Turbo Tax Intuit is a "free" ride on the rip-off band wagon Internet

There are always going to be those self righteous bungholes that will try to defend ripoffs. But the ONLY leg they have to stand on is that yes.....tis true...you got ripped off because you did not read all the terms and conditions..so if you get turned into a centipad...it is all your fault for not reading enough into it.

But just use common sense.....if ANY...I don't care who the frick it is...ANY website that claims something is FREE......a HUGE GIANT RED FLAG should not be too hard to notice if they ask for any credit card, debit card, bank account, and/or ANY account information. Free means FREE...so why the frick would they ask for my fricking credit card info if it was truly free? Use COMMON SENSE people and this website will only be left with a bunch of fails like Karl and "I Am The Law"..which we are so close to attaining.

If ANY website lures you in claiming anything is "free", exit the website if they start asking for any CC, debit card, or bank account info. They can NOT charge your account if you do not voluntarily "submit" that info. 

Your step by step is a wonderful contribution to this page! thanks for clarifying, but alas I must concede that I am not wrong. Sorry if you mis-understood, but we both agreed on the following:
1: State tax's can be filed by efile or other means.
2: You are under no obligation to file both with the program
3: Educating the consumer PRIOR to initializing the program .
So I certainly appreciate your efforts to prove my entire information wrong.
I will disagree with you in the Deceptive practice statement. Care to define it and how it can be used in a court case?

Righteous read this:  If you scroll on down Turbo Tax's page, there is a section that lists the states that offer free e file if you qualify.  What it doesn't say is that you have to enter the free edition through your states website by clicking a link from there AND you have to create a NEW user ID and not use one you have had in the past.   My state was listed, I met all the income requirements, etc. so I went to the SC Department of Revenue website.  On your states webpage for individual tax e file or if you see a link "free file" click on it to go there.  There will be a list of companies that offer free e file if your income is not over the limit.  Read their instructions as they may be different than mine.  I had to click the link under the company I chose to use and landed on correct webpage to start.  Once there, you have to create a new user ID and not sign in with one you used before.  As you enter all your info, there may be several offers to upgrade.  If you want it for free, don't choose any of those.  When I got to the State return tab, I did qualify for the free one and I continued entering info.  Got to the end and everything was free.   Thats the key to getting it for free.  You have to go to your state's website and enter from there.  And you MUST not sign in with a previous user ID.  You must create a new one.  That's what I was doing wrong and probably what everybody else is doing too because none of the instructions tell you to create a new user ID.  In fact, what I found was flashing signs for me to "sign in".  If you sign in with a previous ID, you won't get it free. 



  

Well I don't know if it still is since I did not use them this year but last year they did state for free but were clear that they only do this one time, then you have to pay if you use it again in the future.

EZ form Federal filing is always free but I agree they do try everything they can to get you to pay as would any business so you have to be careful. They absolutely use deception but as I stated in my previous response they or anyone else can't get me that way since I simply refuse to submit any account information. Just exit any website that promises something for free when it asks for any credit card/account info and you will not be billed by them. Makes sense to me.

Geesh, can anyone ever consider "READING" what is and isn't covered before jumping in with the ole They rippedme off ordeal. You can file Your state thru your OWN states Website.Its just as easy and FREE!!! So stop this malarky about this program. The Federal IS Free contingent on WHICH form you file with! Yes They charge for state because they are not regulated like the federal is. Stop calling foul without getting your own ducks in line. I use this program strictly for Federal and it has caught three credits I could get as opposed to manually writing my form out. I learned that I could file my state for free by telling the program I was done with the Federal and did not want to do my state tax at the same time. You are given that choice! Now learn to read and investigate so you can be more informed of what is and isn't freely given.

Same exact thing happened to me.  Did not realize I was in deluxe edition until very end.  Once caught in that trap, there seems to be no way out!

I erased all my information and signed out (WITHOUT PAYING), and started all over with a new account, making d**ned sure I did not fall into that trap again.  After re-entering all of my information the second time, I was able to successfully file with the free edition.

How many. like you, get caught at the end and end up paying the fee because there is no way out?  How many millions has Intuit made from innocents caught in this h**lhole?

I will be reporting this to my state Attorney's General office.  Hopefully, there will be enough complaints for them to take action!

