Improve handling of IRA distributions, including QCDs and Roth conversions
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I've used Quicken for decades - but can someone please tell me what a "macro transaction" is?
Quicken Classic Premier (Windows) R52.33
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A macro transaction is a selection from the list you see when you click on Enter Transactions that causes several transactions to be entered in the account's Transaction list. "Shares Transferred between accounts" and "Mutual fund conversion" are examples.QWin Premier subscription1
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Yep, a clean way of dealing with a (single) RMD transfer with tax withholding to a taxable brokerage account would be a great help. And then there is dealing nicely with RMDs taken from multiple accounts to satisfy required total RMD. And the little (not!) added issue of dealing with QCDs. Currently I'm handling all of these situations with a spreadsheet. Would be nice for Quicken to eliminate the need for a supplemental spreadsheet. Thanks!1
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I've seen this issue mentioned before and never quite understood.Pacifica Bob said:... And then there is dealing nicely with RMDs taken from multiple accounts to satisfy required total RMD. ... Thanks!
My understanding is that an individual has an entire RMD requirement based on all the applicable IRA accounts. I suspect that is both Roth and Traditional IRA, but am not sure. The RMD from an inherited IRA may be using a different factor than other IRAs. But overall, the individual has one total RMD. That total amount can be taken from any combination of IRA accounts, again as I understand it.
So what are you expecting Quicken to do to "improve handling"? Do you want the program to compute the total RMD? Do you expect it to tell you the best source accounts for the withdrawal? Do you want it to tell you what your current total withdrawals are? The expectation has never been clear to me.-1 -
My issue is as follows: I make charitable contributions from my IRA by writing checks drawn on the IRA. These checks get credited to my RMD. The total of the charitable contributions reduce the taxable amount of the total RMD withdrawals on the 1040.
The problem is that you can enter a check in the IRA account, but you can't Print it from the IRA account. I prefer to print them because my handwriting is atrocious.
My workaround for now is that I created a dummy checking account to print checks from. I categorize it as a deductible RMD withdrawal. When I reconcile the IRA account, I categorize the entry as a transfer to the dummy account so the dummy account's balance is zeroed out when the check clears the brokerage.
All I ask is to be able to print a check from the IRA account.-1 -
Tom Scott said:...
The problem is that you can enter a check in the IRA account, but you can't Print it from the IRA account. I prefer to print them because my handwriting is atrocious.
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All I ask is to be able to print a check from the IRA account.Oh, I see. That's cute (for lack of another printable word) ...You can enter a "WriteChk" transaction into the IRA account and queue a check up for printing, but you cannot select the IRA account in the Write and Print Checks dialog and therefore you cannot print checks from the IRA account.Who in his right mind came up with this piece of, er, computer code?!
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UKR said:Oh, I see. That's cute (for lack of another printable word) ...You can enter a "WriteChk" transaction into the IRA account and queue a check up for printing, but you cannot select the IRA account in the Write and Print Checks dialog and therefore you cannot print checks from the IRA account.It gets cuter. You can invoke File > Print Checks but the result is this:
Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, now using QWin Biz & Personal Subscription (US) on Win10 Pro.
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Different FIs have different approaches for QCDs. At Vanguard, when you withdraw from an IRA, one option is "Send me a check payable to a charity". You provide the name and address of the charity, they print the check and mail it to you. You forward the check to the charity along with whatever forms they want.
Quicken's implementation for QCDs should support this approach directly, without requiring you to transfer the money to a taxable account first and enter a split transaction there or whatever you have to do today.
QWin Premier subscription0 -
"deductible RMD withdrawal"?Tom Scott said:My issue is as follows: I make charitable contributions from my IRA by writing checks drawn on the IRA. These checks get credited to my RMD. The total of the charitable contributions reduce the taxable amount of the total RMD withdrawals on the 1040.
The problem is that you can enter a check in the IRA account, but you can't Print it from the IRA account. I prefer to print them because my handwriting is atrocious.
