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In newest updates Q stops us form using negative numbers for interest or dividends (5 merged votes)

I ned to enter negative numbers at tax time. Please restore that.
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Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Home & Business
Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP
Moreover it is standard practice for accountants to enter a negative number for accrued interest (for example), usually on January first to balance the cash thrown off by entering accrued interest on bonds at year end. So expecting to be able to enter a negative income amount is by no means unreasonable.
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Allowing Negative Dividend Entries
Unlike Quicken 2007, Quicken Premier Mac 2019 only allows positive Dividend entries. While this is normally the case, there are times when it is useful to allow negative dividend entries.
An example, is an investment that pays monthly dividends, but at the end of the year you receive a 1099 tax reporting form or other notification that some of the monthly distributions that were initially classified as Dividends are actually non-dividend distributions (Return of Capital) or Capital Gain Distributions, etc.
I normally adjust my Quicken entries (in Quicken 2007) to tie to the 1099 tax reports so my financial records in Quicken are consistent with my income tax filings. Rather than go into each of the 12 monthly transactions and reduce each of the dividend amounts and create a new transaction for the the Return of Capital, etc., I would simply make a single negative Dividend entry on 12/31 (labeled “to tie to 1099”) with a single Return of Capital transaction (or whatever the correct classification of the dollars are transaction is) to offset the dividend so that cash balance is unchanged.
Perhaps you can allow negative Dividends with a pop up alert asking “Are you sure you want a negative dividend entry?”
Finally, the same applies to any other investment actions that might not now allow negative entries.
Thank you.
Mike
how-do-i-enter-a-negative-amount-for-a-dividend-the-minus-sign-doesnt-work-anymore
I too use the procedure you have outlined and I posted my work-around for this issue. The work-around is far from ideal but does record the desired results for tax purposes.
FWIW, QWin allowed negative dividend entries up until a change sometime in the past 2-3 years. One now has to devise a similar work-around in QWin.
Quicken user since 1991
Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Home & Business
Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP
The solution is do the math yourself and enter the net amount.
QWin allows negative dividends and I have used it in situations such as you are encountering - but not in the current QMac.
Quicken user since 1991
then I have "Tax withheld"
I enter this later as Misc. expense, with the Category "Tax withheld" with the Stock name under Security
Works fine for me
Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Home & Business
Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP
Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Home & Business
Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP
"Frgn W/[email protected]". Interestingly enough when I imported Q2007 to Q2020, it imported the negatives that I had entered as negatives. As folks have pointed out, there is no such thing as a negative dividend. There are negatives, but they are fees or foreign taxes, etc. As such, there should be an expense account under your Tax Expense Category as a Subcategory: Foreign Taxes or perhaps a subcategory under Investment Expenses: Fees to property record this. Seems to happen with Canadian Securities, or in one case GlaxoSmithKline, which in that case was a processing fee. If I want to be a nerd about this, I should go back and change the negatives to reflect the expenses that they are.
Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Home & Business
Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP
In the case of DRIPs with a fee, the "Reinvest Dividends" transaction type allows entry of a fee.
In the case of ADRs and Taxes, I end up entering separate transactions of type "Miscellaneous Expense". Then in the Description / Category column, I assign to Taxes:Foreign for the tax case, and investment expense for the ADR case.
ADR stands for American Depositary Receipt, and (reading just now at schwab.com) you don't actually hold the foreign stock, but you hold the equivalent through a bank or brokerage. This is apparently how you hold foreign stocks when an American.
I start with the most recent dividend and work backwards.
I do want to see the register running balance in sync with my FI's running balance.
This gets a bit complicated when one has to change several dividends to get to the right totals - a golden opportunity to shot ones self in the foot with math errors.
I also make a note in the Memo field for these affected transactions - like "Adj To 1099R".
It's a pain but gets the desired results - the negative dividend was so much easier.
Quicken user since 1991