Beyond aggravated with TT tech support

[Stevecoh1]

I’m beyond aggravated with the wretched quality of Turbo Tax Tech Support as a 30-year user of the product. I present an issue that is clearly a bug in the Arizona state product (for which I paid $40, thank you very much, Intuit), spend hours on the phone with nice people who haven’t the foggiest idea what I’m trying to tell them, then get emails falsely asserting that my issue has been resolved but pleasantly inviting me to get back in touch if that is not the case. They KNOW they haven’t resolved the issue but Intuit makes them send these messages anyway which amount to word-salad showing no understanding of the problem. And these messages cannot be replied to.

I moved last year from Illinois to Arizona, with income from both places, mostly retirement income (investments a net loss resulting in a big refund from the Feds which I can’t get until I solve this issue or abandon TurboTax).

the problem is that Arizona has a form 309 for dividing income on your federal form 1040 between Arizona and another state. It has a worksheet for dividing this income but that worksheet only has three lines. Arizona instructions say that in the event you have more than 3, include a second worksheet. But there is no way to do that in Turbo Tax. Between my wife and myself, we have 3 pensions 1098s and 2 Social Security 1099s, a total of 5. The product absolutely won’t let you enter more than 3 - either in the “step-by-step” or “forms” process.

in order to file my taxes I must either somehow combine these so it fits on the form or file a paper return after paying $40 for your Arizona product.

After an hour on the phone with friendly but useless Level 1 support, I was allowed to speak with a Level 2 person who immediately understood the issue, agreed with me that it was a flaw in the product and that I would be better off filing a paper Arizona return, said she would report it but none of her analysis made it into the “your situation is resolved” email.

since the Arizona product appears broken with no opportunity of getting a fix, I would like my money back and will abandon Turbo Tax in the future.

Do I sound like a grumpy old retired software engineer who knows how a real defect-tracking system works? That’s what I am! And Intuit’s tech support system stinks. It assumes that every question reflects user confusion and that flaws in the product aren’t possible.

Or maybe someone reading this has an answer?

[Stevecoh1]

Typo. I meant 1099s, not 1098s.

[ErnieS0 · Accepted solution]

There is no flaw in TurboTax. Arizona Form 309, Credit for Taxes Paid to Another State or Country, only includes three columns, so TurboTax includes three columns so TurboTax allows for three entries. TurboTax CD/Download allows you to enter additional income items as a statement.

The Form 309 instructions state:

Complete lines 1 through 5 separately for each income item listed in columns (a) through (c). If you have more than three items of income from the other state or country for which you are claiming the credit, complete additional schedules.

If you are using TurboTax Online, you can enter “See Statement” in the third entry, attach a statement and mail in your return.

TurboTax CD/Download allows you to add unlimited entries.

1. Tap Forms in the top right corner
2. In the left column, Forms in My Return, click on Form 309
3. After your third entry, click on the “+” sign to open Supporting Details and add your additional income items

[Stevecoh1]

thanks, ErnieS0, this seems like the answer I was looking for. I had looked at the Arizona official instructions and saw the bit about adding another schedule, but didn't know how to do it in TurboTax.  That "+" functionality you describe looks like the missing piece of the puzzle.  Too bad that two hours on Tech Support telephone failed to yield this solution.  So, glad I came here for answers instead.

However, now I have another problem.  I can't get the @#$%^& update installed.  I keep getting Microsoft Error 1603 and the program won't run without the latest update.  Instructions say to turn off antivirus. I try to do that yet the system won't allow me to do that, even though it says I have admin access.  Grrrrr!

Any ideas what to do about this?  The only thing I can think of is uninstall/reinstall, but I'm not sure I won't have the same issue again.

[Stevecoh1]

Having solved the update issue, I now can verify ErnieSO's solution to the AZ-Form309 issue

Memo to Intuit: please acquaint your support staff with this (+) feature.  Would have saved much time and aggravation had they known what Ernie knew.