@TurboLover2
No actually you’ve gotten a little lost in the other direction.
For state preparation, using the desktop program, you need to have a version that is marked “plus free state”. All desktop versions sold directly from Intuit as downloads include the free state, but some boxed versions sold at other retailers such as Amazon, Costco, or office supply stores, come in a “federal only” and a “federal plus state” box. The logic supposedly is that some states don’t have income tax and so a cheaper version is offered. In practical matters, the federal-only version is usually only a few dollars less, and it leads to accidents where people in states with income tax buy the wrong box, if the store stocks both versions, and then they have to buy the state module which is I believe $40.
For state e-filing, if you have a desktop copy that was sold as “includes one free state”, then state e-filing is still an extra $20 E-filing fee, although you can print your return and file for free by mail. In New York only, that state file e-filing free is not charged because of a provision in New York State law.
In addition, if you purchase the “includes one free state“ version and then have to buy additional state modules because you need to file in more than one state, then I believe the state e-filing fee is included in the cost of the second and third state modules. Although even I am not sure about that.
