What-if worksheet in 2018 TurboTax won't deduct $7K IRA contribution for 2019 test scenario

[msmelinsd]

I'm using the What-If worksheet in CD version of 2018 TurboTax Deluxe to test some scenarios for Tax Year 2019. 

When I enter $7000 into the IRA Contributions Smart Worksheet in the What-If form for a 2019 test column, it will not adjust the line 32 IRA deduction to $7000 and consequently does not calculate the AGI correctly.  I presume other calculations such as taxable amount of SS, and itemized deductions will also be incorrect.  Am I doing something wrong?   Or does the 2018 What-If worksheet have a bug that won't allow the higher IRA contribution for 2019 even when I've checked the box to tell it to use 2019 tax rates?

As a similar question:  Unless I'm doing something wrong, I've also noticed that the What-If worksheet doesn't seem to be able to determine whether or not a Retirement Savings Contribution Credit should apply.  Is that a known limitation of the What-If worksheet and/or can it be made to calculate that credit?

Thank you!

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

You'll need to use overrides.  On the What-If Worksheet, override the values in columns 2 through 4 of line 32 and enter $7,000 or whatever amount you propose to contribute.

Don't expect 2018 TurboTax to be updated for the 2019 IRA contribution limit.  Many of the limits that change from 2018 to 2019 may not even be corrected in the initial release of 2019 TurboTax if past history of TurboTax is any indicator.

Entries on the 2018 IRA Contribution Worksheet are subject to 2018 limits.  If you are trying to simulate an entire 2019 tax return, not using columns 2 through 4 of the What-If Worksheet, to adjust the IRA contribution limit you'll need to override lines 3 and 4 of the IRA Deduction Worksheet.  You might also need to apply overrides to other limits such as the MAGI limits for determining deductibility of your IRA contribution, reduce your birth year by one, etc.  You'll also need to do your own tax calculation since the only place that TurboTax can use 2019 tax brackets is in columns 2 though 4 of the What-If Worksheet.  If you do enough overrides, though, you can generally get a pretty accurate simulation of an entire 2019 tax return.

The What-If Worksheet is incapable of determining the amount of any possible Retirement Savings Contributions Credit.  You'll have to simply adjust the amount on line 51 columns 2 through 4 based on the amount of credit you determine yourself.

[msmelinsd]

Thank you, dmertz, for your suggestions.

Unfortunately, I haven't figured out any way to override the values in line 32 (columns 2-4).  Could there be a more advanced method of overriding that I'm not aware of?  I've tried clicking, and double-clicking, selecting, cut/paste, and simply can't get the values in lines 32 or 36 to accept $7000.

The only place the What-If worksheet will let me enter or change an IRA contribution amount is in the IRA Contributions Smart Worksheet in the What-If worksheet (directly above line 32).  But line 32 (IRA deduction) and also line 36 (Total Adjustments) appear to be limited to $6500 even in columns 2-4 and with the 2019 box checked.  (If I put an amount less than or equal to $6500 into the IRA Contribs Smart Worksheet in the What-If, lines 32 and 36 do adjust accordingly.) 

If I enter $7000 on line 1 of the IRA Contributions Worksheet for the actual return (corresponding to column 1) it calls the extra $500 a non-deductible contribution and it won't let me override lines 3 and 4 of the IRA Deduction Worksheet.  My income isn't high enough that MAGI should be a factor and neither is my age, but those were both good thoughts.

And thank you for your comment re What-If not being able to calculate the Retirement Savings Contribution Credit.

If there is not a more specific way to override these values that I haven't figured out, it seems Intuit has not allowed for 2019 IRA contribution limits to apply to the What-If worksheet.

Is there any more direct way to ask Intuit if they would address this?

Is it fair to ask in this forum if you (or anyone) knows of an alternative calculator that might be able to make calculations for Tax Year 2019 at this time?  Everything I've found so far online still seems to be geared to tax year 2018.

Thank you!

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

On a Mac I think it can only be done by selecting the field and clicking Edit/Override on the Menu bar.

[msmelinsd]

Thank you!  I had no idea that override option in the Edit menu existed. 

Yes, using override did allow me to change lines 32 and 36 in the What-If worksheet and other values appeared to change accordingly.

I contacted Intuit about this issue and it sounds like they will see about fixing the 2018 What-If Worksheet so the higher 2019 IRA contributions can be entered and the override is not needed.

Thanks again for your help!