Block is offering anyone who bought TurboTax’s basic or deluxe software a free download of its own deluxe software. Nevertheless, H&R Block jumped at the chance to lure some users away from its larger rival. “Bottom line,” she said, “only a small percentage of desktop customers, who make up about 20 percent of all TurboTax customers, will be impacted by these changes.” Customers are migrating away from the desktop offerings, she said, and 80 percent of them now use the online product.

TurboTax, which has 29 million customers, made the changes last year to its online service, which allowed users to prepare and file returns without downloading programs onto their computer, she said. Dworsky said, “because the change was not communicated well.”Ĭonsumers have been complaining and posting negative reviews on and in other online forums.Ĭolleen Gatlin, an Intuit spokeswoman, said TurboTax customers who used the deluxe desktop version to report investment or rental property income generally must use either the “premier” or “home & business” versions, while those who are self-employed must use “home & business.” (However, some simple investment and business situations, like dividends from investments in mutual funds, are still supported in deluxe, she said.) “I think people are going to be surprised,” Mr. Deluxe desktop users may not realize until they are part way through their taxes that they must pay an extra fee to upgrade and finish, he said. To get the program’s full question-and-answer help to complete the schedules, users must upgrade within the program to a version with an extra cost of $30 to $40.Įdgar Dworsky, publisher of the Consumer World website, said this year’s deluxe desktop version doesn’t offer step-by-step interview help for filling out Schedule C (for self-employment and small business income), D (investments) and E (rental and partnership income).

TurboTax, the tax software from Intuit, drew ire from consumers when they learned that its “deluxe” desktop offering, available by download or on CD, had curtailed functions for some tax schedules that previously had been included. TAXPAYERS buying commercial software to prepare and electronically file their 2014 income tax returns should double-check that the version they are purchasing fits their needs.

Turbotax 2015 home and business