Tax software functionality and deals

[DrBrisket]

Free TurboTax Premier 2021 for some Fidelity clients

Working on end-of-year tax tweaks. Logged into my Fido account was pleasantly surprised to see a like to get free TurboTax Premier 2021 already available.

Took a bit to find the download version after clicking the Fidelity link. Ended up using the Intuit search to find the non-online version and snagged my free copy.

 

[Montecfo]

I use Dinkytown, the TT estimator, and my own spreadsheet.

As far as buying TT I did on Amazon. I think it was $10 off. I like having the media and keeping tax forms on desktop.

Also do not see chasing lowest price of the year on tax SW as worth my time.

But that's just me.

 

[steelyman]

Tax software deals

Thanks, I had to go that route.

Link from Fido, then enter TT username/password, then paste that URL into the browser and it took me to the free download page.

Slight differences each year, and it has never been really intuitive, but it's working.

That’s what I ended up doing too. The default way seemed convoluted and kept steering me to the online version (not desktop). Patience paid off.

This is only the second year I’ll be using tax prep software, eventually I’ll get it right.

 

[braumeister]

Threads merged.
Again.

 

[explanade]

Just got it.

The Fidelity handoff link is fine.

But Turbotax makes you go through so many screens to be able to choose the download link or put it in your cart and then download.

 

[foxfirev5]

I see the Free Turbo Tax Premier on my Fido homepage. However I'll pass. Fortunately since most of my assets are in IRA's I have little to file. Withholding out of my IRA, Roth conversions, a simple energy credit, and little interest. A couple of forms , new box of crayolas and I'm good to go. IMHO know how to do your taxes and you will do a better job with your investments.

Also, it's better to owe them a little. (less than 10% to avoid penalty) Other than that I got nothin'

 

[steelyman]

I had a reason to call Fidelity today (question about limited margin). I remembered to mention and thank them for offering free TurboTax Premier.

It can’t hurt to hear positive client feedback.

 

[eytonxav]

I don't know what the hell I did going from Fidelity to TT site, but finally got it to download and install

 

[bluelight]

For those of you that can't find the download link, this seems to be the URL to access:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/cd-download/

You'll need to follow the link from Fido first (to set cookies in your browser), and then access that URL.

Thank you! Windows crashed in the middle of the process making it even more painful. I was ready to give up, but I have it now.

 

[braumeister]

The difficulty, of course, is that TurboTax will have at least 487 updates between now and when you file your taxes. With each one taking a few minutes to load, it's best to hold off and get a lot of them at once.

I just got my first 1099 today, so the process is just beginning. I generally file in March.

 

[Dabbler]

Fidelity offer, posted today on my Summary page
[bottom left corner]:


Get TurboTax® Premier free

• Receive a free federal and state tax return
• TurboTax® will automatically import your Fidelity account info
• Get your refund quickly by direct depositing into your Fidelity account

 

[audreyh1]

Same as others, the free TurboTax Premier offer finally appeared on my Fidelity Home page this morning. As in the past, they try to suck you into the online version. If instead, you want to download the CD/desktop version, follow these instructions:

On the first Intuit screen you come to, don't click any of the 4 options. Instead, scroll down until you see, in very small print, "TurboTax CD/download also available." Click the button that says, "See Products." Now, click the "Buy Now" button under Premier. At that point, select your OS, and then you can purchase Premier for $0 and download the desktop version. I had to login to my Intuit account and it sent a 2FA code. It also asked to confirm my phone number and billing/shipping info. But then it gives you the License Code and a button to click for the download.

That didn’t work for me as there was no cd/download on that first page.

But by bumbling through some pages looking at features and following “Which version is right for me?” I finally got to the cd/download products that showed $0 for Premier, normally $100.

 

[LarryMelman]

That didn’t work for me as there was no cd/download on that first page.

But by bumbling through some pages looking at features and following “Which version is right for me?” I finally got to the cd/download products that showed $0 for Premier, normally $100.

As usual it annoys the hell out of me that some people get the offer and some don't. (Free TurboTax was taken away from me after 2017, even though I had over $2M of assets at Fidelity, including mid-six-figures of Fidelity mutual funds, reps told me my "relationship with Fidelity was insufficient". After which, I moved over $1M out to Charles Schwab and Fidelity didn't bat an eye.)

We all apparently see different things.

On my home/summary page, in the middle column, there's a section "See our special discounts with tax providers. Get the most out of your tax preparation." with a link "Learn More" that goes to a generic page
https://www.fidelity.com/tax-information/tax-preparation/overview
which has links to TurboTax, TaxAct, H&R Block, and TaxChat. The TurboTax link says "up to $20 off", for Deluxe which I need it's $39 discounted to $29 (state e-file is extra). I'll probably find a better deal on Amazon or elsewhere in the weeks ahead.

There is nothing else on my home page related to taxes. The left side has a list of my accounts and a link to open a cash management account.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

$29 is a good price, I doubt you'll find better.
Amazon sells it the day after Christmas for $39 with a $10 Amazon gift card IIRC

 

[RunningBum]

That $29 looks like the online version. I won't use that myself.

 

[RunningBum]

You have to hunt a little more to find the download version. Deluxe is $60, $10 off $70--"up to $20 off" is the deal. Not a deal at all.

 

[momoftwo]

I've got a reminder for the 26th to look for that $39 Amazon deal with $10 gift card. Got it last year.��

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

The difficulty, of course, is that TurboTax will have at least 487 updates between now and when you file your taxes. With each one taking a few minutes to load, it's best to hold off and get a lot of them at once.

I just got my first 1099 today, so the process is just beginning. I generally file in March.

