How to enter multi-account wash sales in TurboTax (step by step)

Short answer: TurboTax will not detect wash sales across accounts for you. It faithfully imports each 1099-B, and each 1099-B only reflects same-account washes (why). If a loss at broker A was washed by a re-buy at broker B or in an IRA, you add the adjustment: code "W" in Form 8949 column (f), the disallowed amount in column (g), per the IRS Form 8949 instructions. Here's the exact flow.

Step 0 — Find the violations (the hard part)

You need every account's trades in one ledger to know the disallowed amounts. Our free checker does this in your browser: drop CSVs from Robinhood, Schwab, Fidelity, IBKR, E*TRADE, and it lists each cross-account violation with the sale, the replacement, and the exact disallowed dollars — plus a year-end summary you can work from.

Step 1 — Import your 1099-Bs normally

Let TurboTax import every broker's 1099-B as usual (Federal → Wages & Income → Investments and Savings / Stocks, Crypto, etc.). Don't fight the same-account washes your brokers already reported in box 1g — those are correct and already handled.

Step 2 — Open the affected sale and add the adjustment

1. In the investment income section, find the SALE that produced the disallowed loss (at the broker where you sold).
2. Edit that sale. Look for the option to add more detail — in recent TurboTax versions a checkbox like "I have other boxes on my 1099-B to enter" or an "adjustments" link on the sale.
3. Enter the disallowed amount as a wash sale loss disallowed adjustment (this is the box 1g field). TurboTax then applies code W in column (f) of Form 8949 and puts the amount in column (g) — the loss on that row shrinks by the disallowed amount.
4. Repeat for each affected sale. Cross-account violations from our checker map one-to-one onto these rows.

Menus shift between TurboTax versions; the constant is the destination — Form 8949 code W / column (g). Verify on the actual form before filing (Forms view in desktop; the PDF preview online).

Step 3 — Carry the basis adjustment forward (don't lose your loss!)

A disallowed loss is usually deferred, not destroyed: it adds to the cost basis of the replacement shares (mechanics). When you later sell those replacement shares, their broker-reported basis will be too LOW (that broker never knew about the wash), so you'd overpay. Adjust that future sale's basis upward — code B in column (f) is the usual route — and keep your records. Exception: replacements inside an IRA give you nothing to carry forward; the loss is permanently gone, and no basis entry ever recovers it.

A worked example

You sold 100 NVDA at Schwab on Dec 10 for a $2,000 loss; you bought 100 NVDA at Robinhood on Dec 20. Schwab's 1099-B shows a clean $2,000 loss (it can't see Robinhood). In TurboTax: edit the Schwab sale → enter $2,000 as wash sale loss disallowed → Form 8949 shows code W, ($2,000) in column (g), loss on the row becomes $0. Your Robinhood lot's true basis is now purchase price + $2,000 — record it for the year you sell.

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