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PSA - TurboTax vs. HR Block

I wanted to alert those of you with an HSA to a potential issue in TurboTax.

I was entering my W2 info into TurboTax this afternoon, and I have employer contributions to my HSA.  There's a box on my W2 where they tell you how much it is and what the code is.  Easy enough to enter into the W2 info section of TurboTax.  

I see an alert box pop up on the HSA section for deductions, and I check it out.  For some reason TurboTax thinks my H's employer is the one making the contributions, and it seems to have calculated the contributions twice.  I max out that account, so it is saying I have contributed 2x what I can legally contribute, and I have to withdraw it or face a penalty.  I have no idea why it thinks my H's employer is the one making the contributions.  I quadruple checked that I entered everything correctly, and it keeps giving me that error message.

Meanwhile, my tax refund is about $1,000 lower than I'm expecting.  I always do some napkin math before I start, just to get a ballpark.  It's not perfect, but I can usually get within a couple hundred dollars.  

So I say screw it and enter everything into HR Block instead.  Lo and behold HR Block has no problems reporting the HSA contributions correctly, and my refund is almost exactly $1,000 higher than on TurboTax.  I entered the same numbers into both programs. So I think the TurboTax error is incorporating a tax penalty into my return that is incorrect, and that's why my refund is showing ~$1,000 less than HR Block.

Needless to say, I'll be filing with HR Block this year.

Anyway, for those of you who have employer contributions to your HSA, pay attention if you are using TurboTax.  I did some googling, and I'm not the only one who has had this problem.  This isn't a bash on TurboTax -  I have used it for many years and generally really like it.  But no computer program (or accountant!) is 100% perfect, and any given year there might be bugs or issues.

Please pay attention and review your tax returns before filing them.  Remember, when you file your return (whether by computer, accountant, or paper) you are attesting to the accuracy of what is inside of it.  I have had clients try to tell the IRS that they just didn't read their return before filing... that excuse does not fly!
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Re: PSA - TurboTax vs. HR Block

  • This isn't a concern for me, but do you use their websites or purchase their software? Just curious since you have both. We typically buy the software at Costco (usually TurboTax) and just wondering if it's cheaper another way. 
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  • We bought the software for TurboTax at Costco.  I'm going to see if I can remove our info from it and return it.  If not, lesson learned.

    I've just been doing HR Block online, and it's allowed me to prepare everything without paying yet.  It looks like we won't have to pay until we file.  HR Block is $15 cheaper, so I'm probably going to start with it online next year before paying for software upfront.
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  • abrewer5abrewer5 member
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Love Its 100 Comments Name Dropper
    edited January 2016

    I am filing with turbo tax this year and I am able to put in all of our info in without paying until we file... You may want to try that @bmo88 just in case you run into issues.

    ETA: You can usually find a coupon code online, I found one thru my credit union for $20 off. I believe my CC companies offer them too usually.


  • jtmh2012jtmh2012 mod
    Moderator Eighth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its
    edited January 2016
    hoffse said:
    We bought the software for TurboTax at Costco.  I'm going to see if I can remove our info from it and return it.  If not, lesson learned.

    Your personal info is stored in a tax file on your actual computer, not on the DVD that you purchased from Costco.  Those are read only.  Whether Costco takes it back or not is another story (not sure what their return policies are on software).

    Should be interesting to see what happens when we try to file.  We have an HSA, but it is all personal contributions.  No employer contribs, but I won't have anything to start putting in until February and the last of it won't show until March.  I'm sure by then they'll fix whatever the bug is.

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  • jtmh2012 said:
    hoffse said:
    We bought the software for TurboTax at Costco.  I'm going to see if I can remove our info from it and return it.  If not, lesson learned.

    Your personal info is stored in a tax file on your actual computer, not on the DVD that you purchased from Costco.  Those are read only.  Whether Costco takes it back or not is another story (not sure what their return policies are on software).

    Should be interesting to see what happens when we try to file.  We have an HSA, but it is all personal contributions.  No employer contribs, but I won't have anything to start putting in until February and the last of it won't show until March.  I'm sure by then they'll fix whatever the bug is.

