TurboTax crashes when attempting to open investment account connection dialog, and sometimes when opening File menu

[deeptoaster]

TurboTax crashes whenever I do one of several things, including:

• Opening the dialog in the Investment Income section to connect to a financial institution account.
• Clicking the File menu after loading a tax return. (All of the other menus work fine, and the File menu works fine as well as long as I haven't opened my tax return.)

I have tried:

• Closing and reopening TurboTax.
• Restarting my computer.
• Completing all available Windows updates. My computer is completely up to date, on Windows 11 25H2 with all patches.
• Checking for updates automatically. My TurboTax is up to date, version 025.000.0290.
• Applying the most recent TurboTax update using the manual patch tool.
• Uninstalling and reinstalling TurboTax.
• Starting a new return and filling out all the same info again.

None of these have resolved the issue. TurboTax crashes consistently whenever I attempt any of the actions listed above. I am effectively unable to use my software in this moment.

[SteamTrain]

@deeptoaster 

Someone else had a similar problem , and the re-install fixed it......but you've done that already.

I wonder if it's a Visual C++ Repair issue...not exactly the same as the post below...but someone had a direction as to how to repair the Visual C++ in case that is what's causing your problem too.

See:

Re: turbo Tax 2025 Desktop will not open once loaded

____________

[deeptoaster]

Thanks for the suggestion; I just tried it and unfortunately it does not resolve my issue.

It's just odd that one of the symptoms here is that the File dropdown menu works before I load the return and does not work after the return is loaded. It seems like there's a bug with loading something that only shows up there when a return is active.

[SteamTrain]

@deeptoaster 

Just the old file you were working on....not a new file?

IF just the old file...was there anything special about where it was located...or transferred from?

I know that in past years...folks who saved their file Directly to a USB flash drive would commonly end up with a corrupted file.  (Not sure that is still the case or not.)

[deeptoaster]

I had already tried starting my return from scratch, not using any previous returns' info, and still ended up in the same situation.

I did some debugging today, however, and found that the issue appears to be with the W-2 OCR import feature. Basically, if I'm filling out a return by:

1. starting a new return from scratch
2. filling in all my personal details
3. importing a W-2 electronically (from ADP)
4. typing in W-2 information manually
5. uploading a W-2 as a PDF to be read by TurboTax through OCR
6. continuing to enter my financial information

At every step in the process until step 6, the File menu and further dialogs work fine. However, once I pass step 6 and have a PDF attached to my return, the File menu crashes the app, and so does triggering certain dialogs.

I'm not sure if it's my specific W-2 PDF (which I downloaded from ADP) or all W-2s, but there's definitely a bug in TurboTax around W-2 upload or file attachment. I've verified that the location of the PDF does not matter; attaching it from anywhere leads to the app being "poisoned" as described.

[deeptoaster]

Is there any chance this bug will be patched in the next couple days, or do I need to restart my tax return from scratch? I've already sunk many hours into it.

[SteamTrain]

@deeptoaster 

Yep..you may have to start over...if you haven't already.

1)  Little chance there will be any software updates to fix that.   They turn off updates ~1 or 2 weeks before tax day....because a gazillion people are trying to file at the last minute...and a broken update would cause mass chaos....tooo risky to attempt unless there is already a dire-problem bug.

2)  If you do restart  DO NOT attempt to upload the PDF.  That has caused some pretty bad problems for some folks, and I recommend against doing so every chance I get.  On the page where it allows you to upload the PDF..DON'T DO IT.....look for the text lower down to "Type it in myself".  Then just copy your W-2 data in manually.   Could have saved yourself days of frustration...but water under the bridge at this point.

__________

Other:

3)  the software does not "Save" the PDF of the W-2 with your file, it just attempts to read it.  "Attempts" being the operative word.   Some people that had state wages put into a withholding box would disagree that the operation works anywhere near being flawless.   Others have had problems with other boxes being scrambled too.   Maybe in 5 years or so, I might be tempted to try it...but for now, typing in manually works really well and only takes a very few minutes.   NO to PDF uploads...NO to picture uploads for at least a few more years .

[deeptoaster]

Turns out it wasn't just the W-2 import.

Any import of a PDF, whether it's a W-2 or 1099s from a bank or brokerage, leads to my return getting corrupted to the point where the File menu and other imports no longer work. These features definitely worked fine last year.

@SteamTrain thanks for letting me know that TurboTax is on a freeze from updates. I understand the rationale, but it's a shame it leaves me with this bug. A major reason I paid for Premier this year was to be able to import statements from brokerages and avoid having to type in transaction details for hours, so I may just need to pursue a refund.