I too have been deceived by Intuit.  They advertise you might qualify for a free state e file (not just the preparing of the state, but the actual e file) and also was asked several times to upgrade and I chose not to.  so after I finished and already went to my state Department of revenue and found out I was eligible for the "free state e file" because my income was lower than a certain amount.  Anyway they wanted me to pay $27.99 for the state e file.  This is a scam and I really wish I had the money or clout to file a formal complaint against this company for false advertising.  They are preying on people who have just found out they were going to be getting a refund and after going throught all the trouble of entering all that information, they just give up and pay it.  I'm not going to do it just because they lied and it's against the law.  I certainly couldn't get away with doing something like that and neither should they.

I then found out that there were a lot of people who had the same exact thing happen.   Someone on this site said you have to read the entire thing.  Well he apparently didn't because if he had when you scroll all the way down it says that if you live in one of the states listed you may qualify to get a free efile state return.  Not just to prepare the state return, but the actual e file fee for state.   I knew I had read the entire thing correctly because I went back and spent hours figuring out how they did it.  What I found was that if you create a new user name and account just for this year, you can get all the free stuff, but what they don't tell you is that when you click on the button that says, yes, I qualify, start my return it takes you to the sign in or register screen.  If you put in your e mail that you used the prior year it automatically upgrades you to the basic edition which is the free federal e file and then you have to pay for the state.  But you don't find this out until you have already put in all the info and transferred all the federal stuff to the state stuff.  Most people at this point just out of frustration give up and pay it because after all they are probably getting a refund anyway and figure ah well what the heck, its still cheaper than taking it to be prepared somewhere.  And thats what Intuit wants people to do.  Thats the scam.  It's illegal or it should be because that is false advertising.

So I decided to call customer service and find out why this happened.  That was weird too because it took me about 15 min to find a phone number.  They didn't make it easy to find.  Oh and when I clicked on a link that was supposed to explain why I was having to pay the state e file amount, you didn't get a reason, in fact all you got was assurance that intuit spends all year making sure they are on top of all the new laws and how they guarantee intuit will get the most refund and if another company beat it Intuit would pay for .... yada yada yada, this whole crap about what a great deal we were getting.  Nothing about why or what the fee was for.  So when I finally get a hold of CSR at Intuit, he assured me he would make sure it got fixed.  First he told me about the user ID thing; that I was supposed to create a new User ID this year and not log in with the one from last year, then I asked if he could make it right.  He gave me a coupon code which I copied and pasted into the correct box and beforehand he had told me that it would only work once per return.  That comment made me kinda suspicious because low and behold guess what, it didn't work at all.  So he apologized and said there was nothing I could do except delete it and start over creating a new User Id, enter all the info again, etc.  or I could pay the fee and he could get me a rebate form.  I told him I did not trust him or that company and I would be filing mine elsewhere.

I just want to know how do these companies get away with stuff like this?  I'm not the only one that this has happened to.  Its just as bad as robbing a bank.  They are robbing people, deceiving people and hope that they just give up and pay it.  I probably would have paid it if had I known going in, but after you spend all that time and get to the end and find out you were tricked, I just didn't trust this company to have my information, expecially my financial information.  If someone robbed you or stole something from you, you probably wouldn't hire them to work for you.  It just infuriates me that these companies are making money off scams like that and the stockholders are living a good life while I have to live below poverty level and pay more for everything just because I'm poor and have to pay so much in late fees, etc. because I can't pay my bills ontime.  It makes me sick and I just wish people would band together and do something about this company. 

Turbo Tax is a business. They are in the business of making money by preparing your tax returns. Nowhere on the site does it say that it's totally free, instead it says that it's free to prepare and file your federal return IF you qualify for a 1040EZ form. The federal return does not include the state return.

Reading the terms and conditions would have clued you in. Also, not just mindlessly clicking on the "next" button would have helped you realize this. They make no secret about charging you for your state return. I am looking at the webpage as I type this. Under the "Free" Edition option are the words "Free Federal. Free eFile included. State additional" The last two sentences are links. Clicking on the "State Additional" link brings up a window spelling out what you will be paying.

You, and anyone else branding Turbo Tax as a ripoff for this reason have only yourselves to blame.

...I have been using TurboTax for the past 3 years..and not a single charge. Oh, don't get me wrong...they try with all they have..but I am one step ahead of them.

How, you may ask? Simple. I have never, ever submitted any credit card account information, and as a result they have no way to charge any of my accounts.

Not to criticize you, but this is a lesson with anything you do..if you refuse to submit credit card information,,,the bastards have no way to charge you. So if whatever they are offering is truly "free"...then it won't matter.