Change isn’t always a good thing. That was the message that Intuit heard loud and clear last year when the company made some changes to TurboTax desktop software. For 2015, the company yanked the interview sections for Schedule C (self-employment income and all expenses), Schedule D (investments), and Schedule E (rental and partnership income) from the TurboTax Deluxe desktop package. To get the functionality, if you needed those schedules, you were required to upgrade to the “Premier” and higher editions.
Intuit made the change, according to spokesperson Julie Miller, “because we aspire to deliver the best, Interview-based experience for a customer’s unique tax situation.” Pulling the forms from that package meant that some taxpayers paid less for their software (those customers included those preparing forms 1040EZ or 1040A). Other customers, however, were forced to pay more for the upgrade.
That’s not the case this year. TurboTax has confirmed that, in response to customer demand, the company has “restored all the forms that customers have come to expect.” That means, for the tax year 2015 (the returns you’ll prepare in 2016), the downloadable and CD versions of TurboTax desktop software will once again include:
- Schedule C for business
- Schedule D for capital gains and losses
- Schedule E for rental property
- Schedule F for farms
- 1040 long form
The move, according to a spokesman, reaffirms Intuit’s commitment to roll back changes made to last year’s product.
“We heard our customers loud and clear. They want their TurboTax desktop product to do what it has always done – handle the same tax situations as it did in years past,” said Sasan Goodarzi, general manager of Intuit’s TurboTax business. “Keeping the promise we made is part of our continuing commitment to earning our customers’ trust and loyalty. As is delivering