tax impact categories in quicken

Dave530

I am a long time
user and using Quicken for windows 2018. Somehow my category list was corrupted in the
past and shows as under.



Category                                           Tax Line Item
 _401Contrib                                      W-2:Salary or wages, self (without a check mark in a circle)


_401EmployerContrib                        W-2:Salary or wages,
self (with a check mark in a circle)   
As a result "Taxable Income
YTD" in Planning does not show -401Contrib amount, but shows
_401EmployerContrib.


I am not allowed to edit this as they are
built in (hidden) categories by Quicken. Is there a way to edit this? 

mshiggins

Have you tried validating your data?



File | File Operations | Validate & Repair: Validate

Dave530

Yes please, but that didn't solve the problem.

NotACPA

Why would your Employer's contrib to your 401k be listed as Taxable income or included as part of your wages.

This is going to throw your tax calculations off. 

Your contrib to the 401k reduces your taxable income ... but your Employer's contrib has no impact upon your taxes at all.

Quicken Harold

Hello B. Dave,

Are you still experiencing issues?

Please let us know. If we don’t hear from you within 48 hours, the thread will be closed.

Respectfully,
~ Quicken Harold.

Dave530

Hello Quicken Harold,

I think in my Category List, Tax Line Item showing " W-2:Salary or wages,
self (with a check mark in a circle) " in category _401EmployerContrib is not correct. If yes, how to remove contents of Tax Line Item.

B. Dave   

UKR

This is what my Category List shows, for reference:

As you said, your _401EmployerContrib is different and therefore incorrect.

Since this is one of the built-in categories that cannot be edited by the customer, the question now becomes:

How can this incorrect category be fixed?
Hello, Quicken programmers, any ideas?

Dave530

Waiting for a solution to edit a Tax Impact category from a Quicken representative.

B. Dave

mshiggins

Waiting for a solution to edit a Tax Impact category from a Quicken representative.

B. Dave

Can you post a screen shot of your category list similar to the one UKR posted?

markus1957

Waiting for a solution to edit a Tax Impact category from a Quicken representative.

B. Dave

These are not initial categories in a new Quicken file. They are created either when a 401k account is first added or when a paycheck is first added; not sure which. If a super-validate does not sort it out, Quicken support is probably the best option.

I wonder whether a QIF or QFX export import might provide a path to resolve it?

Or- You can create "hidden" categories so maybe an existing could be overwritten or a new one created that would function correctly. Again, Quicken support is the place to work this out. They may be able to go in and repair the file if this is a one-off or better yet add a routine in the validation process to check for issues with non-editable categories. 

If super-validate has not been tried, it should be, because it may already be in that routine. Bad Categories are not uncommon in the validation report.

mshiggins

Waiting for a solution to edit a Tax Impact category from a Quicken representative.

B. Dave

Humm. Never encountered a bad category in validating.

markus1957

Waiting for a solution to edit a Tax Impact category from a Quicken representative.

B. Dave

Sorry, couldn't recall the exact terminology in the log. Try a search for "damaged category"

Quicken Sarah

Hello B. Dave,

Welcome to the Community!  We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience; I've been researching the incorrect tax line items pretty extensively but so far have been unable to fully reproduce this issue or find a suitable solution/workaround.

I'd like to get this in front of the Developers for additional research but since I am unable to reproduce this, would you be willing to provide a sanitized copy of your data file for debug? 

If so, please go to the Help menu in Quicken > Report a Problem.  Enter "Attention: Sarah" in the subject line, the link for this post in the description (https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/tax-impact-categories-in-quicken) and mark the "sanitize data file" box and Send to Quicken.

Once sent, please just let me know.

Thank you,

Sarah

Dave530

I appreciate and thank you all for your help. I have found the solution as to how to change the tax line item of Tax impact category.
Go to PLANNING/Tax Planner/Wages. In the right hand corner of Show details click on "View tax form line items used here", and follow the instructions.
B. Dave

Quicken_Tyka

Hey B. Dave,

Were you able to find the Report a Problem option in the help menu?

Let us know where you are at so we can research this issue further!

-Quicken Tyka

Dave530

My current screen shot:

Dave530

Hello B. Dave,

Welcome to the Community!  We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience; I've been researching the incorrect tax line items pretty extensively but so far have been unable to fully reproduce this issue or find a suitable solution/workaround.

I'd like to get this in front of the Developers for additional research but since I am unable to reproduce this, would you be willing to provide a sanitized copy of your data file for debug? 

