Feedback - Taxes for minor dependents

[jsb717]

I have a suggestion: a TurboTax online membership should include tax preparation for all dependents with no extra cost. 

Because of a family trust, my kids (all under 18) need to file taxes. Because of that, I only use the desktop version of TurboTax, to avoid paying separately to prepare their returns.

If I were to do all of ours using the online version (which seems better, IMO), I would need to pay for each separately. Because they receive K-1s, it’d be the most expensive version for them.

[Opus 17]

Each online account can only file one return, and each online account incurs separate fees.  I doubt Turbotax will  decide to give $400 of free services to you because you pay for one tax return.  You are one of the types of users that the Desktop program is designed form.  The desktop program is generally more powerful and more capable, the only thing you don't get with the desktop program is cloud storage of your tax return.

If your children's income is less than $36,000, they can use the IRS Freefile program, which prepares even complicated returns for free, as long as the taxpayer is below the income limit.  However, Turbotax no longer participates in IRS FreeFile.  Turbotax online is going to charge you a separate free at the Premier level for each return with a K-1.  You are much better off with the desktop program. 

[NCperson]

@jsb717 - so I am curious, why is Online better than Desktop? I've used Desktop for my family for over 25 years and based on the price differential for the Online version have simply stuck with Desktop.  

While I appreciate your argument, I do suspect that the Online service has a higher ROI for Intuit (since each tax return is priced separately and there is no opportunity to complete multiple tax returns as there is with the Desktop).  Intuit is probably motivated to move more folks to Online and continue their pricing strategy.  Discounting in any way just doesn't seem logical unless they want to get to the point of eliminating the desktop product.

[SweetieJean]

Online works best for those who are new to taxes.  It can also be accessed from anywhere with internet service, and one does not have to worry about losing data stored on a desktop during a computer crash.

[Critter-3]

The IRS has eight completely freeFile options if your AGI is 73,000 or less. To access the IRS free file service you must wait until mid January for the option to be functional and you must log into it through the IRS website. This way all those kids can still file for free without using up your 5 E files on your download a program Or paying an extra fee for each state that needs to be filed.

[NCperson]

<<one does not have to worry about losing data stored on a desktop during a computer crash.>>

risk mitigated by having a backup service - 

[Opus 17]

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@SweetieJean wrote:

Online works best for those who are new to taxes.  It can also be accessed from anywhere with internet service, and one does not have to worry about losing data stored on a desktop during a computer crash.

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Cloud storage means "someone else's hard drive", and you are at their mercy.

Three examples:

1. When Amazon canceled the accounts of some 30 or so shoppers who were found to have engaged in review farming, this also canceled and deleted all their legitimate electronic media purchases (movies, books, music) without backup, refund or recourse.

2. When Apple Music was first launched, it would search subscribers' computers to see what music they had, back it up to the cloud, then delete it from their computers to save local storage space.  However, some customers found that rare tracks, demos, and alternate versions were replaced with the "official" version without their permission, and some members had their own original compositions deleted and replaced with commercial tracks with similar names.

3. If you file online with a paid version of Turbotax online, it used to be that your tax return was only freely downloadable for 2 years.  After that, you had to either pay for access, either by continuing to use a paid version of Turbotax, or by paying an access fee.   I don't know if that behavior has been changed or not. 

Cloud storage is someone else's hard drive, and that someone may not have your best interests in mind.

[NCperson]

@Opus 17 - what I was referencing was backup services such as DropBox or Carbonite..... there is always the option to have a backup removable drive in your house, but the risk is fire, etc. and there is no offsite backup remaining. 

[Opus 17]

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@NCperson wrote:

@Opus 17 - what I was referencing was backup services such as DropBox or Carbonite..... there is always the option to have a backup removable drive in your house, but the risk is fire, etc. and there is no offsite backup remaining. 

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True, but even then you are relying on them to follow their TOS, to be secure, and so on.  (I keep a physical backup at my office and rotate it occasionally and I have a physical backup of my office computer at home, even though my work product is theoretically backed up off-site.)

Another true story: My former employer had a shared server farm that most offices used for backup (as well as project sharing) and the shared server was supposed to be backed up every night.  When the server crashed one time, they found that the backup was corrupted--all the files were present, but the index was corrupted, so every file (millions) was recovered to a single folder with no hierarchy, no idea of ownership, no permissions (everyone could see everything) etc.