Schedule E in TurboTax not allowing me to report my limited partner losses
I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure this out. Schedule E should allow for reporting partnership losses and income according to what TurboTax's own documentation says. But when I'm actually in the TurboTax desktop app (and I even tried the online version too), whenever I select Schedule E, I can only choose certain options and there's no way to properly reflect my limited partner losses. I'm getting K-1s showing significant passive losses from a couple real estate partnership investments I made last year, but TurboTax seems to be blocking me from entering them correctly. Has anyone else run into this issue? Is there some hidden menu or section I'm missing? Getting really frustrated because I'm running out of time to file and these losses would make a significant difference in what I owe.
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Miguel Harvey
This is actually a common misunderstanding about how partnership losses are entered in TurboTax. You don't enter limited partnership losses directly on Schedule E through the regular income/expense screens - instead, you need to enter your K-1 information separately. In TurboTax, you should go to the "Income" section, then look for "Less Common Income" or "Business Income" (depending on your version), and then select "Partnership/S-Corp (K-1)". This will open up forms where you can enter all the information from your K-1, including your limited partner losses. When you input your K-1 data correctly, TurboTax will automatically flow the passive losses to the appropriate place on Schedule E.
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Finnegan Gunn
•Thanks for the response. I tried going through the Income section and looking for K-1 entries as you suggested, but I'm still having problems. When I go to Less Common Income and select Partnership/S-Corp, it asks for details from my K-1 but doesn't seem to give me options for entering passive losses properly. It keeps showing these as non-deductible losses rather than flowing to Schedule E. Does it matter if I'm classified as a limited partner vs general partner?
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Miguel Harvey
•If TurboTax is showing your losses as non-deductible, that's likely related to the passive activity loss limitations, not an issue with the software itself. As a limited partner, your losses are almost always considered passive, and passive losses can only offset passive income. If you don't have sufficient passive income from other sources, the losses will be suspended and carried forward to future years. Check if you have Box 2 (Net rental real estate income) or Box 3 (Other net rental income) on your K-1, as these are typically where passive losses appear. In TurboTax, after entering these values, there should be a section about "passive activities" where you can provide additional information about your involvement in the partnership.
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Ashley Simian
You might want to check out https://taxr.ai - it saved me from a similar headache with my partnership returns last year. I was having the exact same problem with limited partner losses in TurboTax and getting super frustrated. The tool analyzed my K-1s and gave me step-by-step instructions for exactly how to enter everything correctly in TurboTax. It pointed out that I needed to use the "Income" section, not the direct Schedule E section, and showed me the specific screens to navigate through.
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Oliver Cheng
•Does this actually work for limited partnerships specifically? I've got a similar issue with some real estate investment partnership losses and TurboTax is driving me crazy. Does it just tell you where to click or does it actually explain the tax concepts too?
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Taylor To
•I'm kinda skeptical about third-party tools. Couldn't this just be solved by calling TurboTax support directly? Seems like they should be able to tell you exactly where to enter limited partner losses since it's their software.
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Ashley Simian
•It absolutely works for limited partnerships - that's exactly what I used it for with my real estate investment losses. It not only shows you where to click in TurboTax but explains the underlying tax concepts too, like why certain losses might be limited and how passive activity rules affect limited partners specifically. As for calling TurboTax support, I tried that route first and spent over an hour waiting only to get someone who wasn't familiar with the specific issue. The problem is that regular support reps often don't specialize in more complex partnership tax situations. That's why having something analyze your specific documents was so much more helpful.
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Oliver Cheng
Just wanted to follow up - I tried https://taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and it was seriously helpful. I uploaded my K-1s from my two real estate partnerships and it identified exactly why TurboTax was treating my losses as non-deductible. Turns out I needed to complete an additional form for passive activity losses that doesn't automatically pop up in the normal flow. The tool showed me exactly which screens to go through in TurboTax to get to the right place. Saved me hours of frustration and probably a few hundred dollars in deductions I would have missed.
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Ella Cofer
If you're still struggling with TurboTax's interface and having trouble getting support, you might want to try https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual IRS agent who can clarify how limited partnership losses should be reported. I was in a similar situation last year with partnership loss reporting issues, spent hours on hold trying to reach the IRS directly, and finally used Claimyr. They got me connected to an IRS rep in about 20 minutes instead of the 2+ hours I was experiencing before. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c
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Kevin Bell
•Wait, how does talking to the IRS help with a TurboTax software problem? Aren't those completely separate things? The IRS doesn't provide software support, right?
