"E-file my state return now" - no option offered to mail in state return

[user17719726928]

TurboTax *REALLY* wants me to e-file my Virginia state tax (and pay Intuit $25 for the privilege). "We recommend e-filing your state return!" The two options offered are "E-file my state return now" or "Do not e-file my state return now, I'll do it later." This year's product offers no option or assistance to file the state return by mail, even though it had been part of the product for decades. I despise and resent this kind of strong-arm upsell. It's disrespectful to customers, especially loyal long-term customers like me.

I'll refrain from further expressing my thoughts with vulgar words, but I'm certainly thinking them.

[Vanessa A]

You can still print and mail your return.  Select Do Not e-file my state return now, I'll do it later.  Then go to the print center and print your return.  Select all forms required for filing.  The state return will print with the same mailing instructions it did in previous years.

[user17719726928]

Thanks. I knew what I needed to do, but am pissed at Intuit for deliberately obfuscating the by-mail option in an attempt to trick/force people into e-filing.

Also pissed at Intuit for its intense lobbying of the administration to take away free filing options from taxpayers.

I've worked for for-profit corporations my entire career; I understand the desire to maximize profits. But when a company abuses its customer base to squeeze every possible nickel from them, they'll lose customers. Too many decision-makers fail to recognize where that line is drawn. Intuit unambiguously crossed that line this year.

Please pass this up the chain. Thanks.

[user17719726928]

Those instructions don't actually work! I selected "All official forms required for filing" and checked only my "2025 Virginia Tax Return." The filing instructions are "Electronic Filing Instructions;" it says "Do not mail a paper copy of your tax return. Since you file electronically, the Department of Taxation already has your return." And it doesn't give a mailing address. But I did not file my state return electronically.

This is seriously f***ed up.

[DoninGA]

@user17719726928 Are you using the desktop editions?  If so, and you want to mail the state tax return, click on File at the top of the desktop program screen. 

Click on File by Mail. 

On the next screen,

Federal - Do not print my Federal return to print by file now. 

State - Print my state return to file by mail now.

[user17719726928]

There is no "File by Mail" option under the File menu. Here's what I've got:

[user17719726928]

Following what USED TO BE the usual path to printing for file-by-mail, I get "e-file now" or "e-file later." If I choose "later" and click Continue, I get the following dead end. Screenshots:

This is a dead end here:

[user17719726928]

@DoninGA - if you mean "FILE" within the program (to the right of "Personal info," "Federal taxes," etc., there's no "File by mail" under there either. No path I've found through "File a return" offers a file-by-mail for my state taxes. 

[DoninGA]

@user17719726928 I was referring to the File tab at the top of the screen, to the right of Review.

[user17719726928]

I had a file-by-mail option for my Federal, but not for my State taxes. I e-filed my Federal, but I don't want to pay Intuit $25 for the privilege of e-filing my Virginia taxes.

I see now that I have to select "file by mail" on the Federal screen to get to the screen where I can prepare my State return for file-by-mail. I've never needed to do that before and it should be obvious to the program/UX designers that it is MASSIVELY counterintuitive. Since this was a change from previous TurboTax versions, I'd have to assume it was intentional and not from abject cluelessness, and designed to get people frustrated enough to pay the extra $25.

(I worked in high-tech for decades, and I would never have signed off or worked on anything that anti-customer.)