Latest Mac Home & Business update introduces form-filling bugs?

[mlohrer]

Just installed the latest update (version ID 2020.r39.074), and now "checkboxes" can not be filled/checked, and Quickzoom buttons are not active (eg, Quickzoom to new Asset Entry worksheet from the top of an existing worksheet does NOT work).

Anyone else experiencing this?

FYI: MacOS Mojave 10.14, Macbook Pro - everything worked just fine 1 day ago!

[macuser_22]

Upon seeing your post I updated.    

Confirmed - in the forms mode, no check box or QuickZoom box can be selected.

I will notify the Moderators of this new bug.

[mlohrer]

Appreciated

[mlohrer]

One more comment: their update cycle is rather lengthy this time of the year, but this bug renders the program essentially useless, as a practical matter can't fill in ANY supporting schedue or form - any way you can work with them to "expedite" a fix would be appreciated by me and others, I'm sure.

Thanks again

[macuser_22]

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@mlohrer wrote:

One more comment: their update cycle is rather lengthy this time of the year, but this bug renders the program essentially useless, as a practical matter can't fill in ANY supporting schedue or form - any way you can work with them to "expedite" a fix would be appreciated by me and others, I'm sure.

Thanks again

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Nope - all I can do is post the bug where the moderators can see it.  It is up to them to forward it to the developers of and when they see my post.

@mesquitebean  - can you verify if this also broke the Windows forms view?

[macuser_22]

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@mlohrer wrote:

One more comment: their update cycle is rather lengthy this time of the year, but this bug renders the program essentially useless, as a practical matter can't fill in ANY supporting schedue or form - any way you can work with them to "expedite" a fix would be appreciated by me and others, I'm sure.

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If you run TimeMachine then you can restore the TurboTax Home Business 2020.app in the Applications folder to a pre-July 16 version.   I would keep "both" when TimeMachine prompts for it which will create a TurboTax Home Business 2020 (original).app and leave the current version untouched.

I just did that and have the 2020.r34.068 version also installed and it works fine.

To run it you will need disconnect the internet from the Mac so TurboTax cannot check for updates or it will just install the broken update again.

[mesquitebean]

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@macuser_22 wrote:

mesquitebean  - can you verify if this also broke the Windows forms view?

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I'm not detecting such an issue in Deluxe for Windows.  I can check boxes, QuickZoom to other forms, manually enter data, etc.

[mlohrer]

Nice suggestion, thanks, but:

(1)  don't do backups regularly enough,

(2)  more to the point, will need to be able to file returns on an ongoing basis, so that might be a short-term fix but it won't work for any extended period.

Hope with enough community discussion this will be recognized as the serious bug that it is and be addressed promptly! 

[mlohrer]

Sorry to say wish it were otherwise - the more broken versions the more likely this gets resolved quickly!

Not sure what other versions, if any, on Mac platform are impacted, just know Home & Business dead for all practical purposes...

[mlohrer]

Just tried to follow up with TurboTax Tech Support on this reported bug (I contacted them last week and discussed the issue with a rep)-today, no record of bug report, no idea what this issue might be all about…oh my!

 
Suggestions on how to get someone to understand and solve this?

Any advice appreciated. 

[macuser_22]

Getting the developers attention takes time - this is off-season now and most development work is on next years products .   The phone reps (on the most part) know nothing about Mac software and even fewer know anything about the "forms mode: since it is rarely used by anyone.

So far yours is the ONLY report that I have seen in this forum since most people are done with tax for the year.

It most certainly will not be fixed before the next scheduled update in about a month (if they even recognize it as a bug by then).

I am not excusing TurboTax, just saying how it works, from years of experience.

[mlohrer]

(1) Yes, I understand it's a peculiar point in the product's usage cycle - by shear numbers most users certainly are done, but those of us with more involved tax conundrums are actually still wrestling with IRS guidance and clarifications on many things driven by all the recent "economic stimulus" programs - running scenarios and exploring options with the Turbotax program are quite typical...October 15 looms large!

(2) Your advice based on experience, please: Is there any point in my spending time on the phone with tech support trying to get them to see the problem (screen-sharing, that type of stuff)?

Or, are community discussions more likely to get this on their radar?

The first rep actually seemed to understand the issue, flabergasted that her record of the discussion seems to have disppeared.  The second rep, as you allude to, astonishingly uninformed...

[macuser_22]

Customer support is the best way - if you can get your call escalated to a Mac tech support person that understands the problem and will test it on a Mac.    This community is not manned  by TurboTax employees after May 17.  Only other users are here.

[macuser_22]

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@mlohrer wrote:

(1) Yes, I understand it's a peculiar point in the product's usage cycle - by shear numbers most users certainly are done, but those of us with more involved tax conundrums are actually still wrestling with IRS guidance and clarifications on many things driven by all the recent "economic stimulus" programs - running scenarios and exploring options with the Turbotax program are quite typical...October 15 looms large!

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BTW: what are you trying to do that requires the forms mode that cannot be done just as easily in the interview mode?

You can still view the forms in the forms mode to be sure that they are correct.

[mlohrer]

In answer to your last question, lots of depreciable business asset information entry and modification of prior years - so far, can't even get Easystep to open an Asset Information worksheet from a prior year (not create a new one, access an existing one...).

BUT, having said that, I need to figure that out, because I just spent an hour on the phone with tech support, screen-sharing, etc.

End result: as they requested, I reinstalled the program, and still the same problem was clearly demonstrated.  Also, opened 2019 version and demonstrated PROPER operation of Quickzoom and "checkboxes".

Their solution: we'll send you a new license key to reinstall AGAIN under a new license, yours is probably corrupted... call us back if that still doesn't solve the problem.

What I don't understand: they keep referring to a "database" of known issues, and this is NOT on that list.  So why this over-arching resistance to logging this potential bug into that list?  Just not something any rep I've talked to yet has been willing or perhaps able to do...