I just learned the hard way that it is possible to create two or more Turbotax accounts on the same email and that it can cause a rather nasty mess. I bought Turbotax from Amazon for the first time this year, and that may be part of the problem. I duly went through the digital delivery process to run Turbotax on my desktop Mac, downloaded it, and a few days later installed it and working on my taxes, without any major problems. But when Turbotax could not download my investment income I called support. After about an hour of struggling, the tech discovered that my copy had never been registered with Turbotax, she pointed the finger at Amazon as the culprit for not registering it. A little digging found that the problem was that I had created a second account when trying to register through Amazon, and that others had had similar problems in the past. I have posted a request for help on the Intuit/TurboTax “community” and hope somebody will have a solution. The lack of an automatic registration by Amazon to TurboTax seems rather odd and asking for trouble.
There was a discussion of TT issues and problems, including downloading and registration, here last year as well, for anybody interested:
Can you (using that new account) import previous years from local files (exported from those filings using that account)?
I am able to see the numbers from my 2024 return in the comparison TurboTax shows, and companies that had sent me 1099s and other forms in 2024, but that came from accessing my copy of the 2024 return on my Mac.
I get the feeling I have a “gift” for breaking software. I wonder if software companies would want somebody who doesn’t do what they expect customers to do, but judging from today’s companies they probably would rather not have anybody finding bugs they had to fix.
I haven’t started working on my 2025 tax return yet but in previous years, I’d say Intuit has done its best to make installation, registration, and importing confusing.
Based on my experience with the last few TT versions, there are multiple user identifiers:
- Software activation code (unique to each TT purchase)
- Intuit Account (similar to an Apple ID or Google ID, requires an email address, doesn’t change each year)
- Warranty card-style “registration” that is requested in a pop-up nag screen when TT is first launched (I’ve always canceled the screen and haven’t ever run into problems working on my return)
I import data from multiple financial institutions, using the process offered during Easy Step. Starting about five years ago, if I recall correctly, importing requires an Intuit Account and at many banks and brokers, granting Intuit importing privileges via the provider’s website or app.
I bought TT from Amazon for the first time last year. Downloading and installing TT was another convoluted process. After receiving the activation code from Amazon via email, I downloaded the installer package from a TurboTax webpage referenced in the activation code email. I don’t think the download required me to input my Intuit Account info.
I’ve been using TT since it was MacInTax.
In recent years, can’t remember how long ago, registering TT still resulted in it asking me every time I opened it if I wanted to register it.
So I’ve stopped registering it.
I’ve been buying it from Amazon for a long time now and all of my files and registration numbers are still in there.
Recovering from the flu or something else nasty, I can report some success in registering TurboTax and some understanding of what happened.
Once I felt well enough to try Amazon support, I first tried their human Chat but could not convince them that Amazon’s registration process failed to connect with TurboTax, but redirected me to a human voice line, where the person took down my explanation, and promised that the seller (in this case it was TurboTax itself) would get back to me in 48 hours. When I found no response in the Amazon Message system after more than 48 hours, I told Amazon I had heard nothing from the seller. Shortly afterwards, my copy of TurboTax popped up and said it need to run an update, which I ran. It seemed to run better, and best of all I was able to download and run my state tax. That told me it should be enough to do my taxes, even if I have to print them out.
At that point I went back through my memory to try to understand went wrong when I talked with TurboTax support. It had started pretty well, although somewhat slow, until the tech asked me to download a Intuit software tool so she could remotely monitoring my copy of TurboTax. She asked me which chip was in my MacMini, and I that point I mistakenly responded “Intel” (I had only bought the new Apple Silicon Mini a few months, but it should have cued me how sick I was). After she couldn’t get the software tool running, I remembered the Mini was running Apple Silicon, apologize for my error, and waited for the Apple Silicon version of the tool boot up.
She seemed to accept my mumbling and embarrassment. But soon afterwards I began noticing noise in the background and realized the tech was talking with someone. Within a few minutes the tenor changed. The Apple Silicon version of the Intuit tool didn’t work, and background chatter seemed more agitated. When the tech came back on the line she reiterated firmly that Intuit did not have my registration number in their files, and that it had to be an Amazon problem. I had been on the line for well over an hour and was see the call going nowhere when it ended.
As I recovered from the flu, I began to piece together what had happened. When I called TurboTax support a couple of weeks earlier to get help with booting the software, I had been greeted by a robotic voice that only offered provide me with instructions that were supposedly online, although the link the robot sent did not work and I gave up. After more than a dozen requests for “human” the robot put me in an online queue which informed me repeatedly that the wait was over 30 minutes. I eventually gave up. I suspect the background discussion when I did get through late in my final call with TurboTax office was the boss checking on the tech to see why she had been on a single call for over an hour. Perhaps the management had decide to limit the length of support calls with some many customers waiting in the queue. So I suspect they just blew me off because I had talked too long.
I don’t know what to expect from TurboTax customer service this year, but I am not optimistic. Having worked one spring long ago preparing returns for H&R Block, I know how the tax season works. People start trickle in in February, and traffic peaks from mid March to early April. If TurboTax is already running long delays in mid-February, expect long waiting times later.
I’ve been using TT on my Macs for 30 years and have had very few problems. I’ve been using the Advantage program for years (sending out disks, now downloads, annually). It’s a bit more expensive but well worth the convenience.
