No CD available for tax year 2024

[jeannieh]

I want to express my discontent that Turbo Tax has eliminated the ability to get a CD.   I like to keep the software in case I need to change computers.

I realize the download is the same program and updates need be done as tax rules are not always completely defined, often until well after the new tax year begins.

I have used Turbo Tax since it began.  I really hate to change at this point but I am extremely disappointed.   I am willing to pay extra for the CD.    It is a preference.  

[VolvoGirl]

After you download the installation file you can burn the .exe file to make your own CD or copy it to a usb or external drive.    Even if you bought the CD before you could use the download method to install it. I always bought the CD from Costco. But last year for 2023 I bought the download from Costco online. Installed it real fast. It was the same as the CD. Most of the laptops and computers now don't have a CD drive. And I had to get a new laptop with Windows 10 to run Turbo Tax starting for 2022. 

[SteamTrain]

@jeannieh 

After downloading the installation file, you can just copy the installation .exe file to a USB flash drive (And copy the license code to a text file to put on the USB too)

In fact, if you re-download the installation file in (say) June, and copy that to the USB flash drive, that will contain all the updates until that point int time....a BIG improvement over the beta-version that would be on a CD.

Yeah, just a workaround, but that would be better than a CD anyhow.

[Bill175]

Its worse than that if you live abroad.  I would always buy the CD from Amazon because they would not allow people with a foreign address to download it.  Now that there's no CD, I have no way of obtaining the software. Any know of a work-around?

[Opus 17]

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@Bill175 wrote:

Its worse than that if you live abroad.  I would always buy the CD from Amazon because they would not allow people with a foreign address to download it.  Now that there's no CD, I have no way of obtaining the software. Any know of a work-around?

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Turbotax is not officially allowed to be sold abroad.  I believe that is due to restrictions on the export of encryption technology.  I think if you have a helper in the US, you can probably figure out a way to get a copy of the downloadable installer sent to you via a file sharing service or a physical device, but it's not really my place to say how to break those rules.  

[Bill175]

If there is such a law, its hard to understand why for the past decade it has been all right to ship a CD abroad with the software, but not be able to download that same software abroad. Not only that, but the software itself includes such forms as 2555 which is to be completed by someone residing abroad, including full Turbotax help for its completion.

[Opus 17]

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@Bill175 wrote:

If there is such a law, its hard to understand why for the past decade it has been all right to ship a CD abroad with the software, but not be able to download that same software abroad. Not only that, but the software itself includes such forms as 2555 which is to be completed by someone residing abroad, including full Turbotax help for its completion.

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I am clearly not an expert on technology export control laws.  However, you yourself noted that Amazon was not allowed to sell overseas.  The fact that a friend could mail you a CD without being investigated by the feds is either a legal personal exception (only vendors are affected, not individuals) or a de facto exception (impossible to investigate every letter going overseas). 

[Bill175]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. The CD I purchased was from Amazon.  It was purchased at the same internet site that sold the online version. One could be purchased by people abroad, the other could not. It is not at all clear if that was a rule from Intuit, or if it was an invention of Amazon. 

[Opus 17]

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@Bill175 wrote:

Sorry for the misunderstanding. The CD I purchased was from Amazon.  It was purchased at the same internet site that sold the online version. One could be purchased by people abroad, the other could not. It is not at all clear if that was a rule from Intuit, or if it was an invention of Amazon. 

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Interesting.  I've never looked at Amazon listings while I was outside the US.  (I did once have to buy an emergency part for my CPAP machine from Amazon France to be delivered to Switzerland, that was a hassle.)

[Bill175]

Ordering  a Turbotax CD from Amazon was not a hassle at all. One click and it was ordered. But it is still a mystery why the same cannot be done for an online version order.  Forgive me for being skeptical that the reason is related to export laws. Meanwhile there is a slew of Turbotax users (foreign tax-payers) who have been left out in the cold.

[xmasbaby0]

@Bill175 It sounds like you are confusing the CD/download with online software.   The download software is installed to your computer's own hard drive.  Once you download that software, you used it from your own hard drive, and all of your tax files are stored only on your own hard drive. They are not stored online.   When you use the "online" software, you are using a web-based product, and your tax files are stored in your online TurboTax account.  The software is not on your hard drive.

" But it is still a mystery why the same cannot be done for an online version order. "

First----the 2024 online software is not yet available.   That will happen by late November/early December.   And you do not purchase online TurboTax from retailers like Amazon.  You have to purchase and use online TurboTax by coming directly to the TurboTax site.    And....sorry....but you have to pay using a U.S. based debit or credit card.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/payments/help/what-forms-of-payment-does-turbotax-online-accept/00...

[SteamTrain]

Yeah, the US citizens in foreign countries will certainly have some issues/problems getting software and setting it up when they are not living in the USA.

I suspect that part of the reason for not allowing easy access for those living outside the USA may be the presence of so many foreign fraudsters, who would flood the IRS with fraudulent tax returns should the software become more easily available to them.  Thus, the valid US Citizens get unfairly impacted...Certainly, the dedicated fraudsters can find a way around the software blockage.....but thousands of part-time or start-up fraudsters would not make the effort.

[Bill175]

Sorry for using the word "online" indiscriminately. Amazon calls it PC/MAC Download. It is the same software that was on the CD for use on a personal computer. 

Regarding credit card payment. The problem is not a foreign bank. I use a US bank credit card. The problem is the address associated with the credit card. My address.  I would be interested in hearing rationalizations why that makes sense. The bottom line is: Turbotax has left lots of people out in the cold.

[Bill175]

SteamTrain might have a point. What says otherwise, though, is this: There was no problem for a foreign resident to purchase Turbotax from Amazon on a CD. This could be done using a credit card of the foreign country. Honest injun. Amazon evidently couldn't care less where the money comes from. On the other hand, downloading THE SAME SOFTWARE from Amazon is not available to foreign residents. This contradicts all the theses about export laws and foreign banks, etc. I still have not been able to ascertain if it is a limitation levied by Turbotax, or did Amazon come up with it themselves? Go figure.

[Opus 17]

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@Bill175 wrote:

Ordering  a Turbotax CD from Amazon was not a hassle at all. One click and it was ordered. 

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Now try getting 2-day delivery to a small ski resort in the Swiss Alps 😳