If so, please go to the Help menu in Quicken > Report a Problem.  Enter "Attention: Sarah" in the subject line, the link for this post in the description (https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/tax-impact-categories-in-quicken) and mark the "sanitize data file" box and Send to Quicken.

Once sent, please just let me know.

Thank you,

Sarah

Hi Sarah,
What is a sanitized data file? Am I sending or sharing my entire quicken file? I have all my personal information that I am afraid to share. Please advise.

Dave530

Hey B. Dave,

Were you able to find the Report a Problem option in the help menu?

Let us know where you are at so we can research this issue further!

-Quicken Tyka

Yes, I did. I am waiting for Sarah's reply on my question on Sanitized data file.

Dave530

While amending the Tax Line Item as shown in the beginning of my conversation, I ended up with the current screen shot shown above. Tax Line Item of the first category is still not correct, which should show as "W-2:Salary or Wages, Self with a check mark in a circle. Besides I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Quicken Sarah

Hello B. Dave,

Welcome to the Community!  We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience; I've been researching the incorrect tax line items pretty extensively but so far have been unable to fully reproduce this issue or find a suitable solution/workaround.

I'd like to get this in front of the Developers for additional research but since I am unable to reproduce this, would you be willing to provide a sanitized copy of your data file for debug? 

If so, please go to the Help menu in Quicken > Report a Problem.  Enter "Attention: Sarah" in the subject line, the link for this post in the description (https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/tax-impact-categories-in-quicken) and mark the "sanitize data file" box and Send to Quicken.

Once sent, please just let me know.

Thank you,

Sarah

Hi B. Dave,

Thank you for posting back.  Sanitizing a data file, creates a copy of the file that has all personally identifiable information removed, including the Financial Institution login credentials, the transaction data is also obfuscated to protect your privacy.  However, I have been looking into this further and may have an alternative solution.

Please open Quicken and go to the Planning tab, select the "Tax Center" from the sub-tab's and then click on the "Show Tax Planner" button in the upper left.



In the window that opens, please click "Wages" from the left side and then click the blue link "View tax form lines used here."  Another window will open and should list the category with a change button to the very right. 

    

  

You should be able to add, remove or edit the current tax line item and assign the correct one but please let me know how it goes.

Thank you,

Sarah

markus1957

Hello B. Dave,

Welcome to the Community!  We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience; I've been researching the incorrect tax line items pretty extensively but so far have been unable to fully reproduce this issue or find a suitable solution/workaround.

I'd like to get this in front of the Developers for additional research but since I am unable to reproduce this, would you be willing to provide a sanitized copy of your data file for debug? 

If so, please go to the Help menu in Quicken > Report a Problem.  Enter "Attention: Sarah" in the subject line, the link for this post in the description (https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/tax-impact-categories-in-quicken) and mark the "sanitize data file" box and Send to Quicken.

Once sent, please just let me know.

Thank you,

Sarah

There is a good chance the "_401Contrib" category is not going to be displayed where you indicate because it is not linked to that Tax Line item. 


But you are on the right track. I was able to create the category by Adding a 401k manual account to a test file; it displayed the proper tax line. I used your method to change the tax line to a blank entry. The category no longer shoed up in that section after closing and opening Quicken. I was then stuck in the OP's situation.

Here is how to fix it.

The _401 hidden categories are created when the first 401k account is setup in Quicken.


1. Manually create a new 401k type account with no holdings; this will add the tax line back to the _401Contrib category and it will now show up using Sarah's method.


2. Use Sarah's method to edit the _401Contrib category; all that is required is to check the "Tax Related Category" box so it displays the check mark in a circle.

3. Delete the manual 401k account.

Dave530

Hello B. Dave,

Welcome to the Community!  We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience; I've been researching the incorrect tax line items pretty extensively but so far have been unable to fully reproduce this issue or find a suitable solution/workaround.

I'd like to get this in front of the Developers for additional research but since I am unable to reproduce this, would you be willing to provide a sanitized copy of your data file for debug? 

If so, please go to the Help menu in Quicken > Report a Problem.  Enter "Attention: Sarah" in the subject line, the link for this post in the description (https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/tax-impact-categories-in-quicken) and mark the "sanitize data file" box and Send to Quicken.

Once sent, please just let me know.

Thank you,

Sarah

Hi Sarah & Markus1957,
With the combined help from both you, I have been able to assign the correct Tax Line to category _401Contrib.But still I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you Sarah & Markus1957
B. Dave

Dave530

Assigning the Tax Line to the category "_401Contrib"  is solved, but still I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks to all who helped in resolving the major problem.
B. Dave

markus1957

Assigning the Tax Line to the category "_401Contrib"  is solved, but still I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks to all who helped in resolving the major problem.
B. Dave

When you click the Usage link for the category (81 based on your screen shot) in Tools>Category List, do either the mini report or Full Report work as expected?

