TurboTax

As my mother used to say many years ago, I'm so mad I could spit nails! I bought TurboTax online from Amazon.com. Installed it and proceeded along my merry way filling in blanks, inserting numbers and the usual drill. It's not on my hard drive so I have to access turbotax.com and use authentication each time, which is a bit of a hassle, but such is life. But then, well along in the process it suddenly tells me that "Good news! Since you had no income, you don't owe any tax." What?!

I banged my head against the desk a few times -- with luck, the crease will no longer be visible within a few days -- and started over. Again, filling in the same %#$ numbers I already filled in. Then I get towards the end of the federal return and TurboTax informs me that, since I'm using the free version, I'll need to pay $60 to file or print my federal return. Free version? You mean the one I paid Bezos for?

Phone calls to Intuit prove useless. I can't talk to a person, and the AI person gives me hundreds of useless articles that don't apply to my situation.

I think I've come to the realization that I will have to pay twice for TurboTax this year and attempt to get my credit card to charge the $60 back. Having used TurboTax for many years, I think I'm done.

i'm poor so i just do the 1040ez. I pay nothing to file fed or state. I've been using cash app for the last 5 years or so and it's free to file.

I purposely purchased the download version and have received at least 5 emails from Intuit asking my why I did not want to use the online version and making me offers to switch to it - all of which I have declined.

Llarry wrote

As my mother used to say many years ago, I'm so mad I could spit nails! I bought TurboTax online from Amazon.com. Installed it and proceeded along my merry way filling in blanks, inserting numbers and the usual drill. It's not on my hard drive so I have to access turbotax.com and use authentication each time, which is a bit of a hassle, but such is life.

You picked a wrong product for your circumstances - online shit is just that - shit.
I have been using TurboTax installed on my hard drive for about a decade, and see absolutely zero upside in uploading my tax information into someone's cloud. Or having to sign into that crap each and every time!

Llarry wrote

I think I've come to the realization that I will have to pay twice for TurboTax this year and attempt to get my credit card to charge the $60 back. Having used TurboTax for many years, I think I'm done.

Step 1: Dispute the $60 charge for broken online crap.
Step 2: Download proper computer program, TurboTax or otherwise.

Keep it simple, and stop uploading your private financial information into someone's server for no good reason!

HTH,
a

I think the issue lies in why would you buy TurboTax from Amazon, only to use their website where you can do the same exact thing.

Last time I used Turbo Tax, you start filling stuff out and only then once your ready to file you pay for whatever level you want/need.

Wifey has always used the downloaded version. But this year it was semi-online and she was just as frustrated. She wanted to save federal and state as PDFs, but it appeared you couldn't do that before paying that $60 filing fee despite the fact that she wasn't using a free version. She finally figured it out and we didn't have to pay to file federal. State was another story. IL has always charged a *ridiculous* fee to file online, despite that fact that it must save the state money. She usually prints out the state taxes and mails them in with a check (we always owe just a bit). But this year we owed several hundred. I'm not sure why, but Wifey was ok with it. We just bit the bullet and paid the fee to file online.

I always buy Turbotax from Costco online...good price and they email you the download link within minutes.

My poor computer is so old that Windows update to 11 will not work, even though theoretically it conforms to the requirements. TT now requires windows 11. Since I refuse to use their online version (I see now, that's a wise choice) I had to buy a new computer.

Where are my tax savings now?

It’s a little hard to follow your explanation of what you did, and I have no experience with buying Turbotax and then only using it online.

I have the 2025 license, purchased through Amazon, and have had no issues with running it from my PC. Amazon provides a license link in your Amazon account (in the software area) and that is used to validate your license and make the installation, which also gets you five free federal e-files. State e-file is extra.

Intuit also wants you to establish an intuit account and then register your TurboTax license in that account. Then you can validate your license at any time by logging into Intuit.

LuvMyE92 wrote

My poor computer is so old that Windows update to 11 will not work, even though theoretically it conforms to the requirements. TT now requires windows 11. Since I refuse to use their online version (I see now, that's a wise choice) I had to buy a new computer.

Where are my tax savings now?

This was my situation, except it made this life long turbotax customer switch to H&R block software. Well done, Intuit!

LuvMyE92 wrote

My poor computer is so old that Windows update to 11 will not work, even though theoretically it conforms to the requirements. TT now requires windows 11. Since I refuse to use their online version (I see now, that's a wise choice) I had to buy a new computer.

Where are my tax savings now?

You could have "rented" a Windows 11 virtual desktop computer to run the downloaded TurboTax, and probably written off the "rental" as an expense.....

Honestly - I use Intuit products for my business, and have most of my clients on them as well (I'm an accountant). I use Profile (tax) and Quickbooks (both desktop and online version).

