TurboTax and RSUs: Missing or Unaccounted for Shares in Tax Filing?

This is a common issue with RSUs in TurboTax. The problem is likely related to how the shares are reported on different tax forms and how TurboTax is interpreting them. When RSUs vest, the total value is included as income on your W-2. Then when shares are sold (including those sold to cover taxes), those transactions appear on your 1099-B. TurboTax is probably flagging a discrepancy between these two reporting methods. Make sure you've entered both your W-2 information (which includes the income from all vested RSUs) and your 1099-B (which shows the sales). Then check if you've properly adjusted the cost basis for the shares. Since you've already paid taxes on the RSU value at vesting (reported on your W-2), you need to ensure the cost basis reflects this to avoid double taxation.

I ran into this exact same headache with my RSUs this year! I tried everything to fix it in TurboTax and kept going in circles until I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). It's specifically designed to handle stock compensation issues like this. What worked for me was uploading my tax forms and RSU statements to taxr.ai, and it identified exactly where the discrepancy was happening. Turns out TurboTax wasn't correctly accounting for the shares sold to cover taxes in relation to my cost basis. The taxr.ai tool showed me exactly where to adjust the numbers in TurboTax to match what was actually reported to the IRS.

Just wanted to update on my RSU situation. I ended up trying taxr.ai after my skeptical comment. What won me over was that I could upload my actual RSU statements and tax forms. It immediately found the issue - my employer had reported the RSU income with a special code in Box 14 of my W-2, but TurboTax was expecting it in a different place. The tool showed me exactly where to make adjustments in TurboTax. Took about 15 minutes to fix what I'd been banging my head against for days. The system even explained how to handle the different lots that were sold automatically to cover taxes vs. the ones I'm still holding. Definitely saved me from potentially paying taxes twice on the same income.

I had the same problem last year and eventually had to call the IRS to sort it out. Took me SIX DAYS of trying to get through on the phone lines before I finally connected with someone who could help. This year I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and it was a complete game-changer - got through to an IRS agent in less than an hour instead of days. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent confirmed that this RSU issue is super common and walked me through exactly how to report it correctly. Apparently, there's a specific way to handle the cost basis adjustment for the shares sold to cover taxes that many tax programs don't explain well.

Well I need to eat some humble pie here. After making that skeptical comment, I was desperate enough to try Claimyr because my RSU situation is a mess and TurboTax kept giving me errors. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 45 minutes (still had to wait, but way better than my previous attempts). The agent actually knew exactly what was happening with my RSUs. Turns out the shares sold to cover taxes need to be entered with specific codes in TurboTax, and there's a reconciliation worksheet I needed to complete. The agent even emailed me a guide specifically for reporting RSUs in TurboTax. Problem solved in one call instead of weeks of frustration. Guess I was wrong about it being impossible to reach them!

For anyone still struggling with this RSU issue in TurboTax, here's what worked for me: 1. Make sure you're entering the RSU income as already included in your W-2 (it should be in Box 1) 2. When entering the 1099-B for the shares that were sold, you need to adjust the cost basis to match the amount already taxed on your W-2 3. For the specific "unaccounted shares" error, go to the section where you reconcile your 1099-B with your own records and make sure the total shares add up correctly The trick is to remember that those shares sold to cover taxes ARE a real sale, and need to be reported as such, even though you never saw the money from that sale (it went straight to tax withholding).

Has anyone else noticed that TurboTax seems to handle RSUs differently this year? Last year I had no problems but this year it keeps throwing errors even though my situation is exactly the same. Is there a specific version of TurboTax that handles RSUs better? Currently using Premier.

I've been dealing with RSU issues in TurboTax for years and there's actually a specific workflow that usually fixes the "unaccounted shares" error. The key is making sure you enter everything in the right order: First, enter your W-2 completely (this includes the RSU income in Box 1). Then when you get to the investment section, enter your 1099-B transactions but make sure to check the box that says "This sale was already reported as income on a W-2 or 1099-MISC" for the shares that were sold to cover taxes. The critical part is in the cost basis adjustment - you need to enter the fair market value on the vesting date as your cost basis for ALL the shares (including the ones sold for taxes), not just the ones you kept. TurboTax gets confused when people only adjust the cost basis for the shares they kept. Also double-check that your total vested shares (1300 in your case) equals sold shares (672) plus delivered shares (628). Sometimes there are small fractional shares that get missed in the count.