How can I open a .TAX file saved in a previous version of turbo tax?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 19, 2021
1 reply
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I have three tax years returns not saved as a .pdf but rather as .TAX files that were created with Turbo Tax. The years are 2000 to 2003. How can these files be converted to .pdf if I don't have the TT disc?

TurboTax Premier Online

Best answer by VolvoGirl

@cclayton53 You could try the TaxPrinter service to convert a .tax file to pdf at
https://www.taxprinter.com

They might be expensive and it is probably not safe to email tax returns back and forth. They are not related to Turbo Tax. I don't know if they can do State.

cclayton53

Level 2

I have the same question for tax year 2003. You'd think TurboTax would offer at least some kind of free viewing plug-in for all years. Microsoft does for all their Office programs even if you never bought an Office program.

ChondelLO

Level 12

Please visit the TurboTax Help article below for information on how to open a .tax file.

How do I open my tax return in the TurboTax softwa...

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iltt01

Level 2

If I understand the answers, then the current version of turbotax only opens the current year tax file. If I try to use the current version of turbotax to open a previous year tax, then all I get is the option to import that previous year tax into the current year tax. If this is the case, then this is no good at all. I have a new computer with only the current version of turbotax 2021, but I have several years' worth of turbotax tax files in storage that I need to access. Does it mean that if I want to open the 2020 turbotax file then I have to install the year 2020 turbotax program? And so forth for each previous year?

Clearly turbotax 2021 is capable of recognizing the file as a turbotax file 2020, why couldn't it just open it? To make thing more interesting now the 2020 file has the file type associated with the 2021 exe, so if you double-click on the file, it just goes back to the same display.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, and maybe it is time to check another tax program to see if they have a different approach.

Ivan Lozada, [email address removed]