I want to see my tax history and have paid for and used Turbo Tax deluxe for a number of years. why does it tell me I need to pay for deluxe again to see my tax history?

[mesquitebean]

How were the past returns prepared?    Did you use Online Deluxe in prior years?   And what are you using for 2016--Online Deluxe or the desktop (CD/download) version?

Did you log into your Online account and see evidence of the prior returns but access is locked?

[dwilliamhansen]

desktop Cd version for a number of years but have always filed thru electronic.

[dwilliamhansen]

is this only for online that I can see my tax history?

[mesquitebean]

Please clarify what you mean by "tax history?"   Are you wanting to look at actual prior returns, or are you trying to find the specific form called Tax History (a 5-year report)?

[dwilliamhansen]

actual prior returns computer had issues and lost electronic data.

[mesquitebean]

You lost all the data files and any PDFs?

[dwilliamhansen]

yes I still have a print out but everything electronic is gone. was hoping I could get through the copy that electronic I filed last year.

[mesquitebean · Accepted solution]

Was your hard drive completely dead?    If it wasn't completely crashed, see if you can search it for any files ending in *.taxYYYY (where YYYY is the year).   If you have multiple Windows user accounts, search from each user account, and also look in the Recycle Bin.

If you used the desktop TurboTax (CD/download) last year and prior years, then unfortunately the only copies of the returns would be saved locally--either on your computer or any external backup media.   Your return files would not be in an Online account. TurboTax does not have a process to restore desktop data files.

[dwilliamhansen]

yes it was dead. Thanks I thought when they talked about past history I would be able to get an electronic copy of what I filed back. Thanks

[mesquitebean]

"I thought when they talked about past history....."

What/where was it you were reading about that?

I make a backup copy of my return on external media like a flash drive or external drive when I finish each session because of these kinds of unfortunate stories.