TurboTax: *HOT* File Federal AND State Taxes Completely FREE (#1 Best-Selling Tax Software)
Planning to file your taxes soon? For the first time ever (and for a limited time only!), TurboTax is now allowing users to file Federal (1040A or 1040 EZ) AND State tax returns completely FREE with the TurboTax Federal Free Edition (previously you could only file Federal taxes at no cost). To get started, head over here where you’ll be able to prepare, print and electronically file your Federal AND State tax returns for FREE!
Plus, TurboTax users will not have to pay extra to comply with new health care laws or to claim their earned income tax credit. With Absolute Zero, there’s no better time to make the switch from a national tax preparation chain and pay nothing out of pocket (that’s $0, zilch, nada! Awesome! 🙂 )! Plus, TurboTax is the #1 best selling tax software and is rated A+ with the Better Business Bureau!
Does anybody know how long this promotion will go on for?
When you’re ready to file
Use any increment of $100 from your federal tax refund to purchase an Amazon.com e-gift card.
TurboTax will give you an extra 5% on your e-gift card if you are using the desktop version of Basic
TurboTax will give you an extra 5% on your e-gift card if you are using the online version of Deluxe, Premier or Home & Business
TurboTax will give you an extra 10% on your e-gift card if you are using the desktop version of Deluxe, Premier or Home & Business
For example, if you file with TurboTax Deluxe Online, you can use $500 of your refund to receive a $525 Amazon.com e-gift card
Once your refund is available/funded, we’ll email you your Amazon.com e-gift card within 1-2 business days.
Shop on Amazon.com for almost everything — including groceries! This special bonus is just another way TurboTax helps you make your hard-earned dollars go even further this year. Enjoy!
Amazon.com Gift Card offer is for federal refunds only. Limits apply ($2000 per e-card, maximum $10,000 per customer). Offer available only for TurboTax Online (except Federal Free Edition) or CD/download versions sold and shipped, or downloaded directly from Intuit or Amazon. Except as required by law, Amazon.com Gift Cards cannot be canceled, transferred for value or redeemed for cash.
Amazon.com is not a sponsor of this promotion. Amazon.com Gift Cards (“GCs”) sold by Intuit, an authorized and independent reseller of Amazon.com Gift Cards. Except as required by law, GCs cannot be transferred for value or redeemed for cash. GCs may be used only for purchases of eligible goods at Amazon.com or certain of its affiliated websites. For complete terms and conditions, see http://www.amazon.com/gc-legal. GCs are issued by ACI Gift Cards, Inc., a Washington corporation. All Amazon ®, ™ & © are IP of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. No expiration date or service fees.
I did this last year and it was great!
I filed this year and it was free to file with. I had education credits and a few deductions. It’s the simple return that free.
I’m confused… Everything on page says free, but fine prints says…
“Pay for TurboTax out of your federal refund: A $29.99 Refund Processing Service fee applies to this payment method. Prices are subject to change without notice.”
Does anyone understand what that means??
it’s free for ez files. $29 is for the deluxe which I use since I have extra items Iinclude for deductions. Great software even at $30 sine other “big” chains charge easily over $100 – Good luck 🙂
It means if you are paying for the Deluxe version lets say, its $34.99. If you can’t pay for this now, they can deduct the $34.99 from your refund but they charge you a $29.99 fee to do this. Make sense?
It means if you pick an option that is NOT the Free Edition (such as Deluxe, Premier or Home & Business) you will have to pay the listed fee for the product. If you choose to have the listed fee deducted from your tax return (as opposed to paying for it outright via credit card, etc), then it is subject to an $29.99 processing fee. However, if you pick the Free Edition, there is no product fee to pay in the first place, so the question of how you are going to pay for it does not even arise, and the processing fee issue is moot.
It looks like the free version only works if you don’t own a home or have other deductions/credits. If not, they recommend another paid version for you.
Yeah, the free version is good for a young adult still mostly supported by mom and dad type thing. Most adults can’t use the free version as they make to much money or have to many deductions, etc
There’s also the issue where they (turbo tax) is charging more for different services needed…so proceed with caution!
When I logged in it says file your federal taxes for $34.
I didn’t even get my W-2 yet…hopefully it will still be available when I do …my lovely company waits until the last day.
