Do I have any recourse against TurboTax if the IRS sends me a notice saying there was a miscalculation?

[pearijr]

The IRS sent me a notice that I owed $51 on my Federal return.

[Critter-3]

ONLY if TT made the error  ...  

What is the TurboTax 100% Accurate Calculation Guarantee?

In plain English, if you pay an IRS or state penalty or interest because of a TurboTax calculation error, we'll pay you the penalty and interest.

For complete details, see our Intuit Software End User License Agreement (look about 2/3 of the way down the page, under the heading TurboTax Accurate Calculation Guarantee).

You can read the fine print at the Intuit Software End User License Agreement for TurboTax Desktop Software or the End User License Agreement for TurboTax Online. Enter accurate calculation in the Find feature in your browser (usually listed under Edit) to go to it quickly.

Related Information:

• I got a letter or notice from the IRS
• How do I submit a claim under the TurboTax 100% Accurate Calculation Guarantee or 100% Accurate, Exp...
• What documents do I need to submit a claim under the TurboTax 100% Accurate Calculation Guarantee?
• What is the TurboTax Audit Support Guarantee?

What's the difference between the Audit Support Guarantee and Audit Defense?

[Mike9241]

if it is a Turbotax error your only recourse is for any penalties and interest.  Since you would have been responsible for any additional income taxes in the first place, that's your responsibility.

[fanfare]

Your IRS letter tells you how to dispute or appeal the IRS finding.

[NCperson]

@pearijr - please read that guarentee carefully - yes, if there is a calculation error, TT will pay the penalties and interest (but not the tax itself). 

HOWEVER, if you entered a number incorrectly and TT used that number to calculate the answer, that is NOT a calculation error.  That is an 'input' error and not covered by the guarentee. 

[fanfare]

@pearijr 

I misread your original post.

TurboTax fine print makes it almost impossible to collect on their guarantee.

[pearijr]

The interest/penalty was only about 15 cents.  I'm not worried about that.  The principal amount that the IRS claimed I owed was about $50.  So, I'm questioning TurboTax's liability to a customer when there's a miscalculation like that.

[Critter-3]

The guarantee only covers penalty/interest shown on the first IRS letter not the actual tax which you would have owed anyway. 

[pearijr]

But, my point is that, if TurboTax led me astray somehow by having me input incorrect numbers, wouldn't they be the ones to cover the amount owed?