How do you enter the Category - Investments:Dividend Income Tax-Free

Question

In the Categories Window under Investments is a category named Dividend Income Tax-Free with the same description which is a "required" category (non-deletable).  I have found it impossible to enter this as a category for any transactions in my investment accounts.  It is not a selectable category, and if I try to add the Tax-Free to the end after selecting the Dividend Income category I am told that none match and it simply reverts to Dividend Income.

Eric H

MontanaKarl · Accepted Answer

As far as I know, you cannot actually enter that category ... it is auto-selected ONLY if the associated security has been flagged as "Tax-free".

Go to Porfolio view, click a security and then the Edit Security button.  To the right of the Security Name, you'll see a checkbox for "Tax-free".  Having that box checked will result in the classification of interest or dividends from that security as tax-free.

jacobs · Accepted Answer

You don't select this category; Quicken knows when to use it behind the scenes.

In your investment account, if you received a dividend, you'd select transaction type = Income > Dividend; if you received a dividend which was reinvested, you'd select Reinvest > Dividend.

So now you're asking: but how do I tell Quicken that this is a tax free transaction? If this entry is in a retirement account, Quicken knows it is tax free. If this transaction is for a tax-free security (e.g. tax-free bond fund) in a regular investment account, you should check the Tax-Free checkbox on the security set-up screen. Using this check box for the security will result in Quicken using the Investments:Dividend Income Tax Free category when you run the Tax Schedule report. (It will report the dividends, but under a tax-free heading.)