I always file close to the April deadline.

This is something I've always wondered about - if you file early with tax software, aren't you running the risk of the return being wrong because you don't have the benefit of all the later updates?

Does anyone file early, and then run their software with updates again close to the deadline to see if the results stay the same? I think you'd have to run through all the screens again which would be tedious.

 

[braumeister]

Does anyone file early, and then run their software with updates again close to the deadline to see if the results stay the same? I think you'd have to run through all the screens again which would be tedious.

No, you can skip to the end and then run "final check". They will keep issuing updates for a long time, even a couple of years, so at some point you just have to assume you have it locked.

 

[RunningBum]

This is something I've always wondered about - if you file early with tax software, aren't you running the risk of the return being wrong because you don't have the benefit of all the later updates?

I'm guessing the later updates are for more obscure things. My return isn't very complicated at all. If I had partnerships, or maybe something unusual with rentals, something like that, I'd be more concerned. I probably would be filing later in that case anyway due to waiting on all the tax docs.

Still, I'm not looking to file the day after I get my 1099s. I think I've seen posts from members here who have reported software issues.

 

[JoeWras]

As usual it annoys the hell out of me that some people get the offer and some don't. (Free TurboTax was taken away from me after 2017, even though I had over $2M of assets at Fidelity, including mid-six-figures of Fidelity mutual funds, reps told me my "relationship with Fidelity was insufficient". After which, I moved over $1M out to Charles Schwab and Fidelity didn't bat an eye.)

We all apparently see different things.

On my home/summary page, in the middle column, there's a section "See our special discounts with tax providers.

I don't even see the discount! But I'm not going to let a sub $50 cost bother me too much.

This is about as mysterious as the fact that with Vanguard, some Flagship clients still have personal representatives, some have teams, and others just get a general phone number.

 

[Cobra9777]

That didn’t work for me as there was no cd/download on that first page.

But by bumbling through some pages looking at features and following “Which version is right for me?” I finally got to the cd/download products that showed $0 for Premier, normally $100.

You're right. I just checked and the CD/download link is no longer on the first page. However, the link that mrfeh posted still works and seems to be the most efficient way to get there:

For those of you that can't find the download link, this seems to be the URL to access:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/cd-download/

You'll need to follow the link from Fido first (to set cookies in your browser), and then access that URL.

 

[explanade]

As usual it annoys the hell out of me that some people get the offer and some don't. (Free TurboTax was taken away from me after 2017, even though I had over $2M of assets at Fidelity, including mid-six-figures of Fidelity mutual funds, reps told me my "relationship with Fidelity was insufficient". After which, I moved over $1M out to Charles Schwab and Fidelity didn't bat an eye.)

We all apparently see different things.

On my home/summary page, in the middle column, there's a section "See our special discounts with tax providers. Get the most out of your tax preparation." with a link "Learn More" that goes to a generic page
https://www.fidelity.com/tax-information/tax-preparation/overview
which has links to TurboTax, TaxAct, H&R Block, and TaxChat. The TurboTax link says "up to $20 off", for Deluxe which I need it's $39 discounted to $29 (state e-file is extra). I'll probably find a better deal on Amazon or elsewhere in the weeks ahead.

There is nothing else on my home page related to taxes. The left side has a list of my accounts and a link to open a cash management account.

It's strange, my parents had managed accounts with Fidelity over the years and they used to pay $20k in fees annually. But they did get the free Turbotax.

I tried to talk them into getting out of the managed accounts.

After my father passed, we set up a new trust under my mother's name and I was named trustee.

So I moved all those assets out of the managed accounts, which consisted of hundreds or maybe over a 1000 positions, lot of individual stocks.

My parents were satisfied as long as their balances kept growing but it didn't grow nearly as much as the indices since 2009.

Their rep understood us wanting to get out of management fees. I set up a VG IRA account and was thinking of moving all these post-tax assets over. But he talked up the Fidelity Zero cost funds so I ended up converting to those.

So since I was trustee, I had to actually host all of my mother's trust assets under my Fidelity account. I didn't want to do it, because the trust account is reported against her SSN, not mine.

Just wanted to make sure they didn't issue 1099-DIVs for those trust assets against my SSN.

In any event, the TurboTax link used to appear under my mother's old Fidelity online account (the account shared with my father).

This year, for the first time, the TurboTax link appeared in my Fidelity account and the Fidelity rep name also showed up, though I haven't talked to him in over 2 years.

Fidelity doesn't get the $20k in management fees any more. But we do have 7-figure balances in Fidelity funds now in that Trust account.


So maybe that's how you save $100 in Turbo Tax Premier?

 

[LarryMelman]

I don't even see the discount! But I'm not going to let a sub $50 cost bother me too much.

Indeed. When I moved my money to Schwab, I got a bonus of maybe $2000 and I have paid for TT ever since.

That $29 looks like the online version. I won't use that myself. ... You have to hunt a little more to find the download version. Deluxe is $60, $10 off $70--"up to $20 off" is the deal. Not a deal at all.

You are correct. The Fidelity "deal" is no different than buying it directly from Intuit. $70 discounted to $60 for Deluxe download is their standard deal.

I just remember being so dumbfounded when a Fidelity rep told me "yes, I know we've given it to you for free for several years. But your relationship with Fidelity is not sufficient to qualify for the offer now." With seven figures of assets and over 30 years with them. Unbelievable. Not that I hold grudges or anything like that.

 

[retiredunder50]

Costco's ads for Dec 29 - Jan 23 indicate:
$15 off for TurboTax Premier OR Business OR Home & Business

$10 off for TurboTax Deluxe no state OR with state