putting numbers in Turbo Tax early

[RunningBum]

Even without the forms (1099s etc) I know exactly what my income is from the various sources before end of December so I enter the figures so I know how much to adjust my final estimated tax payment, due mid January.

If you hold VTIAX (VG Total Intl) I don't think it's possible to know exactly what your income is. You know how much they distributed to you, but you have to add the foreign taxes to that, and you can't find that out until you get your 1099s. I multiple the distributions for the year by 1.08 to get an approximate number. It's usually much closer to 1.07, but using 1.08 is a safer way to not fall over the ACA subsidy cliff.

I had a chat with my VG Flagship advisor one year, and he understood what I was looking for and got back to me later and said that info just wasn't available. He didn't have an answer why.

I don't know if other foreign funds are like this.

 

[athena53]

Didn’t know about that handy feature!

I didn't, either! Will have to look for that.

Is anyone actually able to get 2020 TurboTax to work? I ran another software update this morning and it still says that IRS forms aren't ready. I can't even enter the straightforward stuff like my SS. Like others, I have estimates in the 2019 version because I want an idea of whether I'll owe or get a refund. Looks like a small refund right now.

 

[RunningBum]

Is anyone actually able to get 2020 TurboTax to work?

It's working for me, for the most part. An issue I had with HSA contributions went away with yesterday's update. It looks like I can start in on stock sales now too, which they were not allowing earlier because they didn't have the fed tax forms yet.

 

[Amethyst]

I was annoyed to learn that I can't import the PDF of our 2019 return, because it is password-protected. I can't understand why I can't just enter the password and import it.

Fortunately, there are no carryovers from 2019 that I'm aware of.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

TurboTax 2020 “works” for me too but is still missing critical forms. I didn’t install updates today if there was one, but earlier in the week I still could not enter stock sales due to a missing form.

It’s not unusual for some forms to be missing into January. I’m guessing things are still slow at the IRS due to Covid and they need to officially release the forms before TurboTax can officially call them released.

 

[audreyh1]

Well I’m glad I have my spreadsheets for estimating.

 

[rk911]

I have always waited until I received the actual numbers before inputting into Turbo Tax (in Feb/Mar). I've noticed some folks in this forum are talking about putting numbers in now. For those of you who do input early:

1. are you only inputting numbers you know for sure?
2. If you are inputting estimates, isn't it hard to keep up with what numbers in
TT are real and which are estimates?
3. I assume the benefit is getting an early estimate of your tax situation?
4. If you input numbers early, does it cause problems when you want to import actual numbers/forms later?

I just want to understand to see if I am missing out on something. thanks,

i input numbers into TT as i get them...never estimatea. i'm usually ready to file by mid february. if we owe i file on april 1st. last few years we've gotten refunds.

 

[Out of Steam]

I thought of this the other day; it makes sense since our tax situation is uncertain in our first full year of retirement.

If we have a few thousand dollars of room in the 12% Federal tax bracket for Roth conversions, I'd like to take advantage.

 

[Alan]

If you hold VTIAX (VG Total Intl) I don't think it's possible to know exactly what your income is. You know how much they distributed to you, but you have to add the foreign taxes to that, and you can't find that out until you get your 1099s. I multiple the distributions for the year by 1.08 to get an approximate number. It's usually much closer to 1.07, but using 1.08 is a safer way to not fall over the ACA subsidy cliff.

I had a chat with my VG Flagship advisor one year, and he understood what I was looking for and got back to me later and said that info just wasn't available. He didn't have an answer why.

I don't know if other foreign funds are like this.

I don't hold any international funds or REITs but I do have foreign tax paid to account for, which is why I make sure I have filed my HMRC taxes before year end and know exactly how much I have to claim back on my IRS return. (They are not due to be paid until Jan 31st but I like to get them done early, usually in October/November - the UK tax year runs April - April)

 

[LOL!]

I can see that there may be a source of confusion in this discussion.

TT and other tax-prep software comes in more than one platform:
A. Online, and
B. Desktop (or laptop)

I suppose the Online version also works on phones and something called iPads.

I use tax-prep software on my computer, so I have downloaded and installed the software there. I can have as many tax returns as I want to with the HRBlock software on my computer. Only when I file (either E-file or print out a tax return) will anybody else know what is on my tax return.

I strongly recommend not using the online versions tax-prep software.

 

[Alan]

Good point LOL!

I’ve always used the downloaded version for the reasons you list.