My workaround for now is that I created a dummy checking account to print checks from. I categorize it as a deductible RMD withdrawal. When I reconcile the IRA account, I categorize the entry as a transfer to the dummy account so the dummy account's balance is zeroed out when the check clears the brokerage.
All I ask is to be able to print a check from the IRA account.
Referencing a traditional IRA,- A normal withdrawal counts towards satisfying RMD requirements but it treated as taxable income.
- A withdrawal from your IRA sent directly by the IRA administrator to a qualified charity also counts towards satisfying RMD requirements but is NOT considered taxable income. The transaction cannot be included as a tax-deductible contribution. This is a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)
- Writing a check from the IRA would seem to fall in that first category and then you can itemize that as a tax-deductible contribution.
- BUT within Quicken, the program does not (by default) include IRA transactions in its tax reports, so a check written from the account categorized as a charitable contribution will not appear in the default tax reports. Further, a check written from the IRA account is not treated as a transfer out of the account and thus does not get treated per the Tax Schedule assignments for the account.
I do agree with @UKR that the programming decisions are certainly ... questionable.
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I have my brokerage account take out federal taxes before distributing the remaining amount to my bank account. That is also how my brokerage account downloads its activity into my account. I have my IRA account tax schedule set to: Transfers out: 1099-R:Total IRA taxable distrib. I show the tax transaction category as IRAFedTaxWithheld. This transaction does not show up in the Tax Planner, but I believe it should.
As a workaround, I distribute the whole amount to my banking account. I split the transaction between the transfer amount and the taxable amount. I use the category IRAFedTaxWithheld for the taxable amount. I have not assigned any tax schedule to my bank account. Now the distribution shows up in the Tax Planner.
The actual tax was taken from my brokerage account not my bank account. Is there a better way to perform this transaction?0 -
IRA RMD transactions are very common occurrences. Quicken needs to make this clean and easy. I would hope this can be given the highest priority.4
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Quicken can and should set up the RMD distribution from a brokerage account where the brokerage account pays Federal and State withholding and transfer the balance to one's checking. e.2
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This has my vote. The Investment and Tax Planner sections of Quicken for Win have been neglected for too many years. I would recommend Quicken to others if they would update these problems, solve the endless download issues, and kill most of the bugs. Maybe the new owners are more serious about updating it to 2022 standards. I have noticed that the last couple of months have had more items corrected in the updates to Quicken than usual.4
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My sentiments exactly. Been using Quicken since 1991. The priorities you suggest are right on. Good to know that the "endless download issues" are not just me. I have disable most express connect accounts and do the manual method due to constant CC 800 Errors from when I have to restore my file due to lost budgets. I back up many times per session and have created multiple back up folders to ensure that I can find a "good" file. Here is another suggestion: Allow option to download TIME along with DATE to keep track of most recent working file.Quicken User Since - 19911
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It is unfathomable that Quicken does not provide a one stroke method of recording a Required Minimum Distribution ; or any distribution for that matter, from an IRA to your checking account that shows the amount withdrawn as taxable. It’s done every day! Second and along the same lines of thinking a simple recording of cash or stock transfer to a Roth Account which will show the withdrawal as Taxable for that year. What am I missing? I read these convoluted work arounds that make this every day occurrence way to complicated. Please fix this programming issue that is effecting more and more of us every day.1
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I agree there needs to be improvement. Many of us have hold more than one fund and getting monthly RMD distributions. There needs to be a better way of recording this and automating the process.0
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It's been 2 years without an update on this "most requested" Idea. A status report is long overdue.3
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It seems that the excessive steps needed to make Quicken handle the tax implications of a taxable withdrawal or taxable asset transfer distribution from a Traditional IRA account is essentially making the user work for the program instead of the other way around. It sort of defeats the purpose of using the program in the first place.
