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Personal tax question. Tax program request for driver's license OR may delay or reject your return
To answer original question - turbotax online does ask for drivers license info and has always asked for that info forever.
Thanks. I wasn’t even aware you could use Turbo Tax in an online version. Of course additional identification would be required.
“Hands-on” fella here. While I have downloaded Turbo / H&R in years past, I prefer to buy the disk which sells for about same price. (Of course the disk immediately goes online and updates.) But my old MacBook has built in cd reader. I hear the newer ones don’t.
Like looking at the finished return on paper too before sending it off. Easier to proofread IMHO. The IRS has looked for ways to increase online filing. But I hope they continue to accept old fashioned paper returns.
My point was, and I've seen, you will argue any topic on either side, which leads me to think that debating is your passion. It is just what you like to do. Can you admit that? There is a penny difference between statements. That can't logically happen. Just saying, most people wouldn't care. You are unique.
"Can you admit that?".
Cute. If I say yes, you have the answer you want. If I say no, you respond: Aha, you're arguing again, that proves the point. War Games (1983) provides an apt response: the only "winning" move is not to play.
Why don't we try sticking with the subject at hand and not get distracted with red herrings like whether I would argue argue one side or the other? Or with dubious reasoning (that something doesn't matter if "most people" don't care).
The issue is the flawed nature of Fidelity/Intuit tax reporting software. Some are confident that because the particular instance of an error I discovered amounted to just a penny that all errors resulting from this particular software flaw must be petty and/or this isn't even a flaw and/or all flaws (including this one) in the software don't amount to a hill of beans.
I look at the facts that Fidelity has been unable to identify the cause of my problem after weeks of investigation, and that mine was not the only type of import problem reported (as I noted in a subsequent post). And I find them disconcerting. (Though I applaud Fidelity for taking this more seriously than some, or as has been suggested, most people do.)
A key difference to me (that I wasn't aware of) noted here is that only the installed version enables you to work directly with the tax forms without having to go through the whole insipid interview process.
Sometimes I simply can't find the right interview section to add some piece of information or preference, and going directly to the form is much easier. Every so often TT has a flaw that I seem to only be able address with an override on the form.
As I wrote before, I view TT as a glorified pre-programmed spreadsheet, just a way to get the data formatted for the IRS easily. That means having access to the forms.
Perhaps @msf has had some experience working with computers? If so, that might help explain his seeming penchant for precision. While to @MikeM and others, worrying about 1-cent might appear a trivial persuit, it is the number “1” (as I understand it) that is at the core of virtually all of our modern day computer programs. 1 = ON. 0 = OFF.
So it can be seen that 1 is not an insignificant sum. Get those simple inputs scrambled, reversed or omitted in the computer string operating a plane’s auto-pilot and the consequences can be deadly. Hat’s off to anyone who argues for precision.
Certainly if a computer has a hardware error that flips a bit, all bets are off. It could affect almost any value anywhere. But that's highly unlikely.
Software quality can be categorized. Typical application software, well who cares if it occasionally crashes or a user needs to redraw a screen. Humans are forgiving.
When it comes to software that is at the heart of a company's business, that should be regarded as business critical, making any fault something to get concerned about. In the financial industry, I figure the software ought to be able to keep the account records correctly.
Just naive, I guess. Brokerage rounds down a few pennies of yours here and there, who cares? It's just pennies.
Then there are even higher levels of quality. Mission critical, where a petty error can bring down a whole project. Safety critical, where as you said, the error in a single bit (say, a '1' indicating that a plane is going up vs. '0' saying that a plane is going down) can be catastrophic. For such systems there should be hardware redundancy, parity (and better) checking, fault tolerant software (self-auditing, redundancy, etc.).
I was at a starrtup that considered developing software for medical systems. While our software would not technically be safety critical (e.g. it would not operate a radiation beam), it would still interact with these systems. I didn't want us to get anywhere near that.
Here’s another take on the precision issue which seems to be at the crux of arguments made by both @msf and @MikeM. While I was a dismal failure in math and detested the subject, I have substantial background in the language arts. (Often I’ll edit previous posts hours later because of a missing / misplaced punctuation mark or a word that doesn’t quite seem to fit.)
So I was delighted to come across this story which emphasizes the importance of proper punctuation. Like a discrepancy of 1 in mathematics, the omission of a comma in legal documents can have significant ramifications.
To answer original question - turbotax online does ask for drivers license info and has always asked for that info forever.
Thanks. I wasn’t even aware you could use Turbo Tax in an online version. Of course additional identification would be required.
“Hands-on” fella here. While I have downloaded Turbo / H&R in years past, I prefer to buy the disk which sells for about same price. (Of course the disk immediately goes online and updates.) But my old MacBook has built in cd reader. I hear the newer ones don’t.
Like looking at the finished return on paper too before sending it off. Easier to proofread IMHO. The IRS has looked for ways to increase online filing. But I hope they continue to accept old fashioned paper returns.