They have really pissed me off this year - the desktop version of QB is so bloody expensive at roughly $1,600 or so per user with no real discount for the fact that I'm out there drumming up business for them and recommending new clients switch to QB. Thing is, there really isn't any software out there that I'd recommend over it, so I'm stuck. But when someone develops a better mousetrap, then screw Intuit.

And Profile - holy crap what a smoking pile of garbage that is. Crashes on me daily, they have been having trouble with uploads to the CRA, constantly needing an update, just a mess. And to have the pleasure of dealing with this garbage I get to pay something close to $4K. I think I've finally reached my limit this year (though I say that every year about Profile now for the past three years) and will switch over to TaxPrep.

Maybe that will be no better, but I think it might be worth trying at this point.

Watching The World Burn wrote

But when someone develops a better mousetrap, then screw Intuit.

"Where many people see problems, smart people see business opportunities."

-Old Ferengi proverb

LuvMyE92 wrote

My poor computer is so old that Windows update to 11 will not work, even though theoretically it conforms to the requirements. TT now requires windows 11. Since I refuse to use their online version (I see now, that's a wise choice) I had to buy a new computer.

Where are my tax savings now?

Now I remember, that's why Wifey went with the online version. Her PC is still Windows 10.

M_Six wrote

Now I remember, that's why Wifey went with the online version. Her PC is still Windows 10.

What do those of us that are Windows-free do if we don't want to use the cloud version?????

vreihen16 wrote

What do those of us that are Windows-free do if we don't want to use the cloud version?????

vreihen16 wrote

"Where many people see problems, smart people see business opportunities."

-Old Ferengi proverb

"Intelligent people know what they don't know and invest their time accordingly."
- Watching the World Burn

I’ve been using TT since it came on diskettes - about 30 years!
The last few years I’ve noticed steady quality erosion.

First they couldn’t get the sale of home stuff working properly, and you had to do a work around.
Last year there were a lot of delayed forms, which made early filing hard.
This year I wanted to do year end planning, maybe take a distribution from the IRA, or sell some stock. But nothing was working before year-end and the 2024 stuff was useless because of the BBB tax changes.

There are long threads in the TT community about this. There is a theory that TT is driving people to their on-line products by making the desktop versions less useable.

I had to estimate and missed some opportunities as a result, in effect paying more tax than necessary. My taxes are filed and I’m done, but I may be done with TT as well. I’ll be shopping starting next Fall, but I’m strict about not sending tax info to the cloud so I don’t know what I’ll be able to do. Maybe go back to the good old days (paper forms, hand filled in!).

I got tired of the same bs years ago with TT and HR Block trying to do taxes online.
No more, I have a CPA that does my taxes and I don't lay awake or cuss at my computer anymore because of the issues.

Walk in, sit down, taxes done, review estimates for the next year, write a check and off we go, Priceless............

SpeedBuggy wrote

I got tired of the same bs years ago with TT and HR Block trying to do taxes online.
No more, I have a CPA that does my taxes and I don't lay awake or cuss at my computer anymore because of the issues.

Walk in, sit down, taxes done, review estimates for the next year, write a check and off we go, Priceless............

Same here.

I have relied upon a professional tax preparer for years.

My taxes have been and still are fairly uncomplicated. So I don't even have to sit down. Just drop off the 1099s just after the 1st of February and a few weeks later get a call taxes are done.

Previously after April 15 -- like the 16th or 17th -- I show up with current year's estimated income and get my estimated taxes done. This year my tax preparer had my 2026 estimated taxes calculated when I went to pick up my 2025 taxes.

Paid the $175 fee and done.

At home printed 4 envelops for use for federal estimated tax payments and 4 envelops for use for state estimated tax payments. Have reminders to get the estimated tax payments in the mail 2 weeks before they are due.

RockCrusher wrote

Same here.

I have relied upon a professional tax preparer for years.

My taxes have been and still are fairly uncomplicated. So I don't even have to sit down. Just drop off the 1099s just after the 1st of February and a few weeks later get a call taxes are done.

Previously after April 15 -- like the 16th or 17th -- I show up with current year's estimated income and get my estimated taxes done. This year my tax preparer had my 2026 estimated taxes calculated when I went to pick up my 2025 taxes.

Paid the $175 fee and done.

At home printed 4 envelops for use for federal estimated tax payments and 4 envelops for use for state estimated tax payments. Have reminders to get the estimated tax payments in the mail 2 weeks before they are due.

You can pay estimated taxes online at IRS.gov. Set them up in advance and they will pay on the date you designate.

2000cs wrote

You can pay estimated taxes online at IRS.gov. Set them up in advance and they will pay on the date you designate.

I have this task on my list of things to do. But I'm so chuffed with my printing envelops with the right addresses in the right places I hate to not use them.