After filling out all tax return myself, Will turbo tax live sign my return after the review? Or I have to upgrade it to full service?

[kkurni]

Last year, there is no full service, so with the live product, I can ask the reviewer to sign my tax return.

But now it seems I have to add $100 more to get the full service version so that the reviewer can sign my tax?

I feel better to have CPA signed my tax. But I also want to understand and have more control over it all myself. So I want to fill it out first.

However in full service, the additional cost, is to ask the preparer to fill it out for me, So I hope the live version itself can also sign my return after I fill this all myself with no additional cost.

[fanfare]

The taxpayer must sign.

When you e-File, you are presumed to have signed your tax return.

[xmasbaby0]

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/choosing-a-product/help/what-is-full-service-by-turbotax-live/00/2...

[Opus 17]

The full-service product is new this year and the volunteers in this forum have not necessarily been informed of all the changes. In previous years, the CPA in the live assist product was not supposed to sign your return as a preparer. In some cases, the assistance was so significant that the live assistant was required to take responsibility, although this was not how the service was originally intended.  I suspect that is why the full service product was created. I suspect that if you enroll in the live assist product and the assistance required is so significant that the preparer must take over, you will be required to upgrade to full service. You always sign your own return as well, regardless of whether you use any kind of paid preparer. (When you e-file, the signature is  electronic.)

No one is required to use the live assist or the full-service version. TurboTax is designed so that most taxpayers should be able to use the product without assistance. You may prefer additional assistance but it is never required.

[kkurni]

So what does it mean by "line by line review" that is offered by the standard live product?

If turbotax preparer just review and does not sign it means there is no accountablity and people call this ghost preparer.

Here is for reference

https://www.ctec.org/taxpayers/did-your-tax-preparer-sign

Tax preparers who charge a fee to do your taxes, but never sign your tax return are breaking the law. No signature? Means no accountability. No proof of existence. 

Hiring a tax preparer (often referred to as "ghost tax preparers") will increase your chances for tax fraud, penalties and additional taxes.

[Opus 17]

I am not a legal expert and can’t answer that question.  You can review the terms of service for yourself.  

• TurboTax Help and Support: Access to a TurboTax specialist is included with TurboTax Deluxe, Premier, Self-Employed, TurboTax Live, and TurboTax Live Full Service; not included with Free Edition (but is available as an upgrade). TurboTax specialists are available to provide general customer help and support using the TurboTax product. SmartLook on-screen help is available on a PC, laptop or the TurboTax mobile app. Service, area of expertise, experience levels, wait times, hours of operation and availability vary, and are subject to restriction and change without notice.
  
  
• Tax Advice, Expert Review and TurboTax Live:Access to tax advice and Expert Review (the ability to have a Tax Expert review and/or sign your tax return) is included with TurboTax Live or as an upgrade from another version, and available through December 31, 2021. These services are provided only by tax experts or CPAs. Some tax topics or situations may not be included as part of this service, which shall be determined in the tax expert’s sole discretion. For TurboTax Live , if your return requires a significant level of tax advice or actual preparation, the tax expert may be required to sign as the preparer at which point they will assume primary responsibility for the preparation of your return. For the Full Service product, the tax expert will sign your return as preparer. On-screen help is available on a desktop, laptop or the TurboTax mobile app. Unlimited access to tax experts or CPAs refers to an unlimited quantity of contacts available to each customer, but does not refer to hours of operation or service coverage. Service, area of expertise, experience levels, wait times, hours of operation and availability vary, and are subject to restriction and change without notice.
  
  
• TurboTax Live Full Service – Qualification for Offer: Depending on your tax situation, you may be asked to answer additional questions to determine your qualification for the Full Service offer. Certain tax situations do not qualify for the Full Service offering. These situations may include but are not limited to multiple sources of business income, large amounts of cryptocurrency transactions, taxable foreign assets and/or significant foreign investment income. Offer details subject to change at any time without notice. Intuit, in its sole discretion and at any time, may determine that certain tax topics, forms and/or situations are not included as part of TurboTax Live Full Service. Intuit reserves the right to refuse to prepare a tax return for any reason in its sole discretion. See Terms of Service for details.

And there is more here. 

https://turbotax.intuit.com/corp/license/online/

[kkurni]

This line is scary "For TurboTax Live , if your return requires a significant level of tax advice or actual preparation, the tax expert may be required to sign as the preparer at which point they will assume primary responsibility for the preparation of your return."

Why does it mentioned "if your return requires a significant level" and "the tax expert may be required to sign"?

Can I always ask the tax expert to sign my return for accountability regardless whether it is required or not?
(Without upgrading to full service, because I already fill this out myself)

Otherwise, there will be no use for the line by line review because there is no accountability.

[wpoveromo]

So completed everything on my own and even paid the ~$200 so I could get a copy of the return / pdf (I did NOT actually file) to review. 

I did not file with TurboTax last year and after speaking with my CPA who did it last year, noticed several items I need to carry over. 

I logged on and upgraded to Full Service however not it seems all of my data has been erased. Where is all of my filing?

[DanielV01]

Please see the following link to contact your expert and get the assistance you need:  How to contact my Full Service expert?