OK, yes, I pointed that out: Turbotax does not provide any PTIN entry field.
It is NOT illegal for any professional to use Turbotax. That is patently false. Professionals use Turbotax every day. There is no prohibition against it whatsoever, and the printed copy of your return when you print it out has the preparer line in it, which the preparer signs and hands to their customer as is the law.
Just because a system is configured a certain way in order to help Intuit channel profits & recoup the money it pays out in lobbying efforts, does not mean that it is illegal for professionals to use the least expensive methods available to benefit their clients. There is no codified law whatsoever that prevents any professional from utilizing Turbotax. Not anywhere.
Even with all that being said, there is actually no law nor IRS regulation that specifically prevents a private individual from e-filing more than 5 times in a year either. The IRS purposefully does not address that at all and nowhere in any IRS regulation is it expressly restrict any private citizen to e-file only 5 returns per year.
It can be a bit of a stretch to infer that such a restriction exists by citing the software provider restrictions, but noplace is anyone expressly prevented from doing so. With that gray area existing, it is best to simply get a PTIN in order to do that and be perfectly safe. Those restrictions exist only per-software package sold, period.
So buy another copy; get around whatever blocks Intuit themselves has placed in your way solely to make more money, and have at it, because no law or restrictions exists against buying another copy and e-filing to your heart's content.
