topic How do I get to my prior year tax return online without buying this year's software? in After you file

How do I get to my prior year tax return online without buying this year's software?

RiskCount — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:53:25 GMT

Re: How do I get to my prior year tax return online without buying this year's software?

xmasbaby0 — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 21:46:05 GMT

You do not have to "buy" 2023 software, but you have to start a 2023 return and enter enough to get the menu to open up and give you access to old returns. You are not obligated to finish the 2023 return or pay for it.

You have to access your own account and/or print it for yourself using exactly the same account and user ID that you used when you prepared the return.

Start a 2023 return online and enter some personal information so that the menu on the left opens up and lets you access your past year returns.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/prior-year-return/help/how-do-i-access-my-prior-year-return/01/27010

Many people have multiple TT accounts and forget how to access them. Log out of the account you are in now.

Account Recovery

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901535-forgot-your-turbotax-online-user-id-or-password

Or did you use the desktop version of TurboTax? If so, the files are on your own hard drive or any backup device you used like a flash drive.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901486-how-many-turbotax-accounts-do-i-have

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901659-find-your-tax-data-file-in-mac

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900721-find-your-tax-data-file-tax-file-in-windows

You can get a free transcript from the IRS or for a fee of $43, an actual copy of your tax return.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506.pdf

Re: How do I get to my prior year tax return online without buying this year's software?

DoninGA — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 21:46:29 GMT

You do not have to purchase or file your 2023 tax return using the online editions. You only need to enter some personal information on the 2023 return so that you can access prior year returns.

To access your prior year online tax returns sign onto the TurboTax website with the User ID you used to create the account - https://myturbotax.intuit.com/

Start the 2023 online tax return by entering some personal information then click on Tax Home on the left side of the screen.

On the Tax Home webpage -

Scroll down to the section Your tax returns & documents. Click on the Year and Click on Download/print return (PDF)

If you used the desktop CD/Download editions installed on your computer, the only copy of your tax data file and any PDF's will be on the computer where the return was created. TurboTax does not store online any returns completed using the desktop editions.