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QMac: What Category for US Government Interest in Brokerage Accounts?

User251646

In QMac subscription Brokerage accounts, what category should be used for interest that is taxed by the US Government but not state/local governments (e.g. US EE Savings Bonds)?

I have a Brokerage account to model my US EE Savings Bonds. When I redeem a bond, the transaction requires a type. I chose Income > Interest that selects the Quicken-provided "Investments:Interest Income" subcategory. The comment for this subcategory states, "Assign interest from U.S. obligations such as Treasury bills, notes, and bonds to the tax line 'US govt interest'." None of the other "Investments" subcategories provide this tax mapping, and I could not add a subcategory to "Investments" since it is locked. As a workaround, I created my own "Interest US Gov" income category that maps to "Schedule B, US government interest", and used a "Payment/Deposit" transaction type to assign my "Interest US Gov" category. Is there a better way? A better solution might be for Quicken to add a "Investments:Interest US Gov" subcategory that maps to "Schedule B, US government interest"

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Accepted answers

J_Mike

User251646 said:

As a workaround, I created my own "Interest US Gov" income category that maps to "Schedule B, US government interest", and used a "Payment/Deposit" transaction type to assign my "Interest US Gov" category. Is there a better way?

I deal with TBils regularly and have generally done as you outline.
One exception - in recording the interest income transaction, for Type I use Income(Div, Int, Dist) > Miscellaneous. The entry form allows one to select the category.

Hopefully QMac will fill out the category list one of these days - or at least allow one to add subcats to the Investments parent.

All comments

J_Mike

User251646 said:

As a workaround, I created my own "Interest US Gov" income category that maps to "Schedule B, US government interest", and used a "Payment/Deposit" transaction type to assign my "Interest US Gov" category. Is there a better way?

User251646

> @J_Mike said:
> (Quote)
> One exception - in recording the interest income transaction,
> for Type I use Income(Div, Int, Dist) > Miscellaneous.
> The entry form allows one to select the category.

Thank you, @J_Mike. I initially tried Income(Div, Int, Dist) > Miscellaneous, but the resulting category was an expense and would always deduct the interest from my brokerage instead of adding to it. QMac would not even allow me change the sign of the amount! But the Payment/Deposit type allowed the interest amount to be added instead of subtracted.

J_Mike

User251646 said:

Thank you, @J_Mike. I initially tried Income(Div, Int, Dist) > Miscellaneous, but the resulting category was an expense and would always deduct the interest from my brokerage instead of adding to it. QMac would not even allow me change the sign of the amount! But the Payment/Deposit type allowed the interest amount to be added instead of subtracted.

Something is amiss here.
Have arched screen shots for the typical sequence for a T_Bill - Buy, Sell and Interest recorded.
No problems with proper handling of interest received.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031128/uploads/editor/7a/3y66w4l3n5t8.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031128/uploads/editor/9r/twkr8zc55z74.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031128/uploads/editor/mo/jlhog4i2rjxp.png

User251646

> @J_Mike said:
> (Quote)
> Something is amiss here.

You are correct. I went back to reproduce the error, but I could not do so. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but operator error is most likely. Thank you for the detailed step-by-step instructions. Income(Div, Int, Dist) > Miscellaneous works just as you stated.