I use the premier version of TT online and do not pay anything for software or efiling. I do it all for free - courtesy of Fidelity
You can get the download version for free as well. When you click on the Fidelity link, you're brought to a TT page. At the top is a drop down for Products and Pricing. The second selection is CD/dowload products.
Click through. On the list of download versions, you'll see that the Premier version price has been marked down to $0.00
I think Price also offers something like that. I’ll check next year. Paid $39.99 for TT Deluxe + state. Compared to the amount of taxes paid and / or the cost of having them prepared professionally that seemed like a good deal. First to admit - I’m nearly inept at using the software. Seldom can I figure out how to go back in and correct errors after the damned thing has computed the entire return. This year it was easier just to rework the state return by hand after spotting a glaring omission in TT’s end product. (But the federal return was fine.)
Comments
“Hands-on” fella here. While I have downloaded Turbo / H&R in years past, I prefer to buy the disk which sells for about same price. (Of course the disk immediately goes online and updates.) But my old MacBook has built in cd reader. I hear the newer ones don’t.
Like looking at the finished return on paper too before sending it off. Easier to proofread IMHO. The IRS has looked for ways to increase online filing. But I hope they continue to accept old fashioned paper returns.
Here’s a brief Turbo Tax statement comparing their on-line filing to downloading or buying cd:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2750704-what-are-the-advantages-of-the-turbotax-cd-download-software-over-the-online-version
Cute. If I say yes, you have the answer you want. If I say no, you respond: Aha, you're arguing again, that proves the point. War Games (1983) provides an apt response: the only "winning" move is not to play.
Why don't we try sticking with the subject at hand and not get distracted with red herrings like whether I would argue argue one side or the other? Or with dubious reasoning (that something doesn't matter if "most people" don't care).
The issue is the flawed nature of Fidelity/Intuit tax reporting software. Some are confident that because the particular instance of an error I discovered amounted to just a penny that all errors resulting from this particular software flaw must be petty and/or this isn't even a flaw and/or all flaws (including this one) in the software don't amount to a hill of beans.
I look at the facts that Fidelity has been unable to identify the cause of my problem after weeks of investigation, and that mine was not the only type of import problem reported (as I noted in a subsequent post). And I find them disconcerting. (Though I applaud Fidelity for taking this more seriously than some, or as has been suggested, most people do.)
Sometimes I simply can't find the right interview section to add some piece of information or preference, and going directly to the form is much easier. Every so often TT has a flaw that I seem to only be able address with an override on the form.
As I wrote before, I view TT as a glorified pre-programmed spreadsheet, just a way to get the data formatted for the IRS easily. That means having access to the forms.
1 = ON. 0 = OFF.
So it can be seen that 1 is not an insignificant sum. Get those simple inputs scrambled, reversed or omitted in the computer string operating a plane’s auto-pilot and the consequences can be deadly. Hat’s off to anyone who argues for precision.
Software quality can be categorized. Typical application software, well who cares if it occasionally crashes or a user needs to redraw a screen. Humans are forgiving.
When it comes to software that is at the heart of a company's business, that should be regarded as business critical, making any fault something to get concerned about. In the financial industry, I figure the software ought to be able to keep the account records correctly.
Just naive, I guess. Brokerage rounds down a few pennies of yours here and there, who cares? It's just pennies.
Then there are even higher levels of quality. Mission critical, where a petty error can bring down a whole project. Safety critical, where as you said, the error in a single bit (say, a '1' indicating that a plane is going up vs. '0' saying that a plane is going down) can be catastrophic. For such systems there should be hardware redundancy, parity (and better) checking, fault tolerant software (self-auditing, redundancy, etc.).
I was at a starrtup that considered developing software for medical systems. While our software would not technically be safety critical (e.g. it would not operate a radiation beam), it would still interact with these systems. I didn't want us to get anywhere near that.
Critical Systems
https://ifs.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Books/SE9/Web/Dependability/CritSys.html
So I was delighted to come across this story which emphasizes the importance of proper punctuation. Like a discrepancy of 1 in mathematics, the omission of a comma in legal documents can have significant ramifications.
The case of the $13 million comma and why grammarians are rejoicing
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-21/the-case-of-the-$13-million-comma/8372956
I use the premier version of TT online and do not pay anything for software or efiling. I do it all for free - courtesy of Fidelity
Click through. On the list of download versions, you'll see that the Premier version price has been marked down to $0.00
Think we bought home and business version Xmas sale around 60bucks.. Not too bad
Slickdeals.net
I think Price also offers something like that. I’ll check next year. Paid $39.99 for TT Deluxe + state. Compared to the amount of taxes paid and / or the cost of having them prepared professionally that seemed like a good deal. First to admit - I’m nearly inept at using the software. Seldom can I figure out how to go back in and correct errors after the damned thing has computed the entire return. This year it was easier just to rework the state return by hand after spotting a glaring omission in TT’s end product. (But the federal return was fine.)