Since the IRS has not finalized the instructions for the 2020 Schedule D or the 2020 instructions for Form 8949 TurboTax must wait for the IRS.
See this TurboTax website for IRS Forms availability - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/forms/help/irs-forms-availability-table-for-turbotax-individual-personal-tax-products/01/26224
Estimated dates available for Schedule D and Form 8949 - 01/14/2021 (subject to change)
If Turbotax would allow us to enter fields manually on Schedule D, we could at least get estimates and make plans before the end of the year, and change them later when final forms come out. Instead there is no option to enter info manually; click on a field and nothing happens. Turbotax needs to change this. We should be able to enter ALL fields manually.
@dazedandconfused4 wrote:
If Turbotax would allow us to enter fields manually on Schedule D, we could at least get estimates and make plans before the end of the year, and change them later when final forms come out. Instead there is no option to enter info manually; click on a field and nothing happens. Turbotax needs to change this. We should be able to enter ALL fields manually.
Using the TurboTax desktop CD/Download editions you can enter tax data on the forms, schedules and worksheets directly using Forms mode. This option is not available on the TurboTax online editions.
I'm just doing double work instead, since the date of 1/14/21 is now given as to when stocks can be entered, previously I was told it would be mid-December.
I now used the 2019 edition, created a new tax form for my 2020 data. Changing dates for stock transactions by 1 year so long and short is processed correctly. It looks like for estimate purposes this will work for my needs. I have my doubts that that reply about using forms will work. I need the TurboTax interface. I have a 2019 and 2020 Premier version.
I am using the desktop CD edition. You cannot enter information manually, at least on Schedule D. You click on the field and try to enter a number, and nothing happens. This was confirmed by a customer care rep about a different issue. If you know a workaround I'd love to know about it.
@dazedandconfused4 wrote:
I am using the desktop CD edition. You cannot enter information manually, at least on Schedule D. You click on the field and try to enter a number, and nothing happens. This was confirmed by a customer care rep about a different issue. If you know a workaround I'd love to know about it.
For investment sales use the Form 1099-B Worksheet. It will transfer the information to the Schedule D.
I filled out the 1099-B with estimates. But Schedule D remains blank, and as far as I can tell my 1040 is also unaffected. The point of this is to estimate how this affects my bottom line, so so far this is not useful.
@dazedandconfused4 wrote:
I filled out the 1099-B with estimates. But Schedule D remains blank, and as far as I can tell my 1040 is also unaffected. The point of this is to estimate how this affects my bottom line, so so far this is not useful.
I entered Proceeds and Cost (Long Term) on the 1099-B Worksheet and that information was transferred to the Schedule D Line 8a in columns d, e and h. The gain was entered on Form 1040 Line 7
Yes, that worked. I had entered the info in the Quick Entry Table rather than the "Form 8949 Reporting Exception Transactions." Not exactly an intuitive process. Thank you so much for all your help and persistence!
I need this as well. For now, I created a single 1099-Div Form and input the total realized long-term cap gains. It's a hack, not completely accurate, but at least I can play around with various scenarios for 2020 and get a sense of the impact. Once everything is ready in Jan(?), I will delete that particular 1099-Div.
The way the Trump people at IRS are stalling...., it will be 21Jan21, before the forms that we needed for year-end stock sales..., will be available..... The curiosity will be: When will Trumps's stallers be gone...!!!....???
Why won't TurboTax allow these entries, but have them not be used for filling, until the final...? IRS releases of these forms....?
strongly recommend that if you manually input schedule D data, you wait for the 1099B from the broker so you can check the numbers. there can be reasons why your numbers may differ from the broker's form. one common area is return of capital dividend. the brokers are usually not informed of this until after year end. then they go ahead and reduce the basis of that stock increasing gain or decreasing loss. any in that case your numbers and the brokers will not agree.
It is unconscionable that Turbotax does NOT have some sort of calculator or estimator where we can add stock/ funds sales info and get SOME estimate of our AGI, then MAGI so we can calculate how much in IRAs we can convert to ROTH without violating Medicare limits and incurring more costs later. AND these conversions must be done this calendar year!!!! Jan is NOT an option! I feel disgusted with T Tax for not making an effort to allow us to put in placeholders even if the law is not done.
@HS8 - here is the dilemma to me:
There appears to be a sector of TT customers, like you, that wants to use TT as an estimator for year end tax strategies. But when you read the Turbo Tax marketing material, they never state one of the benefits of their software is for tax strategy planning at year end!!
