Turbo Tax May Not Be Your Friend in 2020

A Warning about Turbo Tax 

More and more people are seeing I.R.S Audits when they have used Turbo Tax to prepare their taxes. They may also get a surprise with the bait and switch that Intuit uses when they lure you into the FREE tax filing gemick. 

Remember TURBO TAX is NOT Free. Well it is, but if you have more than just a W-2 you will have more forms and have to pay anywhere between 39.95 & 250.00. The audit protection is a joke with Turbo Tax as they only cover if the actual calculation are incorrect. Well its software so the calculations will never be wrong, yet it will allow you to take deductions and credits you are not entitled to if you interpret the questions incorrectly. 

This is from a client that came to McVay Business Services last year after spending days and days working with Turbo Tax. After his nightmare she received 2 letters from the I.R.S stating his return was incorrectly prepared. 

A TurboTax Seminaro I don't want any of you to fall into. I went to file my taxes yesterday the same way I have done for several years, with the TurboTax free file. I noticed a few things that I thought I'd share:

When I got to the section for the child and dependent care credit, the software kept telling me that I don't qualify. I knew that I still qualified for the credit so I googled it. Turns out, when you enter your W2 at the beginning for you and your spouse, it defaults both of them to one persons name (so it appeared that I made too much money for the credit, while my husband had no income). As soon as I went back and assigned one of the W2 to my husband I qualified for the credit, which boosted my refund by $600.

Because I filed for a specific credit, TT software said I needed to pay the $39.99 as the free software didn't cover one of the forms I'd need done to file. I was already finished by this point and was getting money back so I figured ok, I'll pay it, and that I will just file by hand next year. TT gave me the option to pay this fee out of my refund, saying something like "no need to reach for your wallet, we can just take this from your refund". Nowhere on this page did it indicate that there would be a fee to do so. When I was completely done and ready to file, TT asked me to consent to the charges and hit submit. I noticed that the fees suddenly went from $39.99 to 79.99 and I didn't understand why until I searched the internet and found dozens of complaints from last year. Apparently TT is charging an extra $39.99 in order for them to take the original fee from your return with very little explanation and quite deceptive language on their website. I paid the original fee with my credit card and filed without issue.
I know this is a bit strange and I am not trying to blast TT in general, but I do think it is fair that people be aware of these fees and quirks of the software. Hope this helps someone!

After filing, I received 2 letters from the I.R.S, said I owed another $2,174.00 with penalties and interest. After finding Mr. McVay, Tax Expert in Pensacola, FL I found that several of the questions Turbo Tax ask was ambiguous and I guess I thought my answer should be different. When I called Intuit for help they said they only guarantee the calculations are right and that I am on my own when it comes to the questions that Turbo Tax ask. Well, its bye bye to Turbo Tax. Mr. Mike McVay, Tax Accountant not only corrected my return but was able to abate all the penaities associated with the I.R.S and set-up a payment plan so I can pay monthly for this extra tax I was not expecting to owe. I will always from now on use a local Pensacola Tax professional to prepare all my income taxes.

Pensacola FL Tax - McVay Business Services
5336 n Blue Angel Pkwy
Pensacola, FL 32526
850-725-5696

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