Help! It's trying to make me upgrade and I have always used Turbo Tax Premier!

[IHaveABigQuestion]

This is so frustrating!! I have an S Corp and have ALWAYS used Turbo Tax Premier to do my personal taxes with no problem. I have nothing new or different this year. Why is Turbo Tax telling me I need to upgrade and spend another $100 on  Turbo Tax Self Employed? I just have a W2 and a K-1 from an 1120s, I do not fill out a Schedule C or anything. I have seen ads even this year that all S Corp owners forms are found in Turbo Tax Premier. 

Is this a glitch? Is there anything I can check or uncheck to make it not need self-employed? Again I am not doing anything more complex than ever before, and all my tax forms were already completed when I went over to print forms for my records, it just won't eFile and I don't know why. It says it won't "cover this situation" but I'd like to know what situation they are talking about because I have always used Premier just fine! 

[MarilynG1]

You are correct that an S Corp shareholder would not be considered Self-Employed and file a Schedule C.

Are the income/expense items in the same lines as in prior years on your Form K-1? 

Are you sure 'self-employment' is the reason for the upgrade, since Premier can also handle self-employment.  Can you choose not to upgrade, and Continue? 

Since we can't see your return in this forum, I would suggest you Delete your Form K-1, clear your Cache and Cookies and re-enter your K-1.

Click this link for more info  on Entering Form K-1.

[IHaveABigQuestion]

Are the income/expense items in the same lines as in prior years on your Form K-1?   YES

Are you sure 'self-employment' is the reason for the upgrade, since Premier can also handle self-employment.  Can you choose not to upgrade, and Continue?  The only choice it is giving me is to upgrade. If I select "Upgrade to TurboTax Self -Employed" I am agreeing to pay which I don't want to do.

Since we can't see your return in this forum, I would suggest you Delete your Form K-1, clear your Cache and Cookies and re-enter your K-1.  Done. I deleted and re-entered all K-1 info and it is still asking me to upgrade. I have nothing different from last year, it should not be doing this! Please help. What could be causing the system to think I need self-employed? I looked at forms list and there was no Schedule C, Schedule F or 1099-NEC which I know are forms the self-employed need. I can't think of anything else that would cause this glitch.

[DianeW777]

You can send us a “diagnostic” file that has your “numbers” but not your personal information.  If you would like to do this, here are the instructions: 

Go to the black panel on the left side of your program and select Tax Tools. 

1. Then select Tools below Tax Tools. 
2. A window will pop up which says Tools Center.  
3. On this screen, select Share my file with Agent. 
4. You will see a message explaining what the diagnostic copy is.  Click okay through this screen and then you will get a Token number. 
5. Reply to this thread with your Token number. This will allow us to open a copy of your return without seeing any personal information.  

We will then be able to see exactly what you are seeing and we can determine what exactly is going on in your return and provide you with a resolution. 

[IHaveABigQuestion]

Thanks, this is good to know. I had already called and was given a code so I could upgrade, but the code didn't cover the full amount so I had to call again and get another code.  I guess that works for this year but I really hope they figure out why it was forcing the upgrade in the first place. The Turbo Tax Rep I spoke with went through all the forms that are different between Premier and Self-Employed and confirmed I was not using anything that needed Turbo Tax Self-Employed. It was a long an frustrating experience with a lot of time wasted, that I hope doesn't happen next year. Turbo Tax please fix this glitch! 

[wgstax]

Hi,

I am facing similar issue as the same K-1 (LLC partner) from last year allowed me to file with turbotax online premium version. Now I am being blocked the following msg preventing me from move forward with e-filing under premium version,

From what I can tell, the self-employed retirement items are parts of K-1 line 13R breakdown.

Can you tell me where to locate the diagnostic tool under turbotax online UI? I don't see it anywhere.

Thanks.

[MarilynG1]

You are correct that Box 13 Code R on your K-1 indicates contribution to a partnership retirement plan. However, you can report self-employment income/expenses in TurboTax Premier.