So either TT is missing the boat on a market opportunity or customers are buying the product intending to use it for a purpose that it is not designed to do. Currently, it appears to be the latter as TT is beholden to the IRS schedules and there were a lot of tax changes this year (COVID)
do you have 2019 desktop? can you just pull up that file and play 'what if' - it may be 'close enough'
I have been using TurboTax, since the 1987.... So, having you act like I have no clue, proves that it is you that is either clueless, or being paid to act clueless.....
TT has almost always gotten a usable product out by mid-November, certainly by mid-December..... But, in the last year of Trump, the four years of the fragmentation of the United States government...., has resulted in a final FU from the administration, by delaying nearly everything the government has done in a timely manner in past years.....
TT has ZERO excuses for not having a workable product, in a timely fashion, for estimating year-end taxes. They could have done it.... They decided not to do it.... Now, the question is whether the TT people will fess up to dropping the ball.....
You can go to the IRS website, and download the almost-finished Schedule D form. There is a water-mark, very plainly stating that it is not the final product. WTF is TT's problem with sending out a similar form, and being the helpful folks at tax time.... I suspect that the Trump administration has 'operatives' embedded in the staff of TurboTax.....
Please get rid of them immediately....! They do not enhance your already too complicated product.....
For so many years, I have hated to depend on TT, because of the incredible number of clicks, after large mouse moves covering the page you might be working..... TT has finally started using 'default' answers, based on prior years... It is SLOWLY getting better. But, it is a poorly updated product, that depends of old code to write 'new' code for the next year......, with little, or no, improvement...!!!
I have also been a Quicken user, since MS-DOS 3.1...... So, I have a pretty good handle on the tax situation, without absolutely depending on TT..... I feel sorrow for those folks that trusted TT to have answers to their end-of-the-year tax-move questions.......
TurboTax can do better........., a lot better......!
Using the 1099-R Worksheet with the desktop edition also worked for me. Thanks for the tip!
@Capt36 - I don't get it, you are railing against a product that does not market a capability to help with year end estimates; that is not what they sell the product for. Maybe they should, but they don't.
I am a user, accustomed to TT acting in a certain manner, year, after year..... It is quite obvious, from the posts of others...., that the expectation of people to use TT in their end-of-the-year estimates..., is VERY widespread.... I view you as a defender of TT...., period... If you WikiPedia 'TurboTax', you will see just how hard they have worked to control the government's position, versus the user's position..... I have long argued about how user 'unfriendly' TT has been throughout the history of TT.... 30 years ago, I even attempted to call TT, with suggestions for improvement. I was told flatly, "We do not need your input. We know what we are doing."
Perhaps some day, TT will primarily act in the interest of the customer, instead of the corporation.... I shall not be holding my breath.....
actually, I am not a defender of TT, rather, there is truly a disconnect between what their customers want (e.g. the ability to use TT for forecasting / year end tax strategy purposes) and what TT is selling (they don't market or sell forecasting as a benefit of TT) . I was just trying to state that.
I really don't understand why TT does not use IRS's Draft form and then change it when it becomes final. Selling a product that does not allow you to do your taxes is false advertising. Its purpose is to allow you to calculate your taxes. Under the law you don't have to use their forms to file your taxes. TT has chosen to lie about their product in its present form. But due to the license agreement we all agree to there is nothing we can do except complain. They basically say you buy as is and guarantee nothing. Forget customer service.
I wonder if the reason they don't use the draft forms is that once the forms are programmed, they need IRS signoff. And in fact, now that I think about it, that is probably why there is no marketing of forecasting or strategy - because the IRS wouldn't care about that; the IRS would only care about the tax reporting being correct comes April 15.
The product DOES allow you to do your taxes.... because the programming behind the forms is signed off by the IRS by the time the submission window opens. It just doesn't allow an easy use to forecast the implications of year end tax planning strategy, ESPECIALLY in a year where there are a lot of tax law changes.
In addition TurboTax (and other tax software companies) do not program from forms, they program from schemas which are the electronic file specifications that must be transmitted to the IRS in a format that the IRS computer can read and understand. The "form" that you see in TurboTax is only for the data entry screen, but the data itself must be encoded according to the schema to be transmitted to the IRS. It usually takes the IRS 2-3 weeks after the final paper forms are issued to release the schema for that form. Then, as previously stated, the IRS must approve the TurboTax implementation before it can be released to the public.