@DoninGA wrote:
There is no need to upgrade or pay for your 2020 online tax return to amend a prior year tax return.
Unfortunately, that's not exactly true.
If you filed using Turbotax Online for 2017 using the Free version, your tax data file was locked after October 20, 2018. If you filed using a paid version of Turbotax Online, your file is unlocked as long as you keep using a paid version, and is locked on October 20 of the year after you last used the paid version.
What that means is that, if you filed using the free version in 2017, or you used a paid version in 2017 or 2018 but used the free version or a different company in 2019, then you must indeed pay now to unlock your 2017 data file.
So, to amend a 2017 return you need two things.
a. You must download and install Turbotax for 2017 on your own computer. If you use a PC, there is a free amend-only version of the program you can can download. If you use a Mac, there is a special procedure you can go through to get a download.
b. You must have a copy of your 2017 tax data file. If you saved it when you filed in 2018, then it is already on your computer and you don't need to pay anything. However, if you did not save a copy of the 2017 data file and it is now locked for the reason I describe above, then you do indeed need to pay for the 2020 online program in order to unlock the 2017 data file. "Plus" is the cheapest online version, but you could pay for Deluxe, or Premier, or Self-Employed, if you know you will need those situations. (You can also pay for Plus now, and then pay for further upgrades if and when you need them.)
