WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY? I WANT THE FREE EDITION
The information that you can enter in Free Edition is pretty limited now. Thanks to the new tax laws that began for 2018 returns, there are no more simple Form 1040EZ or 1040A's. Everything goes on a Form 1040 that has three extra "schedules" with it, and if you need any of those schedules, you are not able to use the Free Edition. Using the standard deduction instead of itemizing does NOT mean you will not need any of those schedules.https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4511011-what-happened-to-the-1040a-and-1040ez If you started in the Free Edition and entered any data that required any of those three schedules, you have to upgrade to a paid version and if you are watching the screens carefully you are alerted to the upgrade.
When you chose to “start” in the Free Edition —
Directly below the words “Free Edition” there is a blue link that says “For simple tax returns only” If you click that link it brings up this information:
You can file with TurboTax Free Edition if you have a simple tax return.*
*A simple tax return is Form 1040 only.
Situations covered in TurboTax Free Edition include:
Situations not covered in TurboTax Free Edition include:
Or—-Use this IRS site for other ways to file for free. There are 8 free software versions available from the IRS Free File site
https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/
If your TurboTax fees are higher than expected, you can reduce them by removing add-ons: