I received an email this morning, Febr. 22, 2020 that appeared authentic from Turbotax saying the prices are going to be increased (courtesy notice) February 29. Verify?

[VolvoGirl]

Probably legit. The early prices have always expired in March.   Last couple years it was on March 1.

[Critter]

To anyone who have started your return but not paid or finished yet  TT sends notices of the pending price increases.  To lock in the current price you can pay it now ... the notice should have told you how. 

To pay the TurboTax online account fees by credit card, without completing the 2019 return at this time, click on Tax Tools >>> Tools  and then Print Center.  Then click on Print, save or preview this year's return.  On the next page, to pay by credit card, click Continue.  On the next screen it will ask if you want Audit Defense, if you do not want this option just click on the Continue button.  The next screen will ask for all your credit card information so you can pay for the account.

[oreillywa]

The notice (which I deleted as SPAM) specifically said that you must submit your return by Febr. 29.   Rush rush to submit your return.

First raising prices in the middle of tax season - that makes no sense unless you're trying to alienate your entire base of millions of customers. Why would you do THAT!?

Then to tempt filers to RUSH to finish which could lead to inaccurate returns and subsequent IRS tax audits. That also makes no sense.

When there are two different super obvious "DOES NOT MAKE SENSE" - that's when you realize it is SPAM.

If it's true - then wow - there needs to be an uprising against Turbotax and a commitment to drop them as a solution!

[kwpTaxcpa]

Agreed.

At BEST, it reflects very poor marketing...again!

[kwpTaxcpa]

Add this to the fact that TurboTax updates are no longer supported with details about what changes were made.  Another poor decision.

[Critter]

FYI ... raising prices mid season is a SOP for the entire industry and has been done forever.  Technically they are not raising the price so much as removing the discount. 

Unless you read that notice incorrectly you have never been required to file to lock in the price.  The only item would be if you were using the FREE version ... to get the state also free you must file before the deadline. Otherwise there will be a fee for the state return ... it will no longer be free.

If your AGI is $69K or less then you may want to consider the IRS FREE FILE options ... there are 10 different companies that are a part of the FREE FILE coalition ... see if you qualify for one of them ... 

https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free

[oreillywa]

i must have missed this in past seasons. Small business- last year filing as LLC/self employed. for ty 2020 will be S corp. what an awful industry SOP.  Truly Sick.

email definitely encouraged you to wrap it up by 2/29 to avoid higher prices. Shocking to me.

are there any that do not increase mid season?

[kwpTaxcpa]

The fact that "everybody does it" doesn't make it the right thing to do, and TurboTax itself calls it a price increase:

"Dear Valued Customer,
We are writing to notify you of a price increase for TurboTax Online products after February 29, 2020. If you haven't completed or filed your return yet, we encourage you to file your taxes before prices go up. If you have already filed, please disregard this notice and thank you for using TurboTax"

And what about the lack of release notes for updates?

Anyway, that's just my two cents, it's time to move on...

[Critter]

@oreillywa 

For 2020 .. you will need the Downloaded TT  BUSINESS version which you can either buy thru TT or any other credible reseller like Office Depot, Walmart, Etc .... AND the S-corp return is due 3/15 unless you put it on extension.  

If you wait to buy the downloaded versions from a reseller their prices actually go down as the tax year continues as opposed to buying it direct from TT where the early bird discounts go away.