TurboTax has 2 free products, and I'll talk about both of them in
this Answer, so read the whole thing first to help make your decision.
You
appear to be using Deluxe now, which is 39.99 for Federal and 39.99 for
State. If you choose to pay the fees out of the Federal refund, there
is an additional 39.99 service fee (44.99 for California filers.)
Are you reporting any student loan interest or receiving any
credits? Those are some common things that would require someone who
normally uses Free Edition to have to use Deluxe, since they require a
new Schedule.
If you are SURE you don't need Deluxe, you
could use "Clear and Start Over" and choose regular Free Edition. But
if you need one of the new Federal schedules 1-6, you would once again encounter a situation that requires an upgrade.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2586254-how-do-i-clear-and-start-over-in-turbotax-online
But
if it's asking you to upgrade to Deluxe to receive certain credits, report student loan
interest, etc., there is a free alternative. I've told you below about a
second free product below. So
read the whole answer first.
Because of new changes in the tax
laws for 2018, there may be some
filers who can no longer use regular Free Edition this year. But there
a second free product that you might be able to use, if necessary.
I'll provide more info about it below.
The regular
Free Edition is more limited this year due to tax law changes. If you
need any of the new Schedules 1-6, for instance, then you can't use
Free Edition.
Here are some common things that cannot be handled by the regular Free Edition:
Itemized deductions
Business or 1099-MISC income
Sales of stocks/mutual funds/bonds
Rental property income
Foreign Earned Income
HSA
Credits, deductions and income reported on the new schedules 1–6, such as the Student Loan Interest Deduction
You can read about the new schedules here. Click on the "More info" link for each to see the actual schedule.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4511015-what-are-the-new-schedules
TurboTax
has another free product called
the TurboTax Free File Program. It is free for both Federal and
State--IF you meet just one of the qualifications. It can handle all
the usual forms without the limitations of regular Free Edition.
See this FAQ to see if you meet one of the qualifications:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program
The TurboTax Free File Program is located at the link
below. It requires a new account and new User ID at that website, different from what you are currently using for
Free Edition since it is a different website, and the IRS requires it to
be disconnected from the TurboTax commercial products.
https://turbotax.intuit.com/taxfreedom/
If you decide to switch, here's how. Note you will need
a new account and new User ID there, different than Online TurboTax.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2026912-how-do-i-switch-to-turbotax-free-file-program
