Paycheck - Need to Enter an After-Tax CREDIT (or negative amount deduction)

Question

Well, I've stumped Quicken.  It's a long story, but I'll keep it short.  The way my company benefits are taken from my paycheck means that I end up with an after-tax credit.  I need to be able to include this after-tax credit in the Paycheck setup.  I tried to select "After-Tax Deduction" and enter -20.83 to create a credit and make my Net pay correct, but Quicken won't let me enter a negative amount.  I can't find anyway to get Quicken to let me setup my paycheck correctly as per my ADP paystub.  The downside is that it means Quicken does not correctly calculate my taxable income, and therefore tax liability.

Why can't I enter a negative deduction if I want to?  I get annoyed with software that things I'm not as smart as it is.

Bottom line: I absolutely get an After-tax credit, but I have no way to enter this in Paycheck.

James White · Answer

> @Chris_QPW said:
 > So, what you want to do it select Add Earning -> Other earning.  Type in whatever name you like and > assign it to the proper category and with an amount of 20.83.

Chris, thanks!  That worked.  I was able to add an earning using a category that is not taxable income, so the Tax Planner and Paycheck are now working correctly.  The Paycheck gross pay is 20.83 higher than my actual ADP paystub, but I don't think that matters.  I still need to check Reports, but I think this will work.  TY!

Chris_QPW · Answer

For the same reason you can't enter a negative number in either the Payment or Credit columns in the checking account.  The reason for having both fields are so that only positive numbers have to be entered, which I guess accounting people say is better for cutting down on errors.

With that in mind there are sections in the paycheck that are income and there are ones that are expenses (and transfers which is what the After-Tax Deduction section is for).
Also let's define "after tax".  What really defines that?
It is category that doesn't have a tax line unlike say Salary which is connected to a tax line.

So, what you want to do it select Add Earning -> Other earning.  Type in whatever name you like and assign it to the proper category and with an amount of 20.83.

Rocket J Squirrel · Answer

I don't have a paycheck, so maybe I'm off base. But isn't a paycheck just a fancy split income reminder? Suppose you print out all the details of your paycheck, then delete the paycheck reminder and reconstruct it as an ordinary income reminder, would that remove the restrictions you're bumping up against?