Filed a return for my son today using the TurboTax program I got through Vanguard. We have to pay $19.99 to efile the State return which I am okay with, but when I tried to do it, they said I had to call customer service. There is a lengthy question part that you have to go through and it won’t let you speak to a representative until you answer them all. Then it tried to connect me and I was disconnected twice.
Finally reached some help and they let me pay by CC which they already had on file. Total time 33 minutes. I then asked if the problem was fixed and was told that I would have to repeat this process for each return I file. I am NOT happy and let them know that.
Personally, I’m too cheap to pay to file state returns. I just print and mail for ~$1.00. Yeah, it takes a little longer for a refund, but a few weeks time for $20 is well worth it, IMO.
btw: e-file is no guarantee of receipt, or at least proper processing. A few months ago, we received a letter from the IRS concerning our company return for 2011. The letter contained a big fat five-figure penalty for non-filing, even though there was no $$ due. Of course, it was filed electronically by our tax firm. A few letters back and forth, and we haven’t heard from them since.
I bet this state problem is the reason you have to call in to efile. Which I could understand. What I don’t understand is the 33 minutes it took to do it. Speed it up if you want my business.
I finally filed my state and federal forms today with Turbo Tax. I knew from this post that I had to upgrade to the Home and Business. However I was able to apply for the $25 rebate since I filed with Deluxe last year. I was surprised to find out however that my $19.99 state efile fee is now $24.99! I found out on the tax forums that this fee was increased in March. Printing and mailing next year.
TaxACT costs me less than $20 for one Federal and one state e-file. And it includes the investment stuff (sched D and E) and the small business stuff (sched C) that is now extra with Turbotax.
I know it’s a pain to switch, but it’s obvious at this point Intuit is squeezing the cow for all the cash it can.They can’t be getting a lot of new customers when they are 3-4x the price of the competition.
I may switch next year. Turbotax lets you file federal tax for free. Filing cost is the same in a way. After hearing about identity theft/fraud for weeks, I was so relieved that my taxes got through without incident.
Grrrr…S1 did turbo tax last year and did not print a copy. He went on their site this weekend to print…oops that benefit is only available to premium members. (If he pays the membership fee or whatever you call it, then he can view and print last years info) So if anyone of your kids use Turbo tax make sure they print out a copy for their records.
I filed my Federal return but it would not accept my credit card to file the state. It said I had to call so I did and let them have it so they efiled my State for free. Still won’t use them again.
I don’t think it’s credit card issue. Some states are having you call them to verify your identity. I can’t imagine the nightmare of getting your ID stolen.
It might not be a credit card issue, but there is no reason to have to be on hold for twenty minutes and be transferred to three different people to have it fixed. And I filed for one of my kids a month ago and the same thing happened. Was told it was a temporary glitch and would be fixed immediately. Nobody I spoke to could tell me what the problem was and how to correct it.
That’s one of my pet peeves of Turbo Tax. I use professional software at work. Nowhere on there does it ask for the name of the student on the 1099-Q form. It only asks if the recipient is not the designated beneficiary.
Turbo tax also asks for the name and address of every charitable organization you donate to. The IRS doesn’t require this. Only for your records but not to file. And yes, the IRS allows “various” as dates for many sales of the same stock. There are many, many other areas that TT insists you fill out or it won’t let you file.
“various” was always possible as long as I used TurboTax. It used ot be that you could enter various for both buy and sell dates. I think they changed it buy date only. But I make up a date if I don’t want to bother looking up. Usually, 12/31/20xx.
I skip address and names and just enter total. I never had an issue with it. Under name I enter total for 20xx and the amount.