Goodbye Turbo Tax

[ryan64]

filed another year with turbo tax. Hidden fees all over. this time had to pay the $40 processing fee, add that to the $59 deluxe fee. I won't be using turbo tax again in the future. EVER. When I first began my taxes the screen shown me two options.. deluxe and one that cost even more, so I figured perhaps the free option is at the end. It was not.

Would be very nice to have ease of access, I mean even the $40 processing fee could have been avoided with a simple statement stating that paying with visa card there wouldn't be a fee, as it only applies to the choice of having it taken from the refund.

Feel like this whole website is built to take as much money from it's customers as possible.

Regardless if 3rd party involved.

Enjoy your profit from me this year, as it is the last you'll ever see (and just to think, I still have like 50 years of life left in me, you could have got much more business if you were had moral standards of conduct).

Have a nice day!

[taxlady28]

There are at least three screens where it tells you that there is a fee for using your return to pay.  I guess they need a bigger screen for people who cannot take time to read what they are agreeing to.

[Opus 17]

You only pay the $40 processing fee if you want your other fees deducted from your federal refund.  This is disclosed several times.  You don't have to have your fees deducted from your refund if you can pay the fees with a credit or debit card when you file.   

[ryan64]

they need to improve the way in which they convey their message. Their articulation rivals that of a 5th grader.

[bblyth]

Concur with your message 100%   Their filing fees and hidden "oh, by the way" fees, coupled with completely losing update control of their Business software finally made me draw the line after years with Intuit.  Next year, I will be looking at the competition for a more stable, reliable,  product with customer service in line with the product development, not a customer service team all over the map (i.e., State updates required for LLCs - only a couple customer service people knew about it... The rest made many go through this unload the versions process, reset the windows registry, etc, etc for no reason at all.  Tired of user acceptance testing of products via production customer use. That did not work 30 years ago, and certainly does not work today (although many software development houses today simply avoid the ole Development, Test, Production methods for a more expedited development, production, customer issues, fix/fix/fix/fix, production, fix again - rise and repeat until it works. Not for my $$...

[romad]

After having used TurboTax since it was called MacInTax, Intuit has forced me to stop using it. It started when I received an email informing me that Intuit was no longer include the CD option if I ordered through Intuit. I called and spoke with an Intuit representative about buying the CD in retail stores and was told that would continue. I next asked if there were any system requirement changes this year and was told told they were the same as last year. However, it turns out I was lied to as I received an email today telling me I would have to buy a new Macintosh computer as they would not support my current one.

I'm on a fixed income and can't afford to buy a new computer to replace a perfectly good one even though it won't run the current MacOS version. Also being retired and on a fixed income, I no longer itemize so I can't include the purchase of a suitable computer for the purpose of doing my taxes.

So I will have to check out H&R Block's software or go back to doing my taxes manually after 30 years of using MacInTax/TurboTax.

[VolvoGirl]

@romad     2024 Desktop System Requirements

TurboTax® Desktop 2023-2024 System Requirements

If you can’t install the Desktop program you can switch to the Online version.  Then you can transfer your prior year return from the Desktop program into the Online version.

[romad]

No, that version is an even bigger ripoff than the desktop version. First, they quote a price of $64 but that doesn't include the STATE return that IS included in the desktop version. Second, the $64 is the lure and the real price is hidden and not revealed until you want to file and the state return doubles the cost. Third, it is not secure because all your sensitive data is stored on Intuit's servers which are subject to being hacked and which allows Intuit to sell your data to others.

For ME to use it the following are REQUIRED:

1. Price no higher than the TurboTax Advantage price for TurboTax Deluxe AND one (1) state is included.

2. ABSOLUTELY NONE of my data is stored on Intuit servers and my returns are downloaded to MY computer as PDFs so I can print and mail them.

[Opus 17]

@romad 

The program that will be vended by download is the same program that used to come on a CD.  It's not crippled or changed in any way and all your data is stored locally.  And, since the CD is mastered from an early version of the program that can't file a tax return without substantial updates, you must already be used to being online often enough that you can download and install the update, which is essentially downloading a new version of the program every time.  HRB has also discontinued CDs, as far as we have been told.

In fact, the download option may be better because you get unlimited downloads (your license activations are limited, but downloads are not).  And the download version is always the most up to date.  So if you download the program in May and save that installer file, you can reinstall the program any time without needing to connect for additional updates (unlike the CD which can't be reinstalled without updating).

You can still buy the download for a discounted price from reputable vendors like Amazon, Best Buy and Staples.

As far as Mac system requirements are concerned, the blame for that is more on Apple than Turbotax (although, if you can't install the program, I agree it kind of doesn't matter who is responsible).  Apple is very aggressive about removing support for older systems from their software development kit.  And if Intuit uses an old SDK, they aren't supported and the program can't be installed on the newest Macs.  I actually think its pretty remarkable that 10 and 12 year old macs can still do almost everything a new one can, but unfortunately, Apple doesn't like to support their old OS's indefinitely.

And of course, even if Intuit still made CDs, the OS compatibility issue would still be there. 

[Mike9241]

@romad as i understand it H&R also will not offer a cd for 2024. that leaves your choices since your OS is no longer compatible with the desktop apps offered are online, manual or use a pro.