Sometimes you get what you pay for. IMO, nothing should be offered 'for free'. Here's my take for those who use 'free' online tax preparation...and then complain when they run into issues.
I do not 'choose' to be a slave to the internet, subscription plans or 'cloud storage' for the rest of my life, and especially not for tax return preparation. I want to be independent whenever I'm trying to get something REAL done that isn't fancy (I'm not a gamer or a streaming content addict).
Call me old-school...when I finally decide to retire from 'living' online, I think I'll choose to have NO internet service and pull out my old Fujitsu Windows XP laptop again to work on any documents! (I still have MS Office software on CD for that one - and solar panels with battery backup to keep basic home power (lights, fridge) on during outages)
I'm happy to have filed both my Fed and CA returns today without any serious issues - but let me WARN you to e-file your Federal 1040 BY ITSELF and make sure it's been accepted BEFORE you PAY $$ to e-file your State return (because you will most likely have to pay TurboTax's e-file fee up front, and if it fails to go through you could be stuck). I never got a refund from TT after this happened to me and I had ended up filing by mail! (this is inexcusable, especially since I'd used the Premier version previously)
