Auto-import of T5008 introduced a dangerous error into my return

[EigenCat]

I used the auto-import feature, and it imported T5008 slips completely ignoring the currency field (Box 13).

This means that if I had, for example, $10,000 USD of capital gains (so around $14,000 CAD), auto-import treats it as $10,000 CAD of capital gains. So, an error of about $4000!

This is really unacceptable, dangerous, and should be fixed. It is a "junior-intern-must-have-coded-this" level of bug, to completely forget about the currency. I found other threads on this forum about the Box 13 issue in T5008, but none of the other threads talk about just how dangerous the issue is, for someone who trusts Turbotax to do the right thing when importing data.

[TurboTaxAniqua]

If the amounts on your T5008 are in USD, you will need to convert them to CAD before entering them into TurboTax. This is not a bug; it is how the program was designed. 

The CRA requires you to report all amounts in Canadian currency unless the transaction meets the requirements outlined below.

Foreign currency reporting

Complete all T5008 slips in Canadian currency. Use the exchange rate that was in effect at the time of the transaction or an average rate that includes the transaction period.

Foreign currency is usually converted to Canadian funds before it is credited to the recipient's account. However, certain taxpayers maintain foreign currency accounts and choose to convert their account balances themselves. If you get proceeds of disposition in a foreign currency and deposit the amounts to your client's foreign currency account without converting them to Canadian funds, you can report in the foreign currency that applies. Identify foreign currency amounts by entering the applicable currency code in box 13, per the international standard ISO 4217.

When you report amounts in foreign currency, keep the following in mind:

• print the name of the foreign currency on the T5008 slips (for example, U.S. DOLLARS) beside the Identification of securities text above the white box of Box 17—Identification of securities for the recipient's benefit
• If you file your T5008 information return on paper and leave box 13 blank, we will process the amounts on the T5008 slips as Canadian dollars
• When completing the T5008 summary, you only have to enter one amount for the total proceeds of disposition, whether or not you complete the T5008 slips in different currencies

Thank you for choosing TurboTax.

[EigenCat]

If I had entered the amounts myself, I would maybe agree with you. However, I just used Auto-Import, and TuboTax entered these amounts by itself, resulting in an immediately incorrect return!

If someone is not paying attention, they could easily miss this and file an incorrect return. They would just trust TurboTax to do the right thing on import. Apparently this trust is misplaced. 

The fact that you refuse to acknowledge that it's a bug when AutoFill causes a serious error, by itself, with just a click of a button and no user entry, is just.... appalling. I now have no idea whether I can trust TurboTax with other calculations.

I used to enthusiastically recommend TurboTax to many friends, coworkers and family as the obvious, trusted choice. Needless to say, these will now be anti-recommendations from now on. 

Not because of the bug (we're all human, it's ok to have bugs), but because of this support experience.

Burying your head in the sand, and refusing to acknowledge that a clear-cut bug is a bug, is just completely unacceptable.

I am in the process of looking for a way to bring this to the CRA's attention directly. I am convinced that many users hit this unknowingly, underpaying their capital gains taxes by 40% (paying as if USD gains were actually CAD gains). I will not just leave it like this.

[user17755014343]

How are you able to report in foreign currency, for example USD, if there is no box 13 in the T5008 slips in TurboTax? 

Thanks!

[TurboTax_Susan]

@user17755014343 

As Aniqua said above, if the amounts on your T5008 are in USD, you will need to convert them to CAD before entering them into TurboTax. 

[Adamlfc]

I am running into a similar issue.  I recently used the “autofill my return” feature to download most of my tax slips.  I have a USD TD trading account and the T5 I received for this account was denominated in USD.  However there is currently no functionality in the software to convert these numbers to CAD.  Why wouldn’t Turbotax introduce a currency code field for all tax slips and a separate table for entering any relevant exchange rates for that year?  Asking users to make a manual conversion calculation is pretty ridiculous in this day and age.  Until that is done, Turbotax should flag this as a major issue to watch out for as part of the autofill instructions since it is a very easy mistake to make.  I’m a retired Chartered Accountant and I had to dig to find out what was going on.   

I also think that Canadian corporations should be required by law to issue all tax forms in Canadian dollars so that this issue would never arise but getting any action from the CRA is likely an exercise in futility.  I’m still trying to get them to automatically send me an email when they post a letter in my CRA account asking for instalment payments.       

[TurboTaxAniqua]

@Adamlfc, I totally understand your frustration. I have documented your feedback on the need for a currency code field and an integrated exchange rate table, and I have forwarded it directly to our product development team. As a CA, you understand that the CRA is not quick to change, but your suggestion of a simple "warning flag" in the software could be a solution. I passed along your feedback and a suggestion to the development team to push for a simple check if possible. We appreciate the time and feedback.