That will not work.
You can take a photo of a W-2 when you use the mobile app. Just type your W-2 in manually. All of your W-2's must be entered on the same tax return.Your W-2 comes from your employer. Employers have until January 31 to issue your W-2. Some employers are partnered with TT to allow you to import your W-2 in to your tax return. You do need some information from the actual W-2 in order to do the import. If your employer has not yet issued W-2’s you have to wait. Do not file a tax return unless ALL of your W-2’s have been entered on the SAME tax return.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1934390-how-do-i-import-my-W-2
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2588751-why-can-t-i-import-my-w-2
it is also possible that your w-2 for 2019 has not been finalized yet. if so, it won't be available for import.
This is 2 years running that this feature does not work. It’s stuck scanning for viruses. My company uses UKG Pro and there is no option to connect via API either. Manually typing in W-2 though not hard is subject to key stock errors. Disappointed again.
@Scattie wrote:
This is 2 years running that this feature does not work. It’s stuck scanning for viruses. My company uses UKG Pro and there is no option to connect via API either. Manually typing in W-2 though not hard is subject to key stock errors. Disappointed again.
Only a 2020 W-2 can be imported into a 2020 tax return. Prior tax year W-2's cannot be imported at all.
See this TurboTax support FAQ for importing a W-2 - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/entering-importing/help/how-do-i-import-or-enter-my-w-2/01/26253
I found this thread and just wanted to comment about the two years that this has not worked for me. The answer to previous user who had this problem didn't even make sense in the context of this problem. The problem is that the PDF scanning software has failed to recognize both my wife's 2019 W2 (last year) or her 2020 W2. It just goes on spinning the little wheel and telling me it's scanning for viruses. I wonder if it has something to do with the content (of boxes like and/or format of the W2. Surely it works for some people?
just wanted to contribute (strength in numbers) so it's January 21st 2021 and I just tried uploading my W2 PDF and it is still doing exactly what the original poster described, I am using Chrome as my browser and browsed to the PDF instead of drag and dropping it and it just says Scanning for viruses, this is ridiculous
I finally succeeded in getting it to upload. What I found is don’t use a PDF. Take a picture of the document and then set it up as a JPEG. I literally printed it out took a photo and then drag and dropped it and it worked. Good luck
You may want to try disabling your virus protection to upload your W2, then turn it back on after your upload is complete. Some programs and firewall protections do not recognize TurboTax as a legitimate program. Please see Security software and TurboTax for more information.
I don't have any virus protection on my computer (yes I know that's crazy, but when I get infected I just rebuild it and it runs 1,000 times faster than all of yours, ha ha), this is the TurboTax virus scanning that's doing it not my browser or my computer
@Gregski If you are using TurboTax on your computer, you can either type your W-2 info in manually, or import it from your employer.
You can't upload a PDF of your W-2, sorry.
Click this link for instructions on How To Import or Enter My W-2.
I am having the same issue on January 22nd, 2021. I've used TurboTax Deluxe for years, and frankly this year is the first time I've ever tried to upload my W-2. EPIC FAIL!! Back to inputting it manually. Next year I'll probably look at other software. This should be massively simple. Good grief. 😬
You can take a picture via the mobile app, which will then upload to TurboTax Online. Here's how:
You can continue in the mobile app or sign into TurboTax Online where your information will now be uploaded.
Go here to see how to take a picture of your 1099-MISC in the mobile app. @exechootive
I have this same issue. I tried uploading a .pdf and then a .jpg version of my W-2 and both times I only got the "Scanning for Viruses" wheel but it never finishes.
You cannot upload a PDF to the TurboTax online edition tax returns. See this link here for further assistance.
I am having the exact same issue when trying to load my 2020 W2 (for the first time) as a PDF or PNG. I have used Turbotax for the last 3 years and this is the first time I've had this issue. Only the Jpeg seems to load, but it doesn't parse the data into the correct fields, so I have to enter manually anyway. Is this something the Turbotax developers are working on? This is a major inconvenience, part of the appeal of this software to begin with is the automation aspect. Most people do not want to have to manually type in their info.
You can import your W-2 by the EIN or take a photo, but not upload a PDF or anything else. Here are a few help articles that will explain in more detail.
How do I import or enter my W-2? - TurboTax
This link explains if there are issues with importing the EIN.
This link explains how to take a picture through TurboTax Online.
How do I take a picture of my W-2 in TurboTax Online?
This link explains how to take a picture on the mobile app.
How do I take a picture of my W-2 in the mobile app?
It's a bit ridiculous that users continue to be instructed to specifically do do something which doesn't work!
And then being told either (i) that isn't how this works...or (ii) do it another way.
Yes----but we have brought the issue to TT's attention and have been advised that users should just enter the W-2 manually if there is a problem like the one you are having. So.....if it were me, before I would spend any more time being aggravated by the technology, I would just take the two minutes or less and enter it by hand, be done, and move on. I prefer not to beat my head against walls.
I think their point is, why use this software to type it in manually when there are other options that don't have tools broken for over two years. There are many reasons why someone doesn't want to type it in; ease of use for one and most importantly, human error.
If the tool doesn't work and has been broken for years, it should be taken down.
The purpose of me taking the time to actually document this (which unquestionably has taken more time than simply keying in my W2) is that there have been multiple posters who have attempted to document this experience (and some for multiple years) and received responses (from “experts” here) which suggest that there was a not a clear communication of what was occurring in the software and further resulting in a misunderstanding, lack of understanding or failure to acknowledge the actual user experience, which is more aggravating than the software limitations.
A helpful response is one which documents or acknowledges a known problem and provides a fix or a solution. Many of the “expert” responses here and on related posts (whether purposefully or not) simply failed to acknowledge that the user experience “error” was valid. Clearly the online software instructions DO prompt a user of the online software to upload a PDF, JPG or PNG file in order to upload the data, and even explains how that process will work once those files are uploaded. That upload is clearly not happening for some users and is not user-error.
Helpful: “Some users may experience “A, B, or C” which are known issues and until resolved have a known workaround of “X, Y & Z.”
So, your response is helpful to the extent it (finally) acknowledges this a known, documented, issue which has been brought to TT’s attention and that despite poor user experiences, there is not a (known or foreseeable) fix for the original software instructions and users who experience such an error should engage in a work around.
Not Helpful: "You can’t do what you're being instructed to do. Stop wasting your time complaining about it. Go do it this way, which you clearly could have done a few dozen time times over by now."
I ran into the same issue but finally found success after saving the PDF as a JPG file and re-uploading. Easily done via the Win10 Snipping Tool.
Exactly. The "expert" responses here don't make sense. They keep saying "you can't upload a pdf", rather than stating "that feature is not working at this time". Either they don't know that during the process we are being given the option to upload a pdf through the website, making them pretty terrible "experts" or they are pretty terrible at communicating what they are trying to say.
I had this same issue last year, so when the same issue occurred this year, googling the issue led me to this thread. I am experiencing the exact same issue that you documented in your screenshots. I am given the option to upload a pdf but it gets stuck on the "scanning for viruses" part and I had to go back and enter my information manually. Not the worst thing in the world, but if the feature isn't working then it should be removed.
@MarilynG1 If one can't upload a pdf or jpeg or png of the w2, then why am I getting prompted for this during the W-2 flow on both the website and in the mobile app?