Supporting Details NOT Working (Working Intermittently)

I was fighting the same issue and then saw under the Edit dropdown menu, Supporting Details can be added with a Ctrl+I command.  Been using that ever since and has always worked for me.  Good luck.

D

Edit dropdown window method doesn't work for me.

Have you tried Ctrl+I?

Hate to bring this up again - and may even re-post if this response disappears - BUT

I am having A LOT OF PROBLEMS with "Add supporting details" on a lot of my screens - it is beyond annoying, unsettling.

NOT ONLY does the RIGHT-CLICK not work to bring up the Supporting Details (which I love), I can NOT even get the cursor to appear in the box that is asking for an entry.  This part is truly awful as it prevents me from entering anything in the box, in spite of the right-click Add Supporting Details not working.

And NO, the CTRL-I doesn't work either, particularly when you can't even get the cursor to appear in the box.  I will have to say that I have had limited success with DOUBLE-CLICKING the Box (usually containing a "$0") to get to the Supporting Details (which work once you get to them) - otherwise I would be dead in the water.

I will have to admit that the problem is random, occurring mostly in the Expenses sections of Turbotax, particularly in the Medical area.

Using Windows with Turbotax 2020 Deluxe - DVD, not the Online product (for those blaming my browser, which is not involved).

Anybody else having this problem or know what is going on.

ron in shawnee

Please follow the instructions in this TurboTax FAQ to contact customer support for assistance. They can share your screen and see exactly what is happening:  What is the TurboTax phone number?

@Roninroundrock

I am not sure I understand this response (I guess you are saying, call me, if you can get through) - but let me follow up with some more information as I have PUT A LOT OF TIME IN trying to overcome this problem of not being able to make entries into the boxes originally provided by Trubotax - and at least I was FINALLY able to make entries into the Turbotax boxes.

WARNING - SOMEWHAT LONG POST, BUT I AM WRITING IT FOR THE SOFTWARE GUYS AND HOPE IT REACHES THEM - because this is somewhat of a bug UNLESS it is documented someplace to work this way.

1)  I have always been able to make an entry directly into the box provided by Turbotax, EXCEPT I need to state that this problem, at least in a few places started last year (2019 Turbotax).

2)  I have always been able to do a Right-Click to get to the Supporting Details pop-up - a feature that I VERY MUCH LIKE, particularly since Turbotax with even carry the supporting details forward from past years (SUPER).

3)  I will point out also that the problem that I am having seems to only occur in certain sections of Turbotax - or maybe that is a further manifestation of the problem.

4)  I have discovered that the problem seems ONLY to exist when Turbotax pre-inserts something into the box they are asking me to fill in - i.e. most times this is a "$0".  This is the REALLY FRUSTRATING part because when this happens, I CANNOT EVEN CLICK TO GET THE CURSOR INTO THIS BOX.

5)  I have FINALLY found that when this happens, if I Double-Click on this box, Turbotax will bring up a Supporting Details box, even if there is nothing in it.  At this point, everything seems to be working correctly as I can make entries in the Supporting Details pop-up and they are carried back to the original Turbotax box that was provided for an entry.

OK, let me expand further on this with an example.  In going through the Medical deductions section and getting to the "Tell us about anything spend on x-ray and lab work fees" - on my screen I see "$0" in the box provided.  I CAN NOT CLICK IN THIS FIELD, BOX - the really frustrating issue noted in 4) above.  BUT if I Double-Click on this box, up will pop a Supporting Details box with previous years entries in it, although the "Amount" column is blank. 

Additionally if I click on the "Show Relevant Form" box (ANOTHER NICE TURBOTAX FEATURE), I find that the x-ray line on the form has a "0." on it.  I can click on the "0." entry on that line and the box will be highlighted, BUT I can't change the "0." that resides there.  HOWEVER if I Double-Click on the "0." that resides there, up pops the Supporting Details box - consistent with the action that happens when clicking on the originally supplied box on the "Tell us about x-rays . . ." screen.

6)  IF the original Turbotax provided box is empty to begin with, everything works as you would expect - i.e. I can click in the box and make an entry.

7)  I will also note here that somewhere in my research of this issue, I see that you can also click on the Edit drop-down and then click on Add Supporting Details (I guess as opposed to Right-Clicking on the box).  A nice feature, alternative to the Right-Click, BUT you have to be able to click and get your cursor into the box in the first place for this to work (properly) - something you can't do.  And yes, this feature does work, even though you can't get your cursor into a box on the screen you are viewing - but when you do it this way, you end up pulling up the Supporting Details on a different box from a different screen, probably for the last place your cursor was located - probably a previous screen (so don't do that).