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Taylor To
•This sounds like BS honestly. Everyone knows it's impossible to get through to the IRS, especially during tax season. And even if you did, they specifically say they don't give tax advice or software guidance. They'll just tell you to contact TurboTax.
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Ella Cofer
•Talking to the IRS isn't about getting TurboTax support - it's about understanding the correct tax treatment for limited partnership losses so you can make sure you're entering everything correctly regardless of software quirks. When I called, I asked specifically about how passive losses from limited partnerships should be reported on Schedule E, and the agent clarified the rules which helped me figure out where TurboTax was getting confused. You're right that the IRS doesn't provide software support, but they can confirm tax rules which is often what you actually need to know to fix software issues yourself.
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Taylor To
I was totally wrong about Claimyr. I used it yesterday after my frustration boiled over with my limited partnership reporting issues. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes and explained my situation with the K-1 reporting problems. The agent walked me through exactly how limited partnership losses should be reported and clarified that they do belong on Schedule E, but with specific codes that TurboTax was burying in its workflow. Once I knew exactly what the IRS was expecting to see, I was able to find the right sections in TurboTax. Should have tried this sooner instead of wasting days going in circles.
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Savannah Glover
Have you checked if you're possibly hitting the passive activity loss limitations? This is a common issue with limited partnerships. Even though TurboTax should allow you to enter the losses on Schedule E, they might be getting limited due to passive activity rules, especially if you don't have other passive income to offset them.
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Finnegan Gunn
•I understand about passive loss limitations, but this seems different. The issue is that I can't even get to the point of entering the losses properly on Schedule E in the first place. TurboTax isn't giving me the option to identify them as limited partnership passive losses - it's like that section is missing or restricted. When I try to manually add them, it doesn't flow through correctly to my final return.
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Savannah Glover
•Ah, I see the problem now. For limited partnership interests, you actually need to go through a different workflow in TurboTax. Instead of trying to enter them directly on Schedule E, go to the Federal section, then Income, then choose "I'll choose what I work on" option, and look for K-1 Partnership. Enter everything there, including all the code information from your K-1, and TurboTax will then properly flow it to Schedule E with the correct passive loss treatment. If TurboTax still isn't showing the losses correctly after you've entered all the K-1 information, you might need to go to the Passive Activity Loss section separately (also under Income) to provide additional information about your involvement in the partnership.
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Felix Grigori
Has anyone used the "Pass-Through Entity" section in the Business Income area of TurboTax? I had similar issues last year and discovered that's where limited partnership entries need to be made, not in the regular Schedule E rental property section.
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Felicity Bud
•Yes, that's exactly right! I'm a tax preparer and this confuses many of my clients. TurboTax has the "Schedule E" section which most people think is for ALL Schedule E items, but it's actually primarily for rental real estate you directly own. For partnerships, you need to use the Pass-Through Entity or K-1 entry points as you mentioned. The software will eventually put everything on Schedule E, but the entry paths are different.
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Daniel Rogers
I had this exact same problem last year! The issue is that TurboTax has a confusing interface for partnership losses. You need to enter your K-1 information through the "Business Income" section, not the main Schedule E section that most people try to use first. Go to Federal > Income > Business Income > Partnership/S-Corp (K-1). Enter all the information from your K-1s there, including the passive loss amounts from Box 2 or Box 3. TurboTax will automatically flow these to the correct lines on Schedule E once you complete the K-1 entry process. Also, make sure you're not missing the "Passive Activity Loss" section if your losses exceed your passive income - TurboTax sometimes requires you to fill out additional forms for passive loss carryovers, and this isn't always obvious in the main workflow.
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Luca Russo
•This is super helpful! I'm new to dealing with partnership investments and had no idea there were different entry points in TurboTax for the same Schedule E information. Just to clarify - when you say "Business Income" section, is this the same as what some people are calling "Pass-Through Entity" or are these different paths to the same place? I want to make sure I'm following the right workflow since I'm already stressed about getting this filed on time.
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