" then found every post was solved and most old or not related to personal taxes.  Did you update your software, did you file really early?     If you overrode anything in forms mode in tt, it normally would not allow you to e-file based on all of my history.  Forms all normally are fed from other forms and just overriding is not suggested, you need to figure out what form fed the Schedule A.  Other calculations may not work.   You needed to get to the feeder form details. 

I'd love to see this post that was solved.  Again, I can't recreate it. 

[The Cocoa Kid]

PART III

You said: " If people do not go through the whole interview, not much TT can do."

I say: I went through the entire interview.

I continue:

It is likely that, in order for you to replicate the bug I experienced, you either have to accept the fact that Turbotax' posted workaround instructions online are sufficient evidence that more than a few users encountered the problem, or you, using Turbotax Deluxe Federal & State, have to replicate all of the tax return information I entered leading up to the bug in question.

I accept the fact that your tax information differs from mine, and as such, you may not have encountered the bug. I did. If you can't accept that, so be it.

While I'm glad Turbotax posted the workaround, I'm not a happy camper that they were unable to fix the software by April 12. In my experience as a user, this was the first time something like this has happened to me using Turbotax, and I've used it since 1989. Again, if you can't accept that, so be it.

[maglib]

do you have a link to the TT workaround posted?  I searched for other posts by you to find it and didn't find any.  I searched for other posts asking about property taxes.  I'm seriously interested.