Adding- I tested this in my production file. The "_401Contrib" category is not getting picked up in any Quicken report. It's not your file. It's a new Quicken bug.

markus1957

Hello B. Dave,

Welcome to the Community!  We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience; I've been researching the incorrect tax line items pretty extensively but so far have been unable to fully reproduce this issue or find a suitable solution/workaround.

I'd like to get this in front of the Developers for additional research but since I am unable to reproduce this, would you be willing to provide a sanitized copy of your data file for debug? 

If so, please go to the Help menu in Quicken > Report a Problem.  Enter "Attention: Sarah" in the subject line, the link for this post in the description (https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/tax-impact-categories-in-quicken) and mark the "sanitize data file" box and Send to Quicken.

Once sent, please just let me know.

Thank you,

Sarah

Your welcome; I'm glad you got the category issue resolved.

I tested the report issue in my production file. The "_401Contrib" category is not getting picked up in any Quicken report. It's not your file. It's a new Quicken bug.

markus1957

Assigning the Tax Line to the category "_401Contrib"  is solved, but still I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks to all who helped in resolving the major problem.
B. Dave

Update- The category is now being picked up in Tax Reports but it still is not being picked up in the Itemized Categories and other Spending reports. 

Sherlock

Assigning the Tax Line to the category "_401Contrib"  is solved, but still I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks to all who helped in resolving the major problem.
B. Dave

markus1957:  

Update- The category is now being picked up in Tax Reports but it still is not being picked up in the Itemized Categories and other Spending reports. 

The _401Contrib  and _401ContribSpouse categories apply to transactions in a special built-in account,Tax Impact of 401(k) Accounts, only included in the Tax Summary and Tax Schedule reports (in Quicken 2016 R17.4).

markus1957

Assigning the Tax Line to the category "_401Contrib"  is solved, but still I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks to all who helped in resolving the major problem.
B. Dave

Sherlock- the tax impact category has been around for a long time. It is only recently that those categories stopped reporting in the spending reports. Regardless of what Quicken is using the special Tax Impact category for, there is no valid reason that those other two should have been dropped from reports (they are still selected in the customization tab).  This is not a case of "it's always been that way" or "it changed when ....changed". It stopped reporting when they screwed up reports for investment accounts with categories assigned to transactions. It needs to be fixed.

Sherlock

Assigning the Tax Line to the category "_401Contrib"  is solved, but still I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks to all who helped in resolving the major problem.
B. Dave

markus1957:

I realize these categories have been around for a long time but, unless they are used in transactions of accounts included in the report, they can not appear in the report.  

If you want to see the _401Contrib  and _401ContribSpouse categories appear in a spending report, you would need to have transactions with these categories in accounts included in the report.

Normally, these categories only appear in transactions in the Tax Impact of 401(k) Accounts account and the Tax Impact of 401(k) Accounts account is only included in the Tax Summary and Tax Schedule reports:

markus1957

Assigning the Tax Line to the category "_401Contrib"  is solved, but still I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks to all who helped in resolving the major problem.
B. Dave

How does that logic fit with the fact that the category _401EmployerContrib still displays in spending reports?

Sherlock

Assigning the Tax Line to the category "_401Contrib"  is solved, but still I am unable to open Report on Transactions that use this category. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks to all who helped in resolving the major problem.
B. Dave

The employer contributions are income so it should make sense for the _401EmployerContrib and _401EmployerContribSpouse categories to appear in paycheck transactions in the paycheck’s account and be available all reports that include the paycheck account. 

On the other hand, the employee contributions are only deductions needed for tax reports and planning so it should't be too surprising that Quicken handles them differently.  

If you were to implement a paycheck as a split transaction, you would have the employer contribution entry and a transfer of the employer and employee contribution amounts to the 401(k) account.  If you tried to add an entry in the split for the employee contribution, you'd need to counter the amount of the contribution in someway so that income was not impacted.  Instead, Quicken's solution was to place the employee contribution entry in a self-referencing MiscExpX transaction in a special investment account simply to track the amount of the deduction for the tax reports and planning.

In other words, it isn't appropriate to include the employee contributions categories in the non-tax reports because they do not represent income or expense.  They're simply supposed to be special categories used in the special account.

HTH