You won't necessarily have to pay more. But, since there is no direct way to credit an online purchase to the desktop product, you will have to contact phone support to apply the amount you have already paid to the desktop product. Follow these steps to be connected to TurboTax support:
- Sign into your TurboTax account
- Click on Contact Us (upper right hand corner of blue banner) or you can contact phone support though this link here
- Briefly state your situation
- Click Submit
- On the next page, choose what Call option you want (callback) and follow the instructions
After you speak to them, here are the instructions for transferring your file from the online to the desktop.
After you have the 2016 online return started, follow the steps below to transfer to desktop -
- Log into your TurboTax Online Account and select Take Me to My Return
- In the blue banner at the top, click on My Account and select Tools from the dropdown menu
- In the small box that populates, click on Save your 2016 return to your Computer (try to save to an easy-to-find location such as My Documents or Desktop)
- This will download a .tax2016 file to your computer - make note of where that file is saved to on your computer
- Sign out of TurboTax Online and, if you haven't done so already, install TurboTax 2016 CD/Download and install any updates. Windows | Mac
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Important: If you Online return already contains one or more states, you must install those states in your desktop program also; otherwise, you will receive errors when you attempt to open your return. You can install states by going to: for Windows, the menu item Online (next to help) > Download State and, for Mac, the menu item TurboTax (next to your Apple Icon) > Download State.
- Once installed, choose File > Open Tax Return.
- Browse to where you saved the .tax2016 file in step 3, select it, and then click Open.
- Choose File > Save.
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(Optional) Once you are satisfied that your online returns transferred over properly, you can clear your Online return. Note: This will remove your data online, so I would recommend waiting until you have at least filed your return before clearing any online data, but the choice is yours.
Now, you should have your 2016 return on your computer and can continue to use the desktop software program to finish your return.
Also, while there is no Forms Mode inside the online program -
You can preview your Form 1040 in the online version by following the steps below. Please note this only allows you to review a tax summary and see the Form 1040 (first two pages of your return). It will not allow you to view the full forms and schedules
- Log in your account
- Click Take Me to My Return
- Select My Account (top right of blue banner)
- Select Tools
- Select View My Tax Summary
- Here you will see a Tax Summary of your return so far
- In the grey banner, click Preview my 1040
- There will also be an option to preview your state summary
If you wish to view the full forms and schedules, then you can download a pdf of your return at anytime by going to My Account > Print Center. Follow the prompts and you can download your return. However, this options requires that the program be paid for before viewing the forms. You will be prompted for payment during this process if you already haven’t.