This version is always free so don’t worry
It’s free if you are using the EZ form and if you make under $30,000 a year. If you want to do a home deduction you will be told you need to upgrade at a cost of $39.99, then if you enter stocks you are told you need to upgrade again for another $19.99. I’ve found Turbo Tax to be a big bait and switch.
Sounds too good to be true. I’m guessing most people are much better off purchasing at least the deluxe edition.
It’s good for people who don’t own a home or have any deductions….mainly young people.
It is only free if you have really simple taxes to file that use the 1040EZ/A. If you need to itemize or have stocks it is not free.
There are a number of free options on the irs dot gov website for filing electronically. I use those for my college age children with part time jobs and they are totally free for both state and federal if your income is below a certain amount, I think last year it was $59,000. Even if your income is more than that and you have to pay, the fee is very small in comparison with paying someone to do your taxes and it’s pretty much idiot proof unless you have complicated deductions. You simply answer the prompts and then at the end it prompts you to submit them electronically. Just be sure to choose one that will submit state taxes to the state you live in at the same time you submit your federal. Some of them will only submit to certain states so you want to be sure to choose one that works in the state you live in.
We use turbo tax every year to do ours. Last year we itemized w/ a house and several other deductions. Very easy to use even if u have to pay a small fee compared to other sites/services. I don’t remember paying a fee last year (but could be mistaken)
I am not understanding so maybe someone can help me out? I have used turbo tax for 2 years. I purchased my first home almost 3 years ago. I have always used the free version and on the free version it asks if you own a home. Every year I answer yes. I am seeing a lot of people saying that if you own a home you have to go with the deluxe version. However, I went with the free version because I didn’t know there was a difference. If I answered yes to owning a home on the free version while filing my taxes last year did it automatically upgrade me to the deluxe? Or did I file my taxes wrong? It never told me otherwise and even using the program to double check and make sure my taxes were accurate always told me that there was nothing wrong.
My next question is about money I inherited through my grandfathers stocks this past year. It wasn’t much. I chose to withdraw the money because it was a low amount and they told me they would have to sale the stocks and I had to pay for them to sell the stocks I didn’t want. because I inherited this money from my grandfather and I got rid of the stocks does that mean I will need to go with the premier version on turbo tax?
Please tell me that I have not been doing my taxes wrong…
Aleshia- you will have to pay capital gains on the stocks that you sold. When someone dies and you inherit securities you do get a step up in basis, so hopefully the gains are minimal. The investment company reports the sale to the IRS, so your return needs to show the income otherwise you’ll receive a penalty notice. This is all assuming the stocks were held in a taxable account and not an IRA. If they were held in an IRA, you’re going to get socked with early distribution penalties.
Thank you for your help! I am still a little confused on the mortgage tax. I used the free version last year and had no issues, so does that means turbotax used to offer free help to mortgage owners and they changed it this year to the deluxe version? I do remember requesting the 1098 form from my mortgage company and submitting that information in on turbotax the last 2 years.
I can’t remember if it was in an IRA or not. I do know that they took 10% out to hold for tax season. They told me I could get some of that back or owe a little more depending on my tax bracket and income. They said I could even get all 10% back. I got back less than 800$ inherited through sold stocks.
If you know a CPA or tax accountant, it would be good to ask them for a suggestion. You will likely owe $$ on that transaction. Though whoever investments were held thru, they should send you a tax form which should give any info turbo tax would ask about.
Thank you for your help! I am still a little confused on the mortgage tax. I used the free version last year and had no issues, so does that means turbotax used to offer free help to mortgage owners and they changed it this year to the deluxe version? I do remember requesting the 1098 form from my mortgage company and submitting that information in on turbotax the last 2 years.
I can’t remember if it was in an IRA or not. I do know that they took 10% out to hold for tax season. They told me I could get some of that back or owe a little more depending on my tax bracket and income. They said I could even get all 10% back. I got back less than 800$ inherited through sold stocks.
Aleshia – you will have to file a schedule D and probably a Form 8949 because you inherited the stock. I recommend using a software program in your case because those schedules are confusing to the average person. BTW when it asks you the cost of the stock, that is the stock’s NYSE price on the day your grandfather died. You can find the stock price on Yahoo financial under historical price.
