TurboTax 2008 – Intuit Removes Tax Preparation Fees
December 15, 2008
TurboTax 2008 no longer has fees for preparing additional returns and is keeping the included e-File option. A reader emailed me last night with the following question:
“Will the 2008 edition permit me to prepare both federal and state returns for myself and others? Or has this capability been eliminated. In the past I’ve used Turbo Tax Deluxe, will the 2008 Turbo Tax Deluxe edition permit me to prepare multiple tax returns as in the past?”
TurboTax Fees
This is a common question recently since initially the latest version of TurboTax charged an additional $9.95 for each additional tax return prepared by a user.
However, Turbo Tax users made such a fuss online that Intuit decided not to charge the fee. Customers were leaving negative TurboTax reviews on Amazon due to these fees and Intuit took note and is removing them.
TurboTax Reviews
While there were many reviews criticizing TurboTax as “ripping them off” with the changes one person on Amazon left an interesting comment.
“You don’t think you ripped off Intuit for years, doing your son’s, your daughters, your neighbor’s, and their grandmother’s returns for FREE?”
I think they make a point. At my old office one guy would bring in his copy of TurboTax and pass it around to several people who would use it to prepare their taxes. Then they’d save it as a pdf, take it home, print out the tax return, and mail it in. Obviously you’re not supposed to do this but there were no controls stopping it.
TurboTax Customer Service
Of course it doesn’t matter anymore this year since Intuit is reversing the changes. As I mentioned to the reader, it is nice to see a big company that listens pretty closely to its customers; the feedback loop of the internet is a pretty neat thing!
So at least for 2008, you’re able to file multiple returns without extra charges using TurboTax.
All posts by Ben Edwards
YES YES YES!!! T. House and Sandra. Us ripping off a company making millions off of our backs!!!!!?????????????? What a luicrous remark. Does the “guy” claimed as bringing their copy of TT into the office (if it is even true) make what Intuit execs make?
RIP OFF is defined is defined as INTUIT.
Can someone tell me why turbo tax is charging me $937.65 . The break down is $0 for e-file and everything else included. totalling $937.65. I don’t know why they are trying to charge this fee.
Many people having problems installing TT Deluxe for 2008. Very difficult to get their customer service on the phone. Their product is steadily getting worse as they “glitz” it up and attempt to find ways to charge you for addition services.
As for the installation of 2008, the installer tried to install MS .NET 2.0, IE 6, and one other MS product that were already on my computer. Their customer service tells me I have to uninstall and reinstall my IE 6 and .NET, etc. Bullshit!! Why is it a problem this year and not over the past 5 years I have used TT?
Also, good luck getting a refund, you need to provide written request snail mailed to Intuit with receipt. My disk just arrived in the mail and they took the liberty of charging my credit card that I used for TT Deluxe 2007 last year. I probably missed some check mark about shipping and charging for 2008 when available.
Intuit should spend less time on fiding ways to squeeze a few extra bucks out of people and concentarte on SIMPLIFYING they software.
Nobody is “ripping” off turbotax, intuit, or anyone else. the only way to get anyone’s taxes done for free is to qualify economically. In other words, you have to be under a certain income level, as well as other criteria. That means if your mom or whoever does a son’s taxes, he would have gotten them done free no matter if he did them or his mom did them for him, as long as he met those income bases.
The comment you quote is BS… TurboTax has allowed the IRS imposed limit of 5 e-files each year for quite some time… So I would certainly surmise that there was no ripoff from doing other family members returns. In fact, I believe you’ll find that is allowed as part of the licensing agreement…
Intuit is a very unethical company. Are you aware that after weeks of advertising their state e-file fee as $17.95, they plan to raise it to $19.95 on December 30th? BEFORE THEY EVEN HAVE THE STATE SOFTWARE AVAILABLE AND BEFORE ANYONE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE THE DOCUMENTS THEY NEED TO FILE A TAX RETURN!
Intuit and TurboTax… What a bunch of dishonest business people…