With the new tax law, I will no longer have to itemize, so I can use the free version. Why should I have to upgrade to a Premium version?

[tometheridge]

Under the new law, in round numbers, my taxable income will be $10K while my standard deduction will be $12K. Therefore I am clearly eligible to use the free version. So why should I need to manually type in my information from last year when it's sitting on my hard disc?

[SunnyM]

Sorry, our free version has limited features and unfortunately the year over year transfer of data is one of the feature that our paid products include.  

[SzS]

Fortunately, all other brands of tax software import TurboTax files, and they're all cheaper than TurboTax. So if your filing situation is such that you could use the free TurboTax version, you should investigate various other brands if you really want the convenience of importing last year's data.

[tometheridge]

Since I still have last year's return (from TurboTax free version) on my hard drive, I have no problem manually copying and pasting the appropriate data from it to my 2019 free version when instructed to do so. Or will I have to go back to the appropriate 2018 Forms 1099-R and Social Security Benefit Statement instead? And will the instructions tell me what to do?

[Vanessa A]

You will not need to go back to the 2018 forms.  When you file your taxes, you will need to use all of your new documents you receive for 2019 to file your 2019 taxes.