TurboTax Deluxe not showing running refund/owe information

[mdalida21]

as mentioned before, we want the old version where there was a live running meter as you’re inputting information, not waiting until the end after inputting everything and making corrections. i know the meter only pops up in the end. that’s not what we want.

[Captain Stereo]

This is a really crummy change. Seeing the running total was a very useful feature. To make it conditional on certain info is needlessly removing info. Obviously, anyone knows that the running total only reflects the data entered to that point. Who is this helping???

[VolvoGirl]

The refund monitor is still in the Desktop download installed program.  And the Desktop program has several other features over the Online version.   

[MajorHavoc]

@VolvoGirl I have the most expensive desktop edition and while the state shows a running total, the Federal does not. I entered ONLY my income and the Fed Tex Due says $0.00. If I click that, I see two forms showing the entered data. The Federal is grayed out and does not show a running total. 

If you found wa way to enable this, please share. 

[VolvoGirl]

That’s weird.  I have Windows Home & Business and the monitors always show from the beginning.  I just installed Mac Premier on my friend’s Mac and they are both there.  Try updating your program.  If you have Windows see if there are any Window updates to do.  Reboot your computer.  Maybe you have a zero federal tax due or refund.  Switch to Forms mode and look at the 1040.   What does it show for lines 35a or 37? 

[mesquitebean]

@ MajorHavoc   Have you chosen a filing status yet (in the Personal Info section?)   Sorry, gotta ask.

[MajorHavoc]

Just to be clear (and not trying to be snarky), I have been doing taxes since the 70's, much of it using TurboTax,  so this is not my first rodeo.  When I look at the form, I see my taxable income (for at least what I entered) which is high enough to generate tax due. The form shows all zeros, which is incorrect. So for grins, I started a new return, and just entered $42,000 as a random income. According to the Federal income tax Calculator, that should generate a tax due of $1,367.50 assuming married filing jointly and taking the standard deduction.  NOT ZERO. The program is wrong. 

So maybe it is showing zero because it believes I own no tax, but as someone who does taxes, I can assure you that my current income alone would cause a tax due. And no, I have no withholdings or estimated payments. I put the above amount of $42,000 on line 15 of the 1040.

I am running on a Mac, so maybe this is a Mac related issue? 

[MajorHavoc]

And the program always asks if an update it available, and I install all. I reboot my machine regularly, and as an engineer from Apple, I can tell you that seldom is that really an answer.  But thanks for the suggestions anyway .

[MajorHavoc]

I have another update: It seems I had to get past the first few parts of the "interview" and get to a place where a refund was due, and the display started working and is updating correctly as I move forward . Very odd. 

[MajorHavoc]

Hi @mesquitebean   I had to go check. Good question. But yes, it was selected from the import of last years return. 

it’s working now. For some reason this zero until I put in an expense the triggered a refund due, and the number appeared. I deleted that entry and the result went negative. Sounds like a strange bug to me. But it is (hopefully) displaying the correct running total now. Also strange that the state running total was correct from the beginning. 

[naticio]

fire the idiot product manager and VP and the whole team, either they are bored with nothing to do, want to justify their salary or are plain stupid to remove this feature

[taxlady28]

The feature caused a lot of confusion with many users.  They saw a refund and then did not understand when they put in more data and the refund amount went down.  They thought that TurboTax was taking their money from them.  While many users understood what was going on, the feature caused a lot of phone calls for help from users who did not understand it.  Now they only see the tracker after having put in their income, expenses, and deductions.  

[xxxx-xxxx]

This is a BS answer. The feature is there on iPad and iPhone. It was removed only for desktop and online on PC. Yes, it might cause confusion for some users. But it is costing a lot for others as a simple answer can make a costly money decision. If you see the numbers going up or down at least you are certain the answers are correct or as expected. Please do not keep on saying that many users got confused. Now it is a black box. You put garbage in, you get garbage out and nobody notices it.

HR block is the best option for this year until TurboTax puts it back or loses the business completely

[doingtaxessuck]

This is the most ridiculous change i've ever seen, my wife and I both work full time, we both have small businesses on the side, i've always put in our W2 info from full time jobs and all other info related to just us, THEN i go back and plug info in for each business, keeping track of how much is owed/refund so that i know how much either of the small businesses impact our taxes and if tax is owed that small business pays for that amount of taxes owed.  right or wrong that's have we've done it for years. this change has completely screwed all that up.  i know some people are stupid, but did you have to take the functionality away just because a few people are idiots?

[zcori39qvbh6]

BRING THIS BACK! This was literally the main reason we used TurboTax! Will be switching to a different provider next year. What a horrible move that was!