Why is Turbotax asking me to upgrade to Deluxe when I only received a salary and some interest on a savings account?

[Texas Roger]

If the interest is more than $1500 it requires Schedule B which is not included in the Free Edition. Was it more than $1500?

[rjs]

What was the last thing you entered before it said you have to upgrade?

Did it tell you what schedule you need that requires the upgrade? That would be a clue to what the reason is.

Here's a pure guess: Was money taken out of your pay for a 401(k) or other retirement plan? If so, you might be getting the retirement savings contributions credit ("Saver's Credit"), which Free Edition does not handle.

It's not only income that might require an upgrade. Do you have any deductions or credits? Many of them are not handled in Free Edition.

You might be able to use the TurboTax Free File Program instead of Free Edition. See the FAQ at the link below for information about TurboTax Free File Program, including the requirements to be able to use it.

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program">https://ttlc.intuit.co...>

[huannou]

The interest was less than $1,500; however, my taxable income is over $100K. Could that be the reason for the mandatory upgrade?

[huannou]

The message on the screen was: "You have additional Other Tax reported" and I am now being asked to pay $29.99 (federal) + $39.99 (NYS) + $39.99 (NJ). That's A LOT for a service that claims to be FREE till the very end!

[Texas Roger]

You can preview your tax return to see what may be causing the upgrade. Click on Tax Tools then Tools then View Tax Summary. Look to the left and click on Preview My 1040. If you have any of the 6 new schedules 1-6 in your return, you must upgrade. You can find them by scrolling down from the new 1040. You must also upgrade if you itemize deductions on Schedule A.

[rjs · Accepted solution]

It's not because your income is over $100,000. "Other Taxes" means something other than regular income tax. Other Taxes are on Schedule 4, and include the following. If you owe any of these taxes, you have to upgrade.

• Self-employment tax
• Social Security and Medicare tax on unreported tips
• Additional tax (i.e. penalty) for early distributions from an IRA or 401(k), failure to take an RMD, or excess contributions to an IRA, ESA, MSA, HSA, or ABLE account
• Household employee taxes ("nanny tax")
• Repayment of the first-time homebuyer credit
• Individual responsibility payment (i.e. penalty) for not having health insurance coverage
• Additional Medicare tax
• Net Investment Income Tax