Why am I getting charged to file my state and federal?

[MindyB]

It depends. The TurboTax Free Edition is for taxpayers who have a simple Form 1040 and don't need extra schedules. If your tax situation involves things like home ownership deductions, unemployment income, or self-employment, you'll need to upgrade to a version like Deluxe to make sure those specific forms are handled correctly.

See Why do I have to upgrade from Free Edition? for more information.

If you qualify and need to downgrade, on the left menu select Switch Products, then Downgrade.

[VolvoGirl]

A couple reasons it could be saying you need to upgrade….

You might be seeing Form 8959 because the amount of Medicare taxes withheld in W2 box 6 is not exactly 1.45% of the Medicare wages in box 5, due to rounding.   Try leaving the cents off of the Medicare tax on your W2 box 6.   Box 6 has to be exactly 1.45% of box 5 or less.   

If it is saying you need Schedule 3 and can't use the Free Edition it might be giving you the retirement savings credit. You can say you are a student to decline the credit. You must answer Yes when asked in the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit section if your were a full-time student. The answer to this same question asked in the personal-information section is not the answer that is used.