BEWARE - CHANGE OF POLICY - TT NO LONGER SUPPORTS CUSTOMERS

[lkesten]

As a loyal Turbo Tax customer of nearly 20 years, I need to warn fellow taxpayers about a concerning change that could affect your ability to defend an IRS audit. Without prior notification, Turbo Tax has implemented a policy limiting access to returns to only 3 years, despite the IRS's 7-year audit window. After two decades of trust in their service, I am appalled by this change and will never use their product again.

As a long-time customer who just discovered I cannot access my 4-year-old returns, I find this policy both problematic and potentially harmful to taxpayers. Consider these facts:

• The IRS can audit returns up to 7 years back
• Turbo Tax cuts off access after just 3 years
• No advance notice was given to customers about this change
• Many of us paid for the service assuming long-term access to our records
• Customers were not given an opportunity to download or save their historical returns before access was removed

This policy forces taxpayers to either maintain separate backup systems or risk being unable to reference their full tax history during an audit. For a service that markets itself as a complete tax solution, this feels like an abandonment of customer needs and a betrayal of long-term customers' trust.

I strongly encourage all Turbo Tax users to:

1. Download ALL your available returns immediately
2. Consider this policy when choosing your tax preparation service
3. Share this information with other taxpayers who need to know
4. Contact Turbo Tax directly to express your dissatisfaction with this policy

After 20 years of loyalty, I'm done with Turbo Tax. A company that shows such disregard for its customers' needs doesn't deserve our business. I urge all users to make your voices heard - only through collective action can we hope to see this harmful policy changed.

Has anyone else experienced this issue or found a solution for accessing older returns?

[M-MTax]

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@lkesten wrote:

• The IRS can audit returns up to 7 years back

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The typical applicable federal tax statute of limitations is three years after the due date for the return or the date on which the return is filed, whichever is later, with respect to audits.

The IRS audit window expands to six years but only if there is a “substantial understatement of income", which entails omitting 25% or more of your gross income or a basis overstatement that would have the same effect (seven years if you claim a loss from worthless securities or take a bad debt deduction).

Also, if you need to file an amended return for a tax year that was four years ago (or earlier), it's because you screwed up, not the tax software, and it's time for a tax professional at that point. The IRS may send you a bill but will rarely, if ever, require you to file an amended return that many tax years ago.

[DoninGA]

TurboTax retains online tax return for the past seven years, the same as the IRS.

You have to sign onto your online account using the exact same User ID you used to create the account.

[xmasbaby0]

 You have a misunderstanding.   If you use online TurboTax software, your returns are saved in your online account for seven years--- the same time period as the IRS.     If you use desktop software, your returns are saved on your own hard drive or any back up device you used like a flash drive.   You are responsible for saving those returns yourself if you use desktop software---they are not stored online.   You should always save both the tax file and a pdf of the return.   It is also a good idea to save hard copies for yourself.

Where you might be getting the "3 year" stuff is that when you use desktop software, the software is available and receives support and/or updates for three years.   After three years, the software is unavailable. So---right now, you could purchase and download software for 2021, 2022, 2023, or 2024, but you cannot purchase or download 2020 or any earlier year from Intuit.  

  If you save your returns and have pdf's, this should not be a problem for you.