As an FYI – I’m a dual state licensed Certified Public Accountant of 23 years with a Masters Degree in Taxation.
PS You should receive a Form 1099 from the brokerage firm that sold the stocks for you.
Aleshia, Did you print off a copy of your taxes from 2013? If you did look at the form number. If the form is 1040a then everything is fine. If the form number is 1040ez they aren’t wrong, it’s just that you didn’t get a tax deduction for your mortgage tax. If you didn’t take all of your deductions you can refile.
Rereading your comment – if it was from an IRA, you will receive a Form 1099-R. That you would NOT report as a stock sale on a schedule D but rather as IRA income on line 15a & 15b.
In other words, your probably going to need a little extra help this year.
A big issues that the Deluxe version doesn’t include Schedule D anymore (Capital Gains). You will have to purchase the Premiere version for that. This is ticking off a lot of long time TurboTax users.
Carol_R, there are a lot of complaints about Turbo Tax this year. A lot of people bought the Deluxe version and later found out that stocks and other things are not in the Deluxe anymore but Turbo Tax is nice enough to offer you an upgrade for only an additional $30. What a ripoff!
Also what is a state vs. federal returns? I went with the free version in the past. I just submitted all of my W2 for work and the 1098 for our mortgage and had no issues. So am I missing something? How do I know I have all the forms I need. I didn’t even know there were two separate forms.
State is state taxes and federal is federal taxes. They show up on your pay check as a deduction. You may need to have a professional help you.
Thank you for your help ladies. The reason why I was confused on state and federal taxes is because I live in TX and we do not have state taxes. We only get federal.
Aha! I’m here in Texas too and the idea of a state tax is foreign to me too. o_O We pay really high sales tax though!
You have to file a state return and a federal return. I think it might be wise for you to talk to someone.
If you make $53K or less, use the free IRS VITA program who does both federal and state. Make sure you sign up early and bring all paperwork. Works for me as a single parent and tired of doing it myself!
https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Free-Tax-Return-Preparation-for-You-by-Volunteers
I owned a home for 2 years and sold it and was able to use the free version all three years. Turbotax has never told me to upgrade the edition.
Also, depending on the state you’re filing taxes with, you can usually electronically file them through their official revenue site for free. Yes, you have to refill out all the info and it’s a pain, but you won’t have to pay the submission fee. CA has this option. AZ doesn’t (so i just filled out paper format for the state taxes). Always good to just check around more for the free options if you want to save $30+.
My comment above was meant to go under comment #16. Sorry.
I know I have asked this several times, but I am hoping to get an answer. I live in TX and therefore we do not have state taxes only federal. For the last 2 years I have used the free version on turbo tax. I also, purchased a home 3 years ago. On the free version in the previous years it has asked for the 1098 form for our mortgage. I submitted the information on that form with no issues. I am reading a lot of comments on this blog that you have to use the Deluxe version if you are a home owner. So, my first question is did turbo tax used to offer the mortgage deductions on the free version, but no longer do? Or, did I have no problem putting that information on the free version because I do not pay state taxes?
Hi, Ashley. Email me greeneyejewel @ aol.com so I can try to explain this to you without posting on here. 😊
I’m a homeowner also and have always used the free version. Did they change something?
Sounds like you have the standard deductions, so you’re fine. When you file long form and several deductions, owning a home can bump up your deductions beyond the standard amount.
Not sure if this will help anyone but I am married and we have two incomes, not high incomes, and several small children. Therefore, we usually get a fair amount back. We used H&R Block for a few years until they messed up a rate and then we owed money later that they wouldn’t fix. After that we used turbo tax for prob like 6-7 years. It was free and we got a big return so we were happy. We bought a house during the time, figured it out no problem, etc. so I would always wonder why people paid to have their taxes done. Last year, however, we entered a partnership in a small business and the accountant said they did our personal taxes for free as a bonus. When all was said and done, we got back a couple THOUSAND more dollars than we ever did with Turbo Tax. And we didn’t even have a baby that year or anything. Just letting you know, the $100-200 you pay an accountant, may work out way better for you in the end. They must have known things we didn’t. Just my two cents.
I pay a professional because they always get me back more money than I can get on my own
I would like to use an accountant but don’t know where to turn. How do you find a good one. I live in San Diego if anyone has any recommendations.