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Returning Member
posted May 15, 2021 4:57:22 PM

I am an educator and was taking advantage of turbo tax offering free federal and state. But now I am getting charged $110 to claim my educator deduction

I am an educator and was taking advantage of turbo tax offering free federal and state. But now I am getting charged $110 to claim my educator deduction that used to be $500 but is now $250. It cost me more to claim it because of the Fee involved with the auto upgrade to Deluxe. My return is literally like $20 higher so I have now lost money. Can someone from Turbo Tax help here? I am unable to delete and start over as well. 

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2 Replies
Level 15
May 15, 2021 5:00:12 PM

The educator deduction has been $250 for as long as I can remember.   But do you qualify to use Free File?

 

 

 

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.   The Free Edition cannot be used for self-employment income, investment income, rental income or a student loan interest deduction,

 

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040 

 

 

If you qualify to use it, there is another full-featured free version of the software:

Try Free File: 

You qualify if your income was $39,000 or less, or $72,000 or less if active duty military, or if you qualify for Earned Income Credit

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program

 

 

Note:  If you do not qualify to use Free File then you will have to upgrade to Deluxe or higher in the paid versions of the software.   

 Online Deluxe $40  State software $40

 

 

Or—-Use this IRS site for other ways to file for free

 

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/

 

 

 

 

If your TurboTax fees are higher than expected, you can reduce them by removing add-ons:

 

Returning Member
May 15, 2021 5:03:15 PM

***I am currently upgraded to deluxe and it wants 60 for Fed and 50 for State. I think I will check the irs website that was provided. down below