    Thanks, that's helpful.  Costco ought to take it back because they do a 90-day return on electronics and unlimited return for basically everything else.  We bought it at the end of December.

    It sounds like the online version of TurboTax doesn't require you to pay until filing either.  In the future I might do both programs side by side in case there is glitch in one of them.  That way I don't have to pull everything out and start over.  This was really annoying because I had already entered all of our charitable contributions, etc. and I had done an estimate for our income from our last pay stubs.  I was just waiting on my W2 to tweak income and then a statement I'll get in February for Fidelity's payor code with our Roths.  

    So basically everything except our income was completely done when I encountered this error.   It's not a huge deal, but I had to go pull out all our records again and then revisit how to put in the Roth conversion so that the program recognizes it as a non-taxable distribution from an IRA.  Blah.

    Good luck on your HSA!  Employer contributions have their own special code, so I'm guessing that's what triggered the error.  I really hope that the HSAs in general are not buggy because that could screw up a lot of people.
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  • bmo88 said:
    This isn't a concern for me, but do you use their websites or purchase their software? Just curious since you have both. We typically buy the software at Costco (usually TurboTax) and just wondering if it's cheaper another way. 
    Last year I did TurboTax online - this year I intend on buying the software because there was a glitch at the end and I couldn't submit our taxes.   Just a software glitch that couldn't be fixed, right on the last screen.  They told me to delete everything and start over, but that was NOT an option.  So they ended up having to give me the software for free and they transfered everything over and I submitted through the software.  So, I decided this year I will do it through the software from the start.
  • We've always used the online version and never bought the actual software.  When I was single, I used H&R Block online (they're local to KC, and one of the Bloch brothers was one of my donors).  But one of H's clients is Turbo Tax, so we now use their online version.  Both are easy to use.  One year Turbo Tax had an issue related to the fact that we have to file both Kansas and Missouri returns, but there was a pop-up notification and they rectified the issue as soon as they could.  Both programs are fine.  But it's always just easier to use the one you used the year before since your information from the previous year is stored and there's no need to enter it again.
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  • I've used H&R Block's online version for the past 6 years or so, and I love it.  I've been paying for the premium version since I had my baking business to report, but this is the last year for that so I'll probably go back to paying for the middle version (whatever that's called).  I've never had a problem with this, and they store your previous years' history.  I like that I can look back at a glance and see what the last couple of years have been.  And you are correct, you don't pay until the very end.
  • hoffse said:
    Thanks, that's helpful.  Costco ought to take it back because they do a 90-day return on electronics and unlimited return for basically everything else.  We bought it at the end of December.

    Good luck. :)  I looked up their return policy and it didn't mention software specifically so you may be in luck.  I know a lot of places won't take opened software back because for all they know you bought it, copied/installed it, and returned the physical software to essentially get it for free.

    Not what you're trying to do I know. :)

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  • jtmh2012 said:
    hoffse said:
    Thanks, that's helpful.  Costco ought to take it back because they do a 90-day return on electronics and unlimited return for basically everything else.  We bought it at the end of December.

    Good luck. :)  I looked up their return policy and it didn't mention software specifically so you may be in luck.  I know a lot of places won't take opened software back because for all they know you bought it, copied/installed it, and returned the physical software to essentially get it for free.

    Not what you're trying to do I know. :)

    Lol, nope, I wouldn't even know how to do this....

    Costco is awesome.  H and I don't abuse their return policy and we spend tons of money there, so they have never given us trouble when we are returning something that is not to our satisfaction.  Fingers crossed!  And if it doesn't work, I'll know better for next year.
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  • I saw someone return a broken Food Saver that she had bought 4 years prior, for a full refund.  So they should take back your still current software! 
  • bmo88bmo88 member
    500 Comments Fourth Anniversary 250 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited January 2016
    abrewer5 said:

    I am filing with turbo tax this year and I am able to put in all of our info in without paying until we file... You may want to try that @bmo88 just in case you run into issues.

    ETA: You can usually find a coupon code online, I found one thru my credit union for $20 off. I believe my CC companies offer them too usually.


    SITB

    Just got a coupon from our credit union today for $20 off!


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