Click this link for info on K-1 Box 13 Code R.

To send a diagnostic file to an agent, click on Tools > Tax Tools on the left-side menu pane (while in your return).

On the 'Tools Center' popup menu, choose 'Share my file with agent.'

[jamesn1117]

They're probably forcing the upgrade on purpose. I am having the same issue. If I'm forced to upgrade, I will absolutely look for another product next year.

[Cynthiad66]

Is the software providing a reason for suggesting an upgrade?  Please share what is causing the upgrade.

@jamesn1117

[IHaveABigQuestion]

If you are having the same issue please call and speak to a Turbo Tax employee! I did and they confirmed that I did not need to upgrade and went through every form that would require an upgrade to self-employed and confirmed that I had none of those forms. They didn't know what was causing it, but I never got confirmation that they were going to figure that out, they seemed to think it was a one-time thing. If we all call then maybe they will fix this glitch so that it doesn't happen to us all again next year! And if you do find another tax prep service you like please share with this thread so we all have a back-up if they do not fix this terrible issue that caused a lot of unneeded stress! 

[KP37]

Be careful.  I just tried to work through an agent to resolve this and in the process, he made it worse.  The Fidelity discounts were permanently removed and the agent was unable to undo what he had just done.  His recommendation was that I just clear everything and start over instead.  

[Para2]

I have no self employment income and only the T4/T3/T5 and it is forcing me to upgrade to Self Enployment tax return. I have been using Turbo Tax for over 10 years. If they can't fix this simple issue, is it wise to trust this program with our tax returns.

[IHaveABigQuestion]

It's very important that you call Turbo Tax or contact them directly via chat. I don't know if the person who can actually fix this reads these boards. None of us want to deal with this issue every year going forward so you need to call them and if enough people complain and specifically ask them to escalate this forced upgrade issue to the person who can fix this glitch then maybe it will get fixed.  All technology has issues at times (although I agree you never want anything important like your tax software to have issues) but they probably need to hear from several people having the same issue to know it is not just user error. Please call them, it is a very simple process to call. Also, if you are a TurboTax Employee reading this thread, please let us know if you have escalated this issue to a person who can actually fix this! 

[Remy9754]

Mar 15, 2023

I also got the same message that I needed to Upgrade or else could not continue.

My issue was Box 26 (Canadian)  on several of my T3s for products I've held for years. I too have used Turbo Tax Premier onlne version on the past with no issues.

THIS year I got the error message that my Box 26 was Communal Income (it was not; it was interest) and thus I needed to upgrade to report my communal income (I have no communal income).

I found the 'talk to a real live human' phone number of  1-888-829-8608 and they couldn't understand the issue either. I had autodownloaded the info from CRA so she suggested it was either a product error or a CRA issue but swore it was NOT a Turbo Tax issue.

I have confirmed with my financial provider that it is not a product issue as it clearly shows only one Box 26 on the actual T3 yet on the Turbo Tax page they show THREE Box 26 but the locked one all show $0.00 for 'communal income'.

In any case, like another poster said, by the time the agent had me start over and over, my discount through my Bank got lost and there was no code she could give me to get it back so 20% saving lost.

To finish my return she had me back out of the 'must upgrade' screen others have shown here . I  backed up to the Review page on the left so I could Review and add my deductions.

It then let me finish and Efile.

Another client of my financial rep had no issue using Turbo Tax online but he manually entered all his T3 info so still not clear if its a CRA or Turbo Tax issue since I don't know what he entered.

Can this be escalated and investigated by Turbo Tax please?

Like others, I wasted several hours trying to fix this and don't wish a repeat for next year.

[DoninGA]

@Remy9754 

This is the TurboTax US user community website.
Go to this TurboTax Canada website for assistance with a Canadian tax return or the TurboTax Canada editions - https://turbotax.community.intuit.ca/turbotax-support/en-ca