OK, have I worn everyone out - the few that maybe read this synopsis.  I maybe need to do a little more research, but I am beginning to think this is the way it is supposed to work - WELL, REALLY NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK THIS WAY, BUT AT LEAST IT SEEMS TO BE CONSISTENT - and I have been able to work with Turbotax under these conditions.  And yes, excluding or pending further exhaustive research, as I remember it, every time this has happened (incidents complained about in my original post), there has always been Supporting details from past years.

Actually, this is not a bad approach to the Supporting Details feature that exists in Turbotax - I just wish it was explained or documented somewhere.  I.E. Operationally, seeing a value in the originally-supplied Trubotax entry box (that you can't click on) is telling you that this box contains Supporting Details  (even though they may be from past years) and that you need to Double-Click on them to make any changes to that box.     Actually, a pretty nice feature IF it was intended to work that way - and now that I think about it, it is a really nice feature - once you understand what is going on.

As I write this, I will say that I have not exhaustively explored to see if Turbotax is probably designed this way - but will say that the operations seems to be consistent across the boxes and entries that I have complained about in my originally post.

I still don't think this is the way it has always worked.  I seem to remember IF there were Supporting details and you made an entry in the box before Right-Clicking on the box, when the Supporting Details box popped up, it replaced the 1st line in the Supporting Details box with your entry - a problem I never lilted and hence modified all of my Supporting Details boxes so that the 1st line in the box was always blank and the 2nd line always said, the above line is blank - anyway that is how I remember the way it has always operated.

So like I said, I like this new operational feature (particularly as it seems consistent), of letting you know the original box has supporting details, even if they are old and are zero - so if this is documented anywhere, please let me know - OR if not, please consider documenting it somewhere so that us old probably 20-year users of Turbotax know and understand what is going on.

I will let this one go as long as the operation is and stays consistent with the way I have described it above.  And yes, this post describing the operation of Supporting Details - PARTICULARLY THE INABILITY TO CLICK IN A BOX - is too long, but you, Turbotax should consider Posting a shorter explanation in the Turbotax Community posts that will pop up when someone searches for "cannot click on/in a box" problem - just a thought.

ron in shawnee

THIS, Roninroundrock, is a first class, detailed, accurate explanation of what appears to be a bug, with enough work-around information to help me overcome the problem. I have been dealing with this in TurboTax 2022 by going to Forms, and clicking the supporting details (+ sign) next to the box in question, but I like your suggestions better and will use them.

If this is not a bug, then it should be made more easy to use, perhaps with a pop-up that explains why you can't click in the box, and how to access the previous years' supporting details for data entry there.

The only thing I can add is that screens with this problem seem to have a different text font for the whole screen. I'm not sure of this, but the different font means "trouble" to me.

ATTENTION TURBOTAX SUPPORT FOLKS: This 20 year user of TurboTax has given you a bug report that might be a candidate for Best User Report of the Year. PLEASE do not leave it to die here without an acknowledgement of the described behavior, and an informed response.

My experience: Could edit supporting details existing from the previous year (2020), but couldn't enter any new supporting details when the supporting details were not used last year (not even using the suggestions above).  This is very strange, but I can live with it, just keeping the supporting info in a word file.

Thanks very much for adding your experience, and keeping the thread alive. Perhaps we'll get a response.

I am having the same issue regarding entering supporting details in some of the fields where supporting details were entered last year and were carried over to the current year (i.e., those fields with a "$0" pre-inserted).  I can confirm that in past years, I was always able to  access the supporting details screen by right clicking in the related entry box.  Now that only works for some of the fields and not for others.  Specifically, the fields for property taxes and medical expenses can no longer be accessed that way. 

I will try some of the workarounds mentioned in this thread.  But I have to ask--Is there someplace where it is written down in the program instructions how the supporting details screens are to be accessed?  Or the fact that the supporting details screens exist at all?  I vaguely recall  that in earlier versions of TurboTax (like 10-15 years ago) there was a visible button labeled "Add Supporting Details" or something to that effect.  I've been using the program for a long time and know that the feature exists.  But how are new users supposed to know that such a feature is even in TurboTax?

I am having a similar problem. The supporting detail info will not fill in the box in the TT program. very annoying.

Absolutely understand and agree. 

Cannot understand why the engineer/programmers at Turbo Tax consistently create problems in the Turbo Tax software - year after year after year. 

Now, unable to "add supporting details"???   Why would TT mess that important feature up?

So many issues with the 2021 software - too many.  See my posts regarding virtual currency CSV and TXF files - that is a complete mess.

Feels like Turbo Tax decided they want out of the business thereby force their customers to seek for tax preparers and CPAs.    

Ctrl-I option to add supporting details does NOT work - not enabled in my free-standing TT Deluxe software. Why?  Used to be an option and very useful for my record keeping.  Is that option an add-on charge per letter or per item??   (kidding, I hope)

Please try the steps provided by DianeW777 in this thread here regarding adding supporting details. 

@GatorRay26

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! 🙂

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.