2024 Tax Software

[mrfeh]

Has anybody who received the Fidelity offer at $5 in past years received it in the past week?

I think the "selection" process might be over.

Have received this offer for many years, but not this year. Have no idea why.

freetaxusa will be cheaper than the "free" TT from Fidelity, so I really don't care.

 

[Jerry1]

The $10 credit that comes with the Costco promotion can be applied to the e-filing of the state return?

Yes. That's exactly what I use it for.

 

[GenXguy]

Have received this offer for many years, but not this year. Have no idea why.

freetaxusa will be cheaper than the "free" TT from Fidelity, so I really don't care.

Yeah, I didn't get a free TT either. But OLT that I've used a few years is free, and efile state is $10. If wasn't for my history of OLT, I would probably try Cashapp, that includes free state efile. I know mailing it is an option.

 

[Pscott2019]

Has anyone received the free copy of Turbotax from Fidelity in the last few days? I am foolishly waiting but I suspect I must be on their naughty list. I wish they would publish the criteria so we were not in the dark on this.

 

[audreyh1]

Has anyone received the free copy of Turbotax from Fidelity in the last few days? I am foolishly waiting but I suspect I must be on their naughty list. I wish they would publish the criteria so we were not in the dark on this.

No chance of that!

It just gets murkier and murkier! I’m surprised they didn’t just drop the benefit shortly after Vanguard did.

 

[Sunset]

^^^^^ I think this is their way of dropping it. Make it awkward until enough folks stop using their offer (they probably get a count of # who use the offer). Then drop it.

 

[audreyh1]

^^^^^ I think this is their way of dropping it. Make it awkward until enough folks stop using their offer (they probably get a count of # who use the offer). Then drop it.

Was wondering. I’m sure the move to January had an impact and might have made them reevaluate the whole offering.

 

[plsprius]

I called Fidelity to ask (and then complain) about not getting the TurboTax offer this year, after getting it for 10+ years. Since I don't use or need a private client personal advisor, they really didn't have anything to say or were willing to offer any explanation. I was on hold for a few times for a total call of 30 minutes while they "checked with the back office."

It seems silly of them to withdraw a benefit that probably costs them $20 or so. Yes, it's a small matter. But, I guess my relationship with Fidelity has been "downgraded." I'm sure to remember that...

 

[GenXguy]

I called Fidelity to ask (and then complain) about not getting the TurboTax offer this year, after getting it for 10+ years. Since I don't use or need a private client personal advisor, they really didn't have anything to say or were willing to offer any explanation. I was on hold for a few times for a total call of 30 minutes while they "checked with the back office."

It seems silly of them to withdraw a benefit that probably costs them $20 or so. Yes, it's a small matter. But, I guess my relationship with Fidelity has been "downgraded." I'm sure to remember that...

I never got one in my few years with Fidelity, and my Fidelity account only has about $150,000 in total assets, so they probably consider me small potatoes and not worth giving any bonuses to. I keep most of my stash with some other brokerages.

 

[Wupot2020]

Just got my price adjustment refund of $11.69 from Costco for the TT Deluxe + State I bought back in Dec. I see why Costco has a lot of satisfied members .

Sams club gave me a credit as well.

 

[Sojourner]

If you pay $40 for something, and you are saying the H&R Block nets $20 because of the gift card, you can't say that the gift card is "free". You're paying $20 for the gift card, also.

Okay, let's split hairs why don't we? If you pay $40 for this deal and use the $20 gift card, then you paid $20 for the H&R software. That's a good deal. Obviously, if you don't use the $20 gift card (or use it for something you didn't really need or want), then it's NOT a good deal. In my case, I'd get the deal that includes an Uber Eats gift card, because DW and I order from Uber Eats all the time.

 

[GenXguy]

Okay, let's split hairs why don't we? If you pay $40 for this deal and use the $20 gift card, then you paid $20 for the H&R software. That's a good deal. Obviously, if you don't use the $20 gift card (or use it for something you didn't really need or want), then it's NOT a good deal. In my case, I'd get the deal that includes an Uber Eats gift card, because DW and I order from Uber Eats all the time.

I agree with that, but just wanted to point out you're paying $20 for the gift card - it's not free. So, that's a big difference. I would have even been tempted if it was $20 with a free gift card.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Thanks for making that clear. As I said earlier, it has always been a mystery.

I am way late to this party. I've gotten the free Turbotax from Fidelity the last two years, and none before that. What changed: I transferred an employer 401K (held at Fidelity in NetBenefits) to a tIRA at Fidelity, and transferred part of a 403B and a smallish IRA. However, I don't think that was the reason.

I believe the reason for the free ttax is a combination of assets under management AND the fact that I buy a TBILL almost every week (sometimes multiple per week) (also did a bunch of brokered CD's for a while). While these are commission free trades it has made me an active trader (kinda funny as I am mostly fixed in this account) as well as private client group.

So, if folks want free turbotax maybe do a weekly T-Bill purchase of a smaller amount than a single large T-Bill purchase every couple months. Every week I am likely to buy 3/4/6 month bills plus other assorted things on a less frequent basis.

