The desktop program is completely separate from the online program. You will not log into the desktop program like you do the online program. But, you can use the online program to transfer your data to the desktop for this year.
Start with these steps (I included an article below for these steps) -
- Log into your online account you used for 2015 and "start" a 2016 return
- Use the transfer feature to transfer your 2015 data into your 2016 online return
- Now, you should have a 2016 return started online with all of your information from 2015
Follow the steps below to now move the 2016 online return to your desktop -
- Log into your TurboTax Online Account and select Take Me to My Return
- In the blue banner at the top, click on My Account and select Tools from the dropdown menu
- In the small box that populates, click on Save your 2016 return to your Computer (try to save to an easy-to-find location such as My Documents or Desktop)
- This will download a .tax2016 file to your computer - make note of where that file is saved to on your computer
- Sign out of TurboTax Online and, if you haven't done so already, install TurboTax 2016 CD/Download. Windows | Mac
- Important: If you Online return already contains one or more states, you must install those states in your desktop program also; otherwise, you will receive errors when you attempt to open your return
- Once installed, choose File > Open Tax Return.
- Browse to where you saved the .tax2016 file in step 3, select it, and then click Open.
- Choose File > Save.
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(Optional) Once you are satisfied that your online returns transferred over properly, you can clear your Online return. Note: This will remove your data online, so I would recommend waiting until you have at least filed your return before clearing any online data, but the choice is yours.
Now, you should have your 2016 return on your computer and can continue to use the desktop software program to finish your return. For next year, you can use the transfer feature inside the desktop program and will be able to skip all these steps.
