Question

Why can't I say $0 for self-employed cash when I said $xxx last year?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
February 15, 2022
1 reply
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During the Review phase, my "self-employed income" section indicates, "Need Review" for cash income. Last year I had cash income, but when I enter $0 (or leave it blank, or try deleting it) for this year, I keep getting returned to the section "Needs review."

TurboTax Self Employed Online

ColeenD3

Can you please clarify your income? Do you say, " Last year I had cash income", do you mean tax year 2020 or 2021?

If you had no income in 2021, did you indeed have a business? The IRS considers these points to determine if there was a trade or business.

A trade or business is generally an activity carried on for a livelihood or in good faith to make a profit. The facts and circumstances of each case determine whether an activity is a trade or business. Some of the important facts and circumstances used to make this determination include:

regularity of the activities,
regularity of the transactions,
production of income, and
ongoing efforts to further the interests of your business.

W

wgd082490Author

I appreciate your response, and my apologies for any lack of clarity. Yes, I owned the business in both 2020 and 2021 and earned income in both fiscal years. In the 2020 tax year, the business reported "other miscellaneous income" that was listed as a _cash_ item (i.e., in addition to 1099s). For the 2021 tax year (what I'm working on now), all business income is reported as 1099s since there is no _cash_ income to report. During the (Federal) "Review" phase, TurboTax insists that the "other miscellaneous income" section "Needs review," but no further instructions are provided. The only way to proceed to the State income tax phase is to (at least temporarily) overlook / bypass the aforementioned "Needs review" section.