 

[braumeister]

So, if folks want free turbotax ...

Thanks, but WADR, I think all you have done is just to add another to the very long list of possible reasons why someone may or may not get this offer.
I don't have a huge account, nothing under their management, I rarely trade, and have never bought a T-Bill.

But the key for me was that on an in-person meeting about ten years ago with my Fido rep, I asked about it because I had read here that some people got the offer. His response was "Oh, I didn't know you used it. I'll put you on the list." I've been getting it every year since.

IMHO it's just a black box. What puts you in the category of getting the TurboTax offer is something that only Fidelity knows.

 

[audreyh1]

The game keeps changing. Even the employees don’t know what’s in the black box - complete mystery. We have a large Fido account and bought plenty of T-bills and CDs last year although not weekly and won’t do that either. We maintain a relationship with an advisor although he doesn’t manage our investments.

I suspect they are going to phase this perk out and are attempting to do so gradually. It’s very awkward but that’s unavoidable.

I’d rather buy my TT Deluxe at $37 in Jan and not deal with the hassle. This year Fido offered to comp me but I’m not going to ask for that in the future. Just fed up with it - waste of time - waste of Fido employees time too.

 

[braumeister]

I suspect they are going to phase this perk out and are attempting to do so gradually. It’s very awkward but that’s unavoidable.

I’d rather buy my TT Deluxe at $37 in Jan and not deal with the hassle. This year Fido offered to comp me but I’m not going to ask for that in the future. Just fed up with it - waste of time - waste of Fido employees time too.

Agreed. It wouldn't bother me a bit to lose this perk.

 

[whatnot]

We got free Turbo tax last year. We moved DH Netbenefits 401k held at Fidelity to an Ira account at Fidelity, slightly over 2 mil.
We have a CMA, DH IRA, small ROTH IRA, and his HSA. I have HSA account and started Grandchildren 529 accounts 5 years ago. We have bought CD’s this year and a bond fund.
We have an advisor we speak to about once a year, but we are self directed.
This year, we only got the 30% offer.
Disappointed, especially since we have a scheduled meeting because they want to manage our Equity portfolio which currently consists of FXAIX. Basically, our advisor said it is now heavily weighted with a handful of stocks. So for a fee, they can better balance our Equity portfolio. Hmm, we’ll see.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I am very happy with my $20 H&R Block.

 

[djsander]

The game keeps changing. Even the employees don’t know what’s in the black box - complete mystery. We have a large Fido account and bought plenty of T-bills and CDs last year although not weekly and won’t do that either. We maintain a relationship with an advisor although he doesn’t manage our investments.

I suspect they are going to phase this perk out and are attempting to do so gradually. It’s very awkward but that’s unavoidable.

I’d rather buy my TT Deluxe at $37 in Jan and not deal with the hassle. This year Fido offered to comp me but I’m not going to ask for that in the future. Just fed up with it - waste of time - waste of Fido employees time too.

We had a meeting with an advisor at the end of 2023 just to go over a few things we had in our accounts. He was very friendly didn’t push anything and actually recommended the low er funds instead of the higher priced funds and annuity’s. We asked about the free TurboTax and he told us he didn’t know anything about it. May trying to just wave us off, but seemed pretty sincere after not trying to sell us anything. I look for it, but I’m fine either catching Turbo tax on sale at Amazon in either December or January. The cost of it is low enough it isn’t going to affect us.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, the advisors are kept completely in the dark about the free TurboTax and the recent comment was “somewhere deep inside operations” when I was offered an alternative.

 

[JoeWras]

I have enough money at Fidelity to know that total amount isn't the reason. And I don't care anymore because if the S&P goes up 0.01%, I've paid for it many times over.

 

[GrayHare]

For me, the Turbotax download was a hassle. Three was the magic number: it took three devices, three browsers and three attempts each to get a working download. Way too complex. It should be a simple link to a downloadable. That worked 30 years ago, and would work today too if they didn't overtake the plumbing.

Their instructions are funny. They basically say, "After the download happens, figure out where it wound up on your device." Bahaha. In the past, I could specify where I wanted a download to be saved, but not with Turbotax's site.

Then comes the install. You need to have a recent Intuit account. I have an Intuit account from prior years, but that wasn't good enough for them. They insisted I create a new account. To do that, they insisted I give a phone number "so we know who you are." Do they want to invite me to lunch? They claim they won't call, but I've already learned their prior claim that they would not send spam email was false. Anyhow, this all used to be so much easier. It opens the door to competitor products. YMMV

 

[Midpack]

Finished my Fed and state tax returns today using TT. Love it!

 

[Sojourner]

Finished my Fed and state tax returns today using TT. Love it!

"Love it" in an absolute sense, or "love it" relative to other tax-prep software you've used over the years? I ask because I'm on the fence about whether to switch to TT from H&R Block this year. H&R is usable and gets the job done, but I would never go so far as to say I love it.

 

[Jerry1]

Finished my Fed and state tax returns today using TT. Love it!

Got your brokerage statements (1099 INT/DIV) already? Or, did you just use the number from your records.