I finally got almost to the point of filing my TurboTax return today, only to be stopped by a problem with an obscure form 5695, which covers energy efficiency. What happened to me was that I was told that was only one little thing I had to do, remove an incorrect entry on Line 21c of form 5695. I tried to remove the entry (my address) but I could not get rid of it. It would let me go ahead but immediately the one little problem reappeared and I realized it was in a loop. Here’s one of a number of descriptions, which says the problem cannot be solved until March 6. Fed and State filing rejected due to form 5695
Scanning Intuit’s help section found complaints about that form dating back to January 26.
I find that the cheapest way to buy TurboTax is online from Costco beginning within a week before Black Friday.
What is the “convenience“ of Intuit Advantage program?
I think the Advantage just sets you up to be billed in November and receive the product, now digital, before the end of the year. There might be other advantages that I don’t take. I’ve been tempted to buy TT via other offers ( AARP, my credit union, etc), Nello. But, I don’t mind paying a little more to have it come to me on time. I’ve been using TT (and the past 10 years TT advantage) on my Macs for about 30 years. I find that TT is fairly simple to use, although I don’t have complicated taxes (investments, multiple residences/properties, etc.)
I just installed TT2025, purchased from Amazon as a download, on a M4 Macbook Air running Sequoia. Here are the key steps I followed:
- Downloaded TT Installer from an Intuit webpage (www.InstallTurboTax.com).
- Dragged Installer to Applications folder.
- Launched Turbotax.
- Entered my Intuit Account credentials. Note that the email address I use on my Intuit Account is different than the email I use on my Amazon account.
- Entered Activation Code (sent in an email from digitalorder-update@amazon.com).
- Downloaded a State file.
I’ll post in this thread again after I import information from financial institutions.
What you did is very similar to what I did, but that was back in February, and I have seen a few updates of TurboTax since then. I’m not certain what tripped me up back then; it may have been accidentally creating a duplicate Intuit account, or it may have been starting before some modules had not been completed. For example, the Office in Home module – very early in the sequence of entries – said I was not eligible in mid February, but accepted my entry on a second pass through the sequence at the end of February.
However, the Form 5695 bug I described early this week that was supposed to fixed by March 6 is still not fixed as of this morning. Fed and State filing rejected due to form 5695 This bug prevents TurboTax from electronic filing by people whose returns include Form 5695 which covers tax benefits supposed to be given to people who installed energy-efficiency equipment like heat pumps. Although TurboTax offers the option of print filing, posts this morning on the Intuit/TurboTax link cited above report the bug has yet to be fixed. I have yet to try again and plan to wait a few days.
The only account I have with Intuit is an Advantage one where TurboTax was mailed to me each year. Since they stopped using CD/DVD format, I bought TT via Amazon this year though I’ll check out Costco next year.
Anyway when I looked at what the new “Advantage” offered, the only thing I saw was a $5 discount on the state efile charge.
I’m in a similar situation with Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit. It has been impossible for many years for me to e-file because my return includes a multi-page 1116 (this thread is begining to sound like the film Brazil, ha). I’ve never bothered to find out if it’s a bug or an IRS restriction. In any case, I rarely get a tax refund—deliberately—so filing paper returns doesn’t bother me too much.
I imported Consolidated 1099 forms from two brokerages today.
One import was similar to logging in at the brokerage’s website except that everything took place in the TurboTax application or on an Intuit-hosted webpage that was launched by TT. An Intuit account is required for the import. This broker also requires explicit permission for data transfers to be granted to Intuit before the import begins (my permissions were already set up from prior years).
The other broker uses a different method. An Intuit account is also required to do the import but no broker log-in occurs. Instead, TT launches a webpage and checks the Intuit Account info that was entered when installing TT, as above, then asks for some information that is on the 1099. In other words, you must have access to either a paper or a digital copy of your 1099 before beginning your import to TT.
In any case, my experience leads me to believe that Amazon doesn’t play a role in installing or running TT other than sending the Activation Code right after TT is purchased. Amazon doesn’t know the email address I use for my Intuit account and vice versa.
I have never had any foreign bank accounts, but I have been paid from overseas when I write for overseas publications. These days most overseas publications pay in US dollars but few of those I write for issue 1099s, so I just list the money as non-1099 income on my Schedule C. I try to avoid unnecessary complications in our returns and usually that works. The bug in the 5695 is annoying because that’s about energy conservation subsidies for a heat pump we installed in 2022, and I can’t see any reason I have to file that form.
I gave up trying to import brokerage data this year after I could not get TurboTax to download it the first time. When I looked at the printed 1099 I received it was much simpler than the previous year’s, so I just entered the data manually. It’s odd that different brokers use different data transfer methods, but I just noticed that Bank of America has changed how it exchanges data with Quicken, so maybe some financial companies want more control.
I don’t know the details of how Amazon Activation codes work, but I know that TurboTax could not solve my problem, and nothing happened until Amazon told me they would check it out. All I saw was that a TurboTax update cleared up the problem without explanation from either Amazon or TurboTax.
I use Advantage for the convenience. I’ve used TT for over 30 years and have occasionally looked at other pricing: Amazon, my credit union, etc. But, I’ll stick with the convenience for now until I hear about a better choice. My taxes aren’t complicated though. So, others might need something better. I don’t subscribe to any of TT additional add ons during the process of using it.
I bought a Mini primarily to run turbotax and a couple of other programs that demand apple silicon and a new operating system. Imagine my surprise when TT required rosetta be installed!
I picked up a refurbed M2 MBA because Turbo Tax 2024 required Sonoma (MacOS 14) and my MBP was maxed out at Monterey (12) but I can’t remember if I had to install Rosetta. Probably did though as TT has to be an Intel app for a few years yet. Yep just checked and Rosetta is installed.