TurboTax Glitch [Importing Vanguard 1099-DIV]

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jjustice
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TurboTax Glitch [Importing Vanguard 1099-DIV]

Post by jjustice »

I found that when I imported 1099-DIV information from Vanguard to TurboTax, I had an error concerning exempt interest. Nothing I could enter satisfied it. I finally deleted Schedule B (Go back to "Home" and you find the option to delete forms) and re-entered by hand only relevant information from Vanguard's 1099-DIVs. The error did not reappear upon review. It's some glitch with how TurboTax reads Vanguard's imports of 1099-DIV information.
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Sidney
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by Sidney »

What was the error?
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jjustice
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by jjustice »

It would ask for a state ID. When you tried something, then it would ask for an amount. When you do it by hand, do not put 0.00 into boxes that are zero. At least I did not when I did it by hand and successfully passed review. I spent way too much time trying to pass the review before deleting and entering by hand.
John
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by FrugalInvestor »

I've never been comfortable allowing tax software to import my data because I feel that it removes me one step further from understanding what is going on behind the scenes. I need that understanding to know how to minimize my tax liability so I manually enter all data into Turbo Tax. Doing that and then reviewing the final return in detail helps me have a good handle on what impact the numbers are having on the final result.
Last edited by FrugalInvestor on Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sidney
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by Sidney »

FrugalInvestor wrote:I've never been comfortable allowing tax software to import my data because I feel that it removes me one step further from understanding what is going on behind the scenes.
Same here. Only time I did it was one year when I had an cashless NQ option exercise that ended up with a long list of transactions (net near zero CG). It was the only Sched. D inputs so I was able to reconcile the Sales values on Sched D to the 1099-B easily (always a good practice).
I always wanted to be a procrastinator.
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jjustice
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by jjustice »

Well, the import gave the same values that I later hand entered. So I guess that provided a double-check. Nothing was wrong with the import. What we had was a failure to communicate (Cool Hand Luke).
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gd
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by gd »

You can fix the TT problem in the Vanguard downloaded data by deleting any 0.00 in box 10, the exempt-interest dividends amount, and leaving that box blank. I'd recommend just not downloading Vanguard's 1099-DIV; mine labelled all the several funds as just "VANGUARD". I'd guess this is a TT bug where any text, even 0, is seen as an indication of exempt interest requiring a state to be entered.
sscritic
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by sscritic »

gd wrote:You can fix the TT problem in the Vanguard downloaded data by deleting any 0.00 in box 10, the exempt-interest dividends amount, and leaving that box blank. I'd recommend just not downloading Vanguard's 1099-DIV; mine labelled all the several funds as just "VANGUARD". I'd guess this is a TT bug where any text, even 0, is seen as an indication of exempt interest requiring a state to be entered.
It's Vanguard's bug. The same thing appears in H&R Block. If you downloaded on Thursday, you got the fund names, but the tax-exempt funds didn't show up. They then fixed it so everything downloaded as Vanguard

Old:

1099-DIV
1st (Fund Name) xxxx
2nd (Fund Name)xxxx
3rd (Fund Name)xxxx
4th (Fund Name)xxxx

1099-B
shares Fund Name
shares Fund Name
shares Fund Name

New:

Dividend Income (1099-DIV)
VANGUARD -
VANGUARD $xxxx
VANGUARD $xxxx
VANGUARD -
VANGUARD $xxxx
VANGUARD $xxxx

Stock Sales (1099-B)
PHONE EXCH TO PRIME MM $xxxx
SELL ELECTRONIC BANK TRANSFER $xxxx
SELL ELECTRONIC BANK TRANSFER $xxxx.
gd
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by gd »

I think I confused my response with the poorly-placed comment about uninformative fund names. My TT bug claim was about box 10 only; I can make my TT Deluxe (download) insist any fund is tax exempt and demand a state code during the final error check, or not, by putting 0.00 into box 10 or leaving it blank. I've done this with a manual test entry having nothing but 0.00s in all boxes; with box 10 as 0.00 error check flags it as needing tax-exemption information, blank box 10 is ok.
RadAudit
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by RadAudit »

jjustice wrote:It's some glitch with how TurboTax reads Vanguard's imports of 1099-DIV information.

Ran into the same / similar problem. It's not related specially to Vanguard's import of 1099-DIV info. Turbo Tax downloaded info from a legacy account I have with Ed Jones. Same problem. A zero was imported and the block should have been blank. A delightful time was had by all until I found a Turbo Tax employee on the help desk who had just recently spent three hours running through their software to find the glitch.
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Re: TurboTax Glitch

Post by grabiner »

gd wrote:You can fix the TT problem in the Vanguard downloaded data by deleting any 0.00 in box 10, the exempt-interest dividends amount, and leaving that box blank. I'd recommend just not downloading Vanguard's 1099-DIV; mine labelled all the several funds as just "VANGUARD". I'd guess this is a TT bug where any text, even 0, is seen as an indication of exempt interest requiring a state to be entered.
The same issue exists in other places. I downloaded a 1099-DIV for Total Stock Market, and when TurboTax got to Form 1116, it asked me what country I paid the $0.00 of foreign tax to.
Wiki David Grabiner
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