Deluxe R55.26., Windows 10 Pro
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There is another bigger issue regarding any cash transfer to, from, or between any Retirement Account (401(k), IRA, Roth, etc) that is coded as "tax deferred" that no one seems to be concerned about. These transfers show up as "ContrbX" or "WithdrawX" with "Transfer" in the Cash Amt column in the register. After doing the transfer and running an investment transaction report, the amounts (to and from) show up fine. But, after doing a validate, the transfer amounts disappear from the reports (show as zero). The only way to fix this issue is to delete the transfer transaction and re-enter it. But again, once you do a validate, the transfer amounts are again zeroed out on all reports. The workaround I found is to "break" the transfer and enter two separate transactions, a "Withdraw" and "Deposit".1
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@Damian That sounds like a bug that can be reproduced, documented and submitted to Quicken.
Deluxe R55.26., Windows 10 Pro
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@leishirsute - it has been successfully reproduced, acknowledged, and documented by Quicken several times over the years.0
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With a lot of people taking the opportunity this year to move grossly undervalued securities out of IRA's and into Roths it would seem that this is really going to be a bigger topic at year end then it is now; That I have to go in and manually edit my designated "IRA" account for withdrawals to be treated as "1099..." taxable events is insane; equally insane is that I have to manually edit my designated "ROTH" deposits as "1099..." taxable events. Additionally, while we are talking equities, how insane is it that once you sell all of your stake in an investment the history totally falls out of the Investment window? Your year-to-date numbers are only a snapshot of what you still hold and you have to run reports; there should be a very simple "Grand Total" line added to the Investment tab that cum's the numbers & then if you want detail you can run a report. Many don't realize it takes a report to get real YTD progress on dividends, gains, and losses.2
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@probski,
The second part of your post is off topic, but in the Investing > Portfolio views, you can click the Options gear at the top right and select Show closed lots. Does that resolve your issue? If not, please start a new discussion on that issue.QWin Premier subscription-1 -
I keep track of RMDs and QCDs on an Excel spreadhsheet. But Quicken tools would be nice.1
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I also use a spreadsheet. I record any QCD withdrawl from my IRA as a "TransferX" to a cash account labeled "QCD Passthrough". Then I modify the entry on the QCD account to make it a split transaction with the amount coming in balanced by an amount going out to the Charity (and categorized as such.) Works for me, but is clumsy.1
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I am flabbergasted that Quicken doesn't elegantly handle qualified account distributions particularly considering the baby-boomer retirement wave we are in the midst of. From reading through this thread, it's clear that this gap was identified years ago. I'm new to the community and am wondering does Quicken monitor the community and ever provide a status of where it is at on the particular issue being discussed?
I'm requesting Quicken (the company) to:
1. Add this functionality ASAP (See "Since1996" entry for a great deal of design thinking)
2. In the interim, publish an official Quicken Technote on how to manually handle qualified account distributions so that they are reflected accurately in the tax reports, starting with the most common and simplest and adding the more complex or less common over time.
3. Leave a comment on this thread providing a status on where this issue sits on the prioritization and development queues.4 -
If you look at the bottom of the first post in this thread, which I created in 2019, you can see that the status is still "New". That means that Quicken has not considered making this improvement yet, even though it has 183 votes.
I agree that an official Support article would be very useful. In the meantime, the FAQ discussion referenced above should be helpful.QWin Premier subscription3 -
I have a Self Directed IRA. We are now taking distributions about every quarter to live on. My Custodian sends us a check, I deposit it into our checking account, and code it as an IRA distribution, which is indeed taxable. Because the IRA is a Retirement Account, Quicken will NOT let me simply transfer the money out. I've tried the dummy account, and twisting up the distributions into pretzels, but this income still doesn't show up in - even the customized reports that purport to show income and expenses. I have to manually add it with a pencil on the printout.1
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Catherine - Quicken is an accounting software package, not a tax program. From an accounting standpoint, that transfer from the IRA account to the Checking Account is NOT income. It is simply moving dollars from one asset to another asset. Yes, for the tax code, it is taxable income. But at the core, that is the issue: Quicken is not a tax software package. Many of us try to track 'taxable' income when the software simply wasn't conceived in that manner.
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