I feel VERY ripped off.

[cgamburd]

I did the free edition of turbotax with 1 W-2 form this year, thought i was getting free + $40 for direct deposit. Somehow something has changed and i got mistakenly upgraded to deluxe. After spending multiple hours talking to someone and their supervisor, everyone is telling me there is nothing that can be done at this moment, clarifying that nothing can be done in the future either. I am now waiting on a phone call from someone who CAN MAYBE rectify the situation. I highly doubt i will receive a phone call at this point.

I knew i would not have benefited from deluxe edition, as i only had a simple W-2 form to file this year. I am paying 80 dollars more than i should have, have an option that i did not ever pick, clicking no thanks to deluxe 10 times, deleted out my last year employers and such before filing, and somehow still wound up paying for something that i did not choose.

I am now considering going to my local news station about this and if i have to actually take turbotax to small claims court simply because they can't adjust the amount they are taking from my taxes (which they surely can but are actively trying to avoid).

I even had to apologize to the poor supervisor for wasting their time, who could clearly put themselves in my shoes and was very understanding, but they probably were not allowed to do anything about it.

Imagine buying something for 40 dollars and finding out you got charged 120 dollars and there's nothing you can do. Turbotax is actively ripping me off and i certainly won't be using them again next year. ANY other company could easily rectify this, including intuit, but they are apparently feeling above the law.

Not only did i get PESTERED with upgrading to deluxe every other page and clicking no, i got forced into paying for it anyways.

[tickedoff]

The same thing happened to me, only they managed to upgrade me to Premier for $70.  I, too, followed the prompts very carefully each time the window came up to upgrade and said "No thanks".  I wanted free file - we have a couple of W-2's, there was some investment stuff I had to enter but it was nothing that I needed help with, very simple stuff.  I tried to do an online chat to resolve this because I don't have time to be on hold forever and $70 isn't enough to chat with an agent.  If you want to chat, you have to upgrade even further.  I already got scammed for $70, I'm not paying another dime just to chat with an agent.  I'll just eat it, but I do plan to put it on blast on Twitter, and going forward, I'll go to H&R Block.  I think it's worth mentioning that I did my son's taxes the other day (he's 17, it was a summer job) and I filed his free with absolutely no issues.  I did ours the exact same way and for some reason his was free and they shoved Premier down my throat.

[cgamburd]

After 10 hours on the phone (me calling them) over multiple days with no callbacks from someone who can do something, they finally resolved the issue by sending me a check in the mail coming in 4-6 weeks.

[CDBrimley]

Good deal Mate! Glad to hear all worked out in the end.

[Critter]

FYI ... future reference ... if you qualify you should always use one of the IRS FREE FILE options that can be accessed ONLY thru the IRS site ... this year if your AGI was $69K or less then there was a free option for you to use ... 

https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free

[darthur200]

Turbo Tax used to be a good deal, paid maybe an extra $30 for them to transfer to state...if you wanted to, now, they charge as much as going to a pro and getting a minimal refund!! I'm done with them. Trying to force me to pay $40 for AND $40 for state AND (then they slip in very slickly now) $40 for the direct deposit! That is $160! The heck with you Turbotax! I'm glad I caught it, none of these are truly free anymore, again I did not mind an extra $30 or so to transfer and file state, this is outrageous! Because my old company made an error and carried an HSA into 2020 for the 1st check of the year, they said I HAVE to use the $40 versions for both Fed and state! 

[Cowens1662]

They did it to me Twice. 

I'm never using turbo tax again. 

Their ripping people off.

Sneaky 

Lying tax services 

[xmasbaby0]

@Cowens1662  

WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY?  I WANT THE FREE EDITION

The information that you can enter in Free Edition is pretty limited now.  Thanks to the new tax laws that began for 2018 returns, there are no more simple Form 1040EZ or 1040A's.  Everything goes on a Form 1040 that has three extra "schedules" with it, and if you need any of those schedules, you are not able to use the Free Edition.  Using the standard deduction instead of itemizing does NOT mean you will not need any of those schedules.https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4511011-what-happened-to-the-1040a-and-1040ez   If you started in the Free Edition and entered any data that required any of those three schedules, you have to upgrade to a paid version.   The Free Edition cannot be used for self-employment income, investment income, rental income or a student loan interest deduction,

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040 

If you qualify to use it, there is another full-featured free version of the software:

Try Free File: 

You qualify if your income was $39,000 or less, or $72,000 or less if active duty military, or if you qualify for Earned Income Credit

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program

• https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2026912-how-do-i-switch-to-turbotax-free-file-program

Note:  If you do not qualify to use Free File then you will have to upgrade to Deluxe or higher in the paid versions of the software.   

 Online Deluxe $40  State software $40

Or—-Use this IRS site for other ways to file for free

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/

If your TurboTax fees are higher than expected, you can reduce them by removing add-ons:

• Remove Premium Services
• Remove MAX Defend & Restore
• Remove a state
• Remove PLUS Help & Support
• Remove Pay With Your Refund

[AH82]

They charged my boyfriend $200 for live self employed support.  He is neither self employed nor did he use live services. When he called turbotax they said there was nothing they could do for him but they would give him a 15 day extension to make the payment. He is AW2 employee with one job why would he use live self employed services?? And if he did use them why can't Turbotax produce a transcript of the support he received?

[NCperson]

@AH82 - I guess what I don't understand, and maybe you could shed light on the situation, my understanding is there are confirmation boxes and clicks that the user has to perform to authorize these services.   

How could he be charged if he didn't click the boxes? (and I suspect you can't get past the screen with out clicking accept or not accept)  

[VolvoGirl]

And did he get a 1099NEC for something?  That might require the Self Employed version.  But he didn't need to add the LIVE Feature.  

[AH82]

@NCperson your assumption is wrong. He did not choose self employed or live support. 

[AH82]

He is a w2 employee with 1 job and the same job for 7 years. He did not choose these services or use them. 

[Affordabletaxes2021]

You said you had some investment stuff that you entered. That requires the upgrade right there. It’s not a w2 item that you entered therefore your return wasn’t qualified for the free edition. Look at your return to see the forms you used. 

[AH82]

I did not say that!