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Level 2

Question

Are Turbo Tax software purchases tax deductible? (2018, post-TCJA)

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 7, 2019
9 replies
3 views

I thought that TT was a deductible expense, but last year my husband did not seem to find a way to claim it. Just wondered if we missed some step that might make it work since we just laid out $81.44 for this year's software.

ItsDeductible Online

VolvoGirl

Level 15

You can deduct the Turbo Tax cost or any tax preparation fees you actually paid in on your tax return no matter what year it is for. But it is a Misc Deduction and only the amount OVER 2% of your AGI is deductible so it might not be worth putting it in. So if you paid $50 in fees your income would have to be less than $2,500 to be able to deduct any of it and then only a portion of it is deductible. And then the total of all your deductions has to be more than the standard deduction to give you any benefit.

olafsonsAuthor

Level 2

Thanks for this extra clarification. Very helpful!

stephanie38128

Level 2

macuser_22

Alumni - Champ

Wrong.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**

Carl

Level 11

If you purchased and paid for TurboTax 2018, in 2019, then if it qualifies it would be a deductible expense on your 2019 return. Remember, income & expenses are reported/taxable/deductible in the tax year the monetary transaction physically occured. It flat out does not matter what tax year the transaction may have been *for*.

But for most, since itemized deductions make absolutely no difference to your tax liability until the total of all of your itemzed deductions exceed your standard deducting, itemizing really makes no sense for more than 90% of your "typical" tax filers.

Gregor Lichtenberger

Level 2

'I am self-employed but turbo tax does not make it clear as to where I can deduct the cost to purchase the turbo tax product

AlanT222

Level 15

Self-employed taxpayers can still write off their tax prep fees as a business expense.

You would enter your preparation fees either as a professional expense, software expense, or in the other miscellaneous expense category.

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charjean47

Level 6

What about a person filing personal taxes but uses half of the software for several rental properties that are investments? If a person paid $100, could the person claim $50 as an office expense/software on Schedule E for rentals. Thanks

19ValenteDavid40

Level 2

Can I prepare multiple returns in one turbo tax?

DoninGA

Level 15

@19ValenteDavid40 wrote:

Can I prepare multiple returns in one turbo tax?

The TurboTax online editions can only be used for one tax return per account and User ID. For another tax return using the online editions you would have to create a new account with a New User ID. Up to 5 User ID's can be associated with one email address.

The TurboTax desktop CD/Download editions can be used for as many tax returns as needed.

noodad

Level 5

@DoninGA wrote:
@19ValenteDavid40 wrote:
Can I prepare multiple returns in one turbo tax?
The TurboTax online editions can only be used for one tax return per account and User ID. For another tax return using the online editions you would have to create a new account with a New User ID. Up to 5 User ID's can be associated with one email address.
The TurboTax desktop CD/Download editions can be used for as many tax returns as needed.

I know we're getting a bit off topic here -- but for situations where the multiple returns are for a married couple, still think this is a big miss for TurboTax. What would be useful is for the software (at least the download version but maybe the online version too) to allow to file both ways. That is, go through all of the interviews for both people, for federal plus whichever states are appropriate, and at the end TurboTax should be able to figure out whether it is more advantageous to the customer to file jointly or separately. Then if it turns out separate would be better, have TurboTax just submit both returns, without all the hassle of having to create another account and now have to re-enter all the information for one spouse all over again and go back and delete it from the first account. So, two objectives for this feature: (a) TurboTax advises whether joint or separate would be best, and (b) TurboTax doesn't make the customer have to do all that extra data entry for no reason

And even for other situations (besides married couples), it would be really nice, for those of us who file tax returns for other family members / significant others etc, to be able to just have one account and have multiple taxpayers on it. So there would be only one username and password to enter, only one set of contact information to put in, payment is handled all together, and maybe also TurboTax can give a little bit of a break on the fees to file for extra taxpayers rather than charging the full fee as they do now for each account.

Kn01b

Level 2

I've used turbo tax many yrs -- can't recall account #. Before buying 2020 version I want to ensure that I will receive same acct # as before. This will ensure that I'm able to import data from my 2019 Turbo tax return. Can you help me?

Thank You

NashayLO

Level 9

What account# are you looking for? In order to transfer your 2019 tax file to your 2020 TurboTax Software, you can click on Begin or Start a New Return, then the software will find your 2019 tax file, or you can click on Browse. Once you find your 2019 return, Click Transfer Return.

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perkylzd

Level 2

I agree ... there used to be a section that asked if you paid for tax preparation for the previous year. Then you could enter the amount you paid for either a preparer or a tax program. They didn't ask last year or this year (2021)

PattiF

Level 15

Unless you’re self-employed, tax preparation fees are no longer deductible in tax years 2018 through 2025 due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that Congress signed into law on December 22, 2017. Self-employed taxpayers can still write off their tax prep fees as a business expense.

Prior to 2018, taxpayers who weren’t self-employed were allowed to claim tax prep fees as a 2% miscellaneous deduction. However, few taxpayers were able to take advantage of this deduction due to the restrictive conditions of the 2% rule.

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qwikensite

Level 2

Software reads I can deduct the Business Portion of the Turbo Tax for 2021. I paid $120.00 how much is the Business Portion deduction?