How to import my previous accountant's (now passed away) previous years' turbotax files into my laptop so I can bring them into my own turbotax software?

[mistered12]

My accountant, who did my taxes for years using turbotax Home & Business, recently passed away. Her son provided me a memory stick with previous years of turbotax filings contained on it. How can I utilize this information and pull it into the 2018 turbotax Home & Business software that I will install on my own laptop? Do I need to first install both the 2016 turbotax Home & Business and the 2017 turbotax Home & Business programs first, then download my accountant's data into it, and then, finally, install the 2018 version and import from those other two? I'm not familiar with how any of this really works so please forgive my ignorance.

[Carl]

At this point, lets deal with the 2017 tax return only. What matters here is the filename extension of the 2017 tax file on the stick. What is the filename extension? It might be .tax2017, but I doubt it since TurboTax is not licensed for commercial use by someone like an accountant. But if anything, the filename extension might tell us what program the accountant did use, so we have a starting point.

If the filename extension is .PDF, then chances are you won't be able import anything. While TurboTax can import from *some* PDF files, it depends on what specific program created that PDF file and what you can import from it is "extremely" limited. Basically, personal identification information only, and that's pretty much it.

[mistered12]

Hi Carl,

Thank you very much for your reply! I said "accountant" but I really should have said "bookkeeper" since that's what she was. And she was just helping me out with mine and did her own using TurboTax. Anyway, I looked at the files on the memory stick and here they are:

[Carl]

From what I see, it would appear all those year's tax returns were done using TurboTax. But what I don't see is a tax return for 2017. Perhaps it was not possible to include the entire list? If so, that's okay. What you "need" is the tax file with a filename extension of .tax2017. That would be the 2017 tax file. If you have that one on the stick, then you're good to go. Just copy that .tax2017 file on the stick, to your documents\turbotax directory, and then fire up the program on your computer and elect to "start a new return". Then you will be able to import relevant data from the 2017 tax return, into your 2018 return.

[mistered12]

Awesome! Thanks again, Carl. One more question: I did notice all the files prior to 2016 have the .tax201_ extension you refer to, whereas the ones from 2016 and 2017 have the other extension. Is it possible that TurboTax changed the extension for these types of files beginning in 2016 and what you're seeing there are the 2016 and 2017 files but with the newer extension? I'm not saying this is the case, just wondering if it might be the case since she has all of the files up to 2017 on the memory stick and this could account for what we're seeing there. Again, just guessing (and hoping) here.

[Carl]

The TurboTax program has been using the .taxnnnn (where "nnnn" is the tax year) filename extension at least since I started using the program back in 2003. So no, that format has never changed in the 15 years I've been using it.

Also, the program provides the ability to save the tax return in PDF format too. Every tax year once my completed tax return has been accepted and processed by the IRS and I'm basically done with it, I always save the .taxnnn file *and* a PDF copy of that file, and burn them to CD so that I have them if, lord forbid, I ever need to access a prior year's tax return in the future. In fact, I have the .taxnnn file and the PDF file from every year since 2003 all on one CD. That way, if I just need to "see" a prior year return, I can look at the PDF copy with any PDF reader program such as the free Acrobat Reader.

ALso, since TurboTax only suppors their program for the current tax year and three years back, I will also download the most recent update for that program "just before" it's support life cycle ends, burn it to CD and keep it with my TurboTax CD for that tax year. Then if I ever need to change or amend a return I don't worry about it if it's more than three years back. I've got the updates and corrections on the manual update file I downloaded/burned to CD.

So for example, if I actually need to "fix" something on my 2003 tax return because of an IRS audit today, I can install the program, then install the updates, and actually "fix" it. Of course, the IRS would never audit a return from 15 years ago, unless they have reasonable cause to suspect intentional tax fraud on my part.

As for your tax file that don't have the PDF or .taxnnnn filename extension, I don't know what they are. Could be anything.

[lstone19]

Depending on how you have Windows preferences set, Windows will suppress showing the file extension of known file types. It appears to know the .tax2016 and .tax2017 file types because those two are listed as file type "TurboTax 201x Document" while the earlier years have the file type as "TAX201x File" (just the extension followed by the word File). Note that with the 2016 and 2017, Windows knows these are TurboTax files while for the earlier years, it doesn't. So almost assuredly, those two have the extension .tax201x but the display of it is suppressed because they're known filetypes. The best thing would be for the poster to install TT2018 and see if it that 2017 file shows up as one that can be imported to start a 2018 return.

[Carl]

That's a good point @lstone19. But look at the image above posted by @mistered12 and it appears the option to show filename extensions is already selected. But still, it should be confirmed anyway.

[lstone19]

It's showing the extensions of UNKNOWN file types. But it looks like it's suppressing the display of KNOWN file types (there's also what looks like a PDF with the extension not showing - file type column says "Adobe Acrobat Document"). I'm a Mac guy but I vaguely recall that Windows has a way to control whether or not KNOWN file type extensions are shown as well as a way to define known file types.

Edit: When I say known filetype, that means it's in a table Windows maintains of file extensions and the program that creates that file type.