Since I've completed my return will turbo tax automatically e-file my return? or do I need to go back to it to e-file on or around said acceptance date?

[rjs · Accepted solution]

TurboTax will not automatically e-file your return. You have to go all the way through the File section of the interview until you get to the screen with the orange button that says "Transmit Returns Now," and click that button.

You should not e-file until the date that the IRS starts accepting 2018 tax returns. They have not yet announced what that date will be. It will probably be in late January or early February. TurboTax will let you "e-file" before then, but TurboTax will simply hold it until the IRS starts accepting tax returns. But once you submit it to TurboTax, you cannot cancel it or get it back to make changes or corrections.

I question whether you have really completed your tax return. You can't properly complete it until you get all your W-2s, 1099s, and other tax documents. You may think you know what's going to be on those documents, but you could end up being surprised to find that the actual documents differ from what you expected.