Entering last years tax as a first time user

DaisyDave

So basically I need to be able to handle what I had an account handle for me. In order to get a handle on all this is required, I wanted to record all of the information recorded on last years taxes so I can use it for future calculation and a check list to make sure I am doing my taxes properly.

Chris_QPW

My suggestion would be not to do it, but instead work on getting this year in and proper for next year's taxes.

First off there is big chance that you won't be able to download that much data and will have to resort to manual entry.
Downloading for the first time is usually limited to about 90 days.  And even using the suggestions you will get to use QFX files, which your financial institution may or may not provide, you might not get it all.

And getting transactions is just the start.  Quicken will guess at some of the categories and such, but it really can't be relied on to get it all right for your taxes.  When you are doing it as you go there is a much better chance that you will record the categories (and therefore the tax lines) correctly.

And all this effort is for what?
Yes you can export to your tax program, but again there is no guarantee that it line up with what was really reported in your forms like the W2-s and 1099s and such.  Quicken's reporting and maybe even the exporting to a tax program is a good double check, but it the forms you get that are the official ones and if you disagree with them, they have to be changed.  You can't just take what is in Quicken.

There are exceptions to this for instance if you are running a business and Quicken is your "record keeping".  The same with something like charity deductions and such.  But in the case of the latter I think something like It's Deductible would be a better choice.  And for the business you had to have some way of recording what you did all of last year, and as such I would just use that for that year and then switch to Quicken for this year if that is your plan.

DaisyDave

I would be using this for recording keeping of my rental properties so tracking my depreciation costs from year to year is critically important

Chris_QPW

Well I don't use the home and business/rental so I will leave that one to others, but just based on questions I have seen on depreciation in this forum I would say it doesn't directly handle it.  If I remember correctly it is some kind of manual entry in an account that you create for that purpose.

Rocket J Squirrel

If you used TurboTax for last year's taxes, you can import the .TAX2020 file directly into Quicken. This will populate much of Quicken's Tax Planner with 2020 data. But be sure to check it through for incorrect entries.