Budgeting Tax-Free Interest in Quicken for Mac

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RMW
RMW Member ✭✭✭
in Budgeting and Planning Tools (Mac)
In Categories under Investments there is a sub category Interest Income Tax-Free. I would like to use that for my 2021 budget.
Problem is that particular subcategory does not show up when entering an investment transaction (i.e. tax free muni bond interest). When selecting Interest Income under the transaction type, the report comes back with Interest but not Tax-Free Interest. When selecting Miscellaneous under the transaction type there is also no Tax-Free Interest category I could use. I have not found a way to enter this under Tax-Free interest. Would appreciate help with this. Thanks.

Best Answer

  • Ploooplooo
    Ploooplooo Member ✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
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    Hi @RMW, I'm not an expert here, but I do track taxable and tax-free income. When you set up the security there is a tick-box for tax-free. When that box is ticked, any interest income for that security is categorized as tax-fee.
    I don't know about the impact on budgeting because I don't really use that feature.

Answers

  • Frankx
    Frankx SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Hi @RMW,

    You raise an interesting question, however I have a followup question. 

    I am curious about how tax-free interest income versus taxable interest income would affect budgeting.  As far as I can tell, a typical budget doesn't actually interface with income tax calculations at the category level, and that the taxable or nontaxable nature of income - in a budget - is irrelevant to budgeting.  Clearly there are differences between the two when we discuss taxes, but I am having a hard time seeing the differences in budgeting.

    Let me know your thoughts on this.

    Thanks.

    Frankx

                            Quicken Home, Business & Rental Property - Windows 10-Home Version

                                             - - - - Quicken User since 1984 - - - 
      -  If you find this reply helpful, please click "Helpful" (below), so others will know! Thank you.  -

  • RMW
    RMW Member ✭✭✭
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    It becomes relevant when budgeting for quarterly estimated tax payments.
    I also just like to see non-taxable and taxable interest separate in my reports under Income.
    Thanks.
  • RMW
    RMW Member ✭✭✭
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    It seems that tracking (reporting) categories don't match budget categories.
    At least not under the default Investment categories.
  • Frankx
    Frankx SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Hi again @RMW,

    Okay, thanks for the additional information.  Most folks base their estimated tax payments (or even tax withholdings) on the "safe harbor" method where you pay amounts quarterly based on what your total tax liabilities were for the prior year.  And those amounts are pre-set for the year.  But I guess you are computing your taxes as you go...

    Anyway, I am not sure if this works the exact same way in Quicken Mac (I am a Q-Win user), but when setting up the budget - in the "Select Categories to Budget" > "Personal Expenses" screen - you need to check the "Show hidden categories" box at the bottom of the screen to see the tax categories.

    Let me know if you have any followups.

    Frankx

                            Quicken Home, Business & Rental Property - Windows 10-Home Version

                                             - - - - Quicken User since 1984 - - - 
      -  If you find this reply helpful, please click "Helpful" (below), so others will know! Thank you.  -

  • Ploooplooo
    Ploooplooo Member ✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
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    Hi @RMW, I'm not an expert here, but I do track taxable and tax-free income. When you set up the security there is a tick-box for tax-free. When that box is ticked, any interest income for that security is categorized as tax-fee.
    I don't know about the impact on budgeting because I don't really use that feature.
  • RMW
    RMW Member ✭✭✭
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    You nailed it!
    That solved my problem.
    Thanks.
  • RMW
    RMW Member ✭✭✭
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    Hi Frankx- I also use Q-Win - in addition to Q-Mac.
    I find the Q-Mac interface much easier and more elegant to use.
    But this comes at the expense of worse reporting features when compare to Q-Win.
    I checked the hidden categories box but still can not see tax-free interest under budget categories.
    Thanks,
    RMW
  • RMW
    RMW Member ✭✭✭
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    Actually, my main reason to switch from Q-Mac to Q-Win was the lack of creating and printing customizable budget reports (actual vs budget) on a monthly basis. I could not see any reports in Q-Mac to do that. Checking now, two years later, I still don't see that capability in Q-Mac, similar to Q-Win budget reports.
    Anyone knows if there is, in fact, a way to create these kind of budget reports in Q-Mac?
  • Quicken_Tyka
    Quicken_Tyka Alumni ✭✭✭✭
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    Hello @RMW

    Thank you for the additional details and the question! At this time, budget reports similar to the Windows version are unavilable.

    If you haven't already, I would take a moment to review the Idea at the link below.

    https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7716047/actual-vs-budgeted-reports-customize-date-range-and-get-comparisons-q-mac-7-legacy-votes/p1

    You may bookmark or add a comment to be notified of any updates regarding the feature.

    Thank you,
    -Quicken Tyka
    ~~~***~~~
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