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August 21, 2020
Question

Why does turbo tax make things so complicated

  • August 21, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views
I'm not self employed. But turbo tax tries to make me answer questions, infuriates me

1 reply

Employee
August 21, 2020

@flonorton wrote:
Why does turbo tax make things so complicated?  I'm not self employed. But turbo tax tries to make me answer questions, infuriates me

Are you in the correct edition that you wanted?   The edition to use depends on what types of income items are in your return and what forms you need in your return.

 

You appear to be using Live Self-Employed which is the most advanced and most expensive of all the online editions.    While it can prepare all personal tax returns, that edition is geared toward folks who have a self-employed business (sole proprietor, independent contractor, etc.) plus the LIVE add-on feature allows for on-demand access to a live CPA/EA tax expert during return preparation and a review of your return by the expert prior to efiling.  That Live feature adds considerable cost.    Live Self-Employed is $200 for a Federal return and $55 for a state return.   And if you pay any fees out of your Federal refund, there is an additional $40 service fee ($45 for California filers.)

 

If you do not have a self-employed business and didn't have one last year whose disposition you need to account for, you can downgrade to a lower edition, if you wish.

 

For example, if you have capital gains from stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. to report, you could downgrade to Online Premier.

If you have rental/royalty property, you could downgrade to Premier.

If you have a K-1 to report on Schedule E, you could downgrade to Premier.

If you don't have any of the above, you may be able to downgrade to Deluxe (or possibly even one of the free products if you qualify).

 

FAQ:  What is TurboTax Live?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/choosing-a-product/help/what-is-turbotax-live/01/27191

 

FAQ:  How do I remove Live?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/downgrading/help/how-do-i-remove-turbotax-live/01/27312

 

FAQ:  Can I downgrade to a lower-priced version of TurboTax?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/downgrading/help/can-i-downgrade-to-a-lower-priced-version-of-turbotax-online/00/25591