Left 0 in stock tax form boxes (TY21 Sch D AMT ln 7) - what happens if I owe the IRS money?

The good news is that you're probably okay! When you enter zeros for items like TY21 Sch D AMT ln 7 (Alternative Minimum Tax calculation for Schedule D), you're essentially telling the IRS you had no carryover AMT adjustment from the previous year. For most casual investors with small trading volumes like you described, these AMT adjustments are often zero or very small anyway. The IRS has a threshold for errors they consider significant enough to pursue, and minor issues with AMT calculations for small investors typically fall below that threshold. If the IRS does determine there's a discrepancy, they'll send you a notice (usually CP2000) proposing an adjustment to your tax return. You won't need to amend - they'll calculate what they believe you owe based on their records, and you can either agree and pay online through their payment portal, or dispute it if you think they're wrong. For small amounts, interest and penalties are usually minimal if you pay promptly after receiving notice. The IRS offers multiple online payment options including direct debit, credit card, or their payment plan application. Don't stress too much - the IRS processes millions of returns with small errors, and they have systems in place to handle these situations without major headaches for either side.

I was in a similar situation last year with some Schwab investments. Those AMT adjustments are confusing as hell! After spending hours trying to figure it out, I found this awesome service that saved me - https://taxr.ai actually explains those complicated stock forms in plain English. They analyzed my previous returns and found the values I needed for my Schedule D AMT fields. Turns out I had a small capital loss carryover that affected those boxes, but TurboTax didn't import it correctly. The tool showed me exactly where to find the missing values from my previous return and how they should be entered. I was about to do what you did and just put zeros, but this saved me from potentially underreporting. The service also explained when zeros are actually the correct answer vs. when they might trigger a review.

Just wanted to update that I tried https://taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here, and it was actually super helpful. I uploaded my 2023 return PDF and it immediately identified the capital loss carryover amount I needed for those AMT adjustment boxes. I had filed with zeros like you did, but ended up amending because I found out I was missing about $470 in additional refund due to some stock losses that weren't properly accounted for. The amendment process wasn't as painful as I expected (still annoying though). What surprised me was that TurboTax had all this information already from my previous returns but somehow doesn't use it for the current year calculations. The tool explained how these AMT adjustments work in normal human language instead of tax gibberish. For anyone dealing with stock-related tax forms and getting confused by all the technical jargon, it's worth checking out. Wish I had known about it before filing with incorrect information.

If you're worried about the IRS contacting you, good luck actually reaching anyone there to resolve it! I've been trying to get someone on the phone for THREE MONTHS about a similar issue with my investment reporting. Every time I call, I wait on hold for 2+ hours before getting disconnected. I finally found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically call the IRS for you and wait on hold, then call you when they have an agent on the line. Saved me hours of frustration! I was able to speak with an actual IRS agent who confirmed that small errors with Schedule D AMT calculations typically don't trigger audits for smaller investors. She said if there is an issue, they'll just send a letter with the correction and any amount due. The agent also told me how to find the correct information for future filings.

I need to apologize about my skepticism. After dealing with another tax issue this week, I got desperate and tried the Claimyr service mentioned here. I'll admit I was completely wrong - it actually worked exactly as described. I got connected to an IRS agent within 30 minutes (without having to sit on hold myself), and they helped me resolve my question about incorrect stock basis reporting from last year. The agent confirmed that for small discrepancies (under $1000), they typically just send a letter with the correction rather than requiring a formal amendment. For the original poster - the agent mentioned that putting zeros in AMT fields when you're unsure is actually common, and for smaller investors they often don't pursue these issues unless the potential tax impact exceeds their internal thresholds. They have information matching programs that can identify the correct amounts from your brokerage's reporting in many cases. Definitely consider using a hold service if you need to call the IRS - saved me hours of frustration.

I'm a bit late to this discussion but felt like I should share my experience. I've been dealing with stock investments for years and those AMT adjustments are confusing even for people who do understand stocks! The TY21 Sch D AMT ln 7 is referring to the Alternative Minimum Tax adjustment for capital gains/losses from a previous tax year that carries over. For most small investors, this is legitimately zero, so you might have accidentally put in the correct number anyway. The key thing to understand is that the IRS computer systems automatically match the 1099-B forms from your brokerage with what you report. If there's a significant discrepancy, you'll get a letter. But they're looking primarily at the current year transactions, not these carryover adjustments from previous years. In my experience, unless you're dealing with tens of thousands in stock transactions annually, these AMT adjustments rarely make a meaningful difference in your tax liability. The IRS focuses their enforcement resources on larger discrepancies.

Has anyone else noticed that tax software keeps getting more expensive but somehow WORSE at handling common situations? I paid TurboTax $120 this year (up from $89 last year) and they still couldn't properly import my stock information from the same broker I've used for 5 years!