Print .TAX2018 when CD is lost

[RuralIndiana]

I have used TurboTax for over 12 years now.  I am very happy with it.  This spring when I did my taxes my wife was in the hospital.  I bought a disk from Sam's Club and I actually did my taxes from my wife's hospital room on my laptop. 

Because of this I did not get a copy of our tax return printed.  I saved the .TAX2018 file on my hard drive and still have that.  But the CD I purchased is lost and I can't find it.

I now need tax return info for our health insurance renewal on the government website.

How do I print my tax return when I have the electronic file but not the CD I bought?

[bluedeb]

In order to open a .tax file you need to have the program installed on your computer.  Since you do not have the CD you can contact TurboTax. To get a replacement CD for TurboTax 2016–2018 software (or 2019 software beyond the 60-day replacement window), contact us for a downloadable copy. If you don't already have a download account with us, you'll need to set one up.

A tip is to also save your tax return as a PDF file, then you can open and print it in Adobe Reader

[DoninGA]

You had to install the 2018 TurboTax program on the laptop using the CD so that you could work on the 2018 tax return using the TurboTax software.  

Unless you deleted the 2018 TurboTax program from the laptop for some unknown reason, the program and the tax data file are available on the laptop.  Print the tax return using the TurboTax 2018 software in the File section.

[RuralIndiana]

Yes, I did delete the program.  There is no reason to keep 12 years worth of turbo tax programs on my computer.

Other than purchasing the program again, is there any other way I can print my returns?

[RuralIndiana]

I understand how to save my returns as a PDF.  I usually do that.  But my wife was in critical condition in the hospital, my mind was focused on other things.

I called and I was told the only way to print my returns was to pay all over again for another copy for $85 (which is double what I paid at Sam's Club) and then request a refund tomorrow hoping I can get the money back.  The person on the phone told me that is the only way to print my file.  Case # was 452278116 and my order # is QSTCA124891330.

After using TurboTax for 12 years, this is the first trouble I have run into.  Now I have to cross my fingers and hope I can get my $85 back for just printing something.  I was hoping Intuit would be more accommodating .  It does not encourage me to stay for next tax season.  This has been a frustrating experience.

[macuser_22]

@RuralIndiana - Nobody in this user-to-user forum can help you.  We are just other users like you.    Since you did not purchase the software from TurboTax, then TurboTax will have no records of the sale in order to replace lost software.   Perhaps if you have the Sam's Club receipt, the TurboTax support will replace it for you but I do not think they have any obligation to replace software purchase elsewhere, but you can try calling customer support.

Here is a TurboTax FAQ for contacting customer support.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899263-what-is-the-turbotax-phone-number

[macuser_22]

BTW: You should NEVER delete the software for at least 3 years after the filing date in case something comes up, the IRS audits you, or you need to amend for any reason. You must have the software installed AND the .tax file in order to amend.

(With Hard drive storage so cheep these days, there should be no reason to ever delete tax software - I have it going back to 2000 - It does not take that much space to archive.)

[RuralIndiana]

I will just talk to Intuit then.