I took a loss on my S-Corp in 2017 and was expecting to use that loss against my wife's income, but TurboTax says "no"

[triegsecker]

I had a $6000 loss from my S-Corp in 2017. My S-Corp is just a small software company I run out of my home office and I am the sole shareholder.

My business taxes are done professionally- I just use the Schedule K and TurboTax to finish my personal taxes.

TurboTax is asking me about my S-Corp's "Adjusted Basis", which I have no idea what that is or how to figure it. If I enter zero, I get no deduction at all, but I don't want to enter a random number just to get the deduction.

My business is debt free. My business assets are a checking account with cash and a few thousand dollars worth of computers and office equipment. How do I figure an accurate Adjusted Basis?

[Rick19744]

As a shareholder in a pass-through entity you need to be tracking your tax basis in that investment.  That is what TT is asking for.

Your tax basis begins with your initial capital contribution and is updated annually for the applicable lines on the K-1.

Don't know how long you have had this investment, but you will need to determine this.  This can be done with a simple excel worksheet that will track it by year and then cumulative.

See the attached discussion.  While the date indicates 2015, you can still use this as guidance.  Just update any line numbers, however, doubtful much has changed. 
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/s-corporation-stock-and-debt-basis

If you have any questions on this the individual that prepares the 1120S return should be able to provide some guidance as well.