Not Working, Not Running: At Launch Turbo Tax 2022 Premier It Promptly Errors and Crashes

[Anonymous]

At launch Turbo Tax 2022 Premier it attempts to boot and clocks for about 10 seconds. During this time the little blue launch screen throws 2 messages. First, “Please give us a moment as we get things ready…” See attached file “Screen 1.jpg.” Then it throws, “OK, we know it’s taking more than a moment…” The system then throws an error reporting screen. See attached file “Screen 2.jpg.” After clicking on either “Send” or “Cancel,” the little blue launch screen closes and the app come to a full stop – i.e., it crashes.

What’s up with this?

I have uninstalled and reinstalled Turbo Tax twice. This includes re-downloading it from Amazon, where I purchased the product.

I have submitted 3-5 error reports.

I tried calling Turbo Tax for technical assistance. After clearly explaining the issue, the agent said that she needed to remote into my machine to see it. Really? I’m not very agreeable to a stranger remoting into my machine. The issue here is that Turbo Tax 2022 Premier is crashing shortly after launch. There's not much to see - or have to see.

I have eFiled the federal return and one state return. The second state return was rejected with a message, “Your <<state>> return will need to be re-transmitted on or after March 3. There will be calculation updates available that day that may affect returns with multiple W-2s.”

Windows 10, 64-bit.

Turbo Tax 2022 Premier.

PC version.

Please advise.

[hbl3973]

PainInTheTaxes,

You've done the right things and this is a TurboTax support issue and it might well be necessary for them to remote into your machine to do debugging.  However, one thing I can suggest is to rename the folder(s) with your .tax* files to something else and see if TurboTax manages to fire up successfully creating a new folder.  If so, then one of your .tax* files is corrupt and causing TurboTax to exit ungracefully.

[Anonymous]

I tried launching Turbo Tax first thing this morning. It behaved poorly as previously described with one exception:  The app appeared to go through its normal update cycle.  Then it crashed.

As suggested, I renamed the folder containing the underlying data files. I also moved it. I then tried launching the app.  It crashed as previously described.

With the folder containing the underlying data files renamed and moved, I uninstalled Turbo Tax and shutdown the PC.  I restarted the PC and reinstalled Turbo Tax. Same thing: It crashed as previously described.   

I submitted 3-5 crash reports this morning. It would be great if you all looked at them.

[Anonymous]

As of moments ago, the problem persists as described.

I called Turbo Tax support yesterday. It was a 2-hour call. We concluded that my PC is not a horcrux. Instead, the issue is likely a communication issue at the Turbo Tax server side. The Turbo Tax specialist found where this issue has been referred to the developers for investigation and resolution. The reference number is INV-20910. I was told to give it 2-3 days. We shall see.

[Anonymous]

An update…

Based on my research and reading of similar posts on this site from users in earlier tax years, I pulled out an older PC (an old HP desktop) to see if TurboTax would run on it.  The effort was not insignificant.  Windows needed to be updated. My antivirus/firewall software needed to be updated. It quickly consumed 8 hours and involved 6-7 PC restarts. Eventually the old HP desktop was stable enough to install TruboTax.  It worked. Behold, a modern-day miracle: TurboTax launched as expected.  I was able to pull up my tax data file and resubmit my second state return that was rejected. As of this morning that state return has been accepted.

The older HP PC is Windows 10, 64-bit – just like the newer machine involved in this narrative.

I went back to my newer PC and tried to launch TurboTax.  It continues to crash as previously described.

Unbelievable.

So, the lesson here is that TurboTax can work flawlessly on a PC until suddenly it doesn’t.  Really?  Apparently so.  This was my experience. It was not a positive user experience.

Do I think this issue has been resolved? No. I think the developers need to figure this issue out all the way down to the root cause.

Refer to Investigation order INV-20910.

[Anonymous]

Another update…

Just for snicks, this morning I booted up the newer PC – i.e., the one that Turbo Tax 2022 has been crashing on.

I tried to launch Turbo Tax 2022.  It crashed as previously described.

I then uninstalled Turbo Tax 2022 and rebooted.

I installed last year’s edition of Turbo Tax – i.e., Turbo Tax for 2021. It launched as expected. It performed a routine update. I rebooted. At attempted launch, it worked. I was able to open my 2021 tax file.

I uninstalled Turbo Tax 2021 and rebooted.

I re-installed Turbo Tax 2022. It launched and performed a routine update. I then rebooted. At attempted launch it failed. It crashed as previously described.

[Anonymous]

Update as of 3/10/2023. The issue persists as described.

The version on my PC is 022.000.0471.

[Anonymous]

Update…

I uninstalled TurboTax and reinstalled it with reboots along the way. It failed again as described.

I then uninstalled TurboTax using Revo Uninstaller – the free download version. This 3rd party product walked me through the uninstall.  It also walked me through the process of scanning and removing residue program files and Windows registry keys. I rebooted and reinstalled TurboTax.

Yippie, TurboTax now works on my machine.

I am very disappointed with the TruboTax experience this year. Having to hunt around to find a 3rd party product to fool around with Windows registry key is a bit over the top.  I think there’s lots, and lots, and lots, of opportunity here for Inuit/TurboTax to do a better job.