Problem with US Tax Report and TXF export

[Alex Aycinena]

I would request some advice in solving a problem that has been discussed on
the gnucash-users list recently.

The symptom: a US-based user has reported that on the Accounts tab, when
the Tax Info column is displayed, some accounts show 'Sched B: Total
dividend income' for their assigned tax codes and others show 'Sched B(0):
Total dividend income'. The number in parentheses is the 'copy number'
which should never be zero and should only show up if it is greater than 1
(and the copy number issue doesn't even apply to Schedule B).

The problem: investigation shows that not only is the display in the Tax
Info column on the Accounts tab wrong and confusing, but the US Tax Report
can show incomplete information and the TXF export also comes out with
incomplete data and invalid data (there is a copy number field that comes
out as 'C0', which is not valid).

The cause: a commit was made on Oct 17, 2024, commit 63deaad, that changed
logic, in Account.cpp:

From:

gint64
xaccAccountGetTaxUSCopyNumber (const Account *acc)
{
    gint64 copy_number = 0;
    GValue v = G_VALUE_INIT;
    g_return_val_if_fail(GNC_IS_ACCOUNT(acc), FALSE);
    qof_instance_get_path_kvp (QOF_INSTANCE(acc), &v, {"tax-US",
"copy-number"});
    if (G_VALUE_HOLDS_INT64 (&v))
        copy_number = g_value_get_int64 (&v);

    return (copy_number == 0) ? 1 : copy_number;
}

 to:

gint64
xaccAccountGetTaxUSCopyNumber (const Account *acc)
{
    auto copy_number = get_kvp_int64_path (acc, {"tax-US", "copy-number"});
    return copy_number ? *copy_number : 1;
 }

If I read it correctly, this changed the logic from "if there is a copy
number of '0', return '1'", to "if there is a copy number (even if it is
zero) just return it, otherwise return '1'".

Also changed in commit 63deaad,

From:

void
xaccAccountSetTaxUSCopyNumber (Account *acc, gint64 copy_number)
{
    g_return_if_fail(GNC_IS_ACCOUNT(acc));
    xaccAccountBeginEdit (acc);
    if (copy_number != 0)
    {
        GValue v = G_VALUE_INIT;
        g_value_init (&v, G_TYPE_INT64);
        g_value_set_int64 (&v, copy_number);
        qof_instance_set_path_kvp (QOF_INSTANCE (acc), &v, {"tax-US",
"copy-number"});
    }
    else
    {
        qof_instance_set_path_kvp (QOF_INSTANCE (acc), nullptr, {"tax-US",
"copy-number"});
    }
    mark_account (acc);
    xaccAccountCommitEdit (acc);
}

to

void
xaccAccountSetTaxUSCopyNumber (Account *acc, gint64 copy_number)
{
    set_kvp_int64_path (acc, {"tax-US", "copy-number"}, copy_number);
}

Again, if I read it correctly, this changed the logic from "if the copy
number is not zero, create a new KVP for it and save it or, if there is
already a KVP for 'copy number', change it to the new value, otherwise,
delete the KVP (but do not save a zero value)" to "just save the value,
even if it is zero".

This change caused the problem and symptoms.

The fix: first correct/retore the logic in ' xaccAccountGetTaxUSCopyNumber'
and ' xaccAccountGetTaxUSCopyNumber'. Second, if any of our users have used
'Edit->Tax Report Options' to modify their tax code assignments for
releases since Oct 17, 2024, they may have data files with 'copy number'
KVPs with zeros and inaccurate US Income Tax Reports/TXF Exports. We need
to figure out how to clean up their data files.

The first correction (I implemented this first in 2009, so not sure of
current syntax, thus need your feedback):

for ' xaccAccountGetTaxUSCopyNumber'

-    return copy_number ? *copy_number : 1;
+   return (copy_number == 0) ? 1 : copy_number;

for 'xaccAccountSetTaxUSCopyNumber'

-   set_kvp_int64_path (acc, {"tax-US", "copy-number"}, copy_number);
+  if (copy_number != 0)
+      {
+          set_kvp_int64_path (acc, {"tax-US", "copy-number"}, copy_number);
+      }
+  else
+     {
+         Get rid of KVP {"tax-US", "copy-number"}); <- how do I do this
now!
+     }

For the second correction (clean up users data files), I was thinking to
add logic to 'xaccAccountGetTaxUSCopyNumber' that would, if it gets a zero
value, delete the  KVP, so it would look like this:

gint64
xaccAccountGetTaxUSCopyNumber (const Account *acc)
{
    auto copy_number = get_kvp_int64_path (acc, {"tax-US", "copy-number"});
    if  (copy_number == 0)
       {
             Get rid of KVP {"tax-US", "copy-number"}); <- how do I do this
now!
             return 1;
       }
     return copy_number;
 }

Since 'xaccAccountGetTaxUSCopyNumber' is basically used in only three
places ('Edit->Tax Report Options', the 'Tax Info' column of the Accounts
tab, and the 'US Tax Report"), the problem would simply be cleaned up by
being called through normal activity (looking at the data or running a
report).

Feedback welcome,

Alex
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