Unable to Claim the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption on Software

[VINGO]

Were you able to sort this out? I am having the same problem.

[VINGO]

The phone line wasn't helpeful and blamed CRA without even listening to the question. Any other advice? Seems like a repeat issue...

[VINGO]

Were you able to resolve this? Same issue. Frustrated. Thanks!

[rempsy]

I called in but because I’m behind a firewall on my work computer they can’t remote in to check. I’m an accountant and it’s definitely a TurboTax issue. I made sure the exemption was entered on line 25400? on the forms and went through the forms instead, to Netfile. If you try using EasyStep, it won’t let you proceed any further.  It just keeps saying you have $0 to claim,  so make sure you’ve got everything else entered past that point then go back and enter the capital gains and exemption limit on T657 and select Netfile from the menu ribbon and you’re good to go. The person I was speaking with agreed with me and said they’d put a note/ticket in. Hope that helps.  

[VINGO]

I tried that but then CRA/Netfile had a concern with T2017. I went though their list of 10 possible errors but had none of them. Assumed the CRA/Netfile gripe is related.

[TurboTaxAniqua]

@VINGO Claiming the Exemption

If you disposed of qualifying property during the year and want to claim your exemption, you will need to fill out form T657, Calculation Of Capital Gains Exemption.

To do so, you will need to know your:

• Proceeds of Disposition—The proceeds of disposition is the price you sold the property for plus any fees associated with the sale
• Adjusted Cost Base. The adjusted cost base is the price you paid for it plus any capital improvements that you made.

You will also need to know what portion, if any, of the exemption you may have used in the past. If you do not know this information, you can contact the CRA, and they will be able to provide this information. It can also be found on your CRA’s My Account online.

For more information please check: Claiming the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption (LCGE)

If you need any further clarifications, we would be glad to assist you by having you contact us by phone .

Please see the TurboTax FAQ for guidance: Claiming the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption (LCGE)

[rempsy]

I think the point is being missed here.  Even if you fill out T657 correctly, with the correct proceeds of sale and adjusted cost base, the EasyStep guidance will not let you proceed past the screen where you are trying to enter your exemption amount.  I have never used the lifetime exemption and was trying to claim the exemption; it showed on the T657, and in T1 on line 25400, correctly, a reduction of taxable income, resulting in a net $0.00 capital gains to be included in income.....HOWEVER, as soon as you go back into EasyStep mode, it shows you have $0.00 of exemption available and will not let you proceed further. I was only using EasyStep to make sure I hadn't missed anything else along the way, as a check, but had to work around that part in order to file.

[VINGO]

Hi TT Aniqua,

I have all this information entered - it's actually a reserve from last year. 

Unfortunately, you have a bug in your software. After 8-hours on the phone Saturday (with both your technical team and then after I paid one of your "tax experts") we left it kind of unresolved. Your "tax expert" said there was a back-end fix coming and I should expect it by today. However, I got an e-mail after we hung up that seemed to indicate my request will remain unresolved. 

There seems to be a bug in your software and little interest in fixing it. If there's not a bug your tax expert should have been able to help me. However, he wasn't even aware of the lifetime capital gains exemption. Perhaps because he is not at all familiar with the Canadian tax code.

This whole process has been frustrating. I spent over 8-hours on the phone and was extorted for additional money from an unhelpful expert to be left without any signs of resolution.

I've paid for TurboTax for 19 years but good chance this is the last time unless this can get sorted in a more satisfactory way.

[VINGO]

Thanks for the reply Rempy. This is my experience too.

Unfortunately for me, it's also causing a NETFILE error. I'm not sure if there's something else causing that but it is hard to troubleshoot with software that isn't working correctly. It's hard to rely on the rest of the calculations being correct when they haven't addressed this bug in the EasyStep UI. 

[rempsy]

@VINGO it is frustrating.  Besides a few other minor bugs that reappear every year, the software has been good, at least for me, other than this issue that doesn't come up very often.  Your best bet might be to have a tax accountant submit for you this year if you can't get past the Netfile errors.  Chances are there's one spot where you've missed something that's causing the error? Tough to say without knowing all the details.  Sometimes, you have selected something incorrectly in the interview step that you have to go back and "undo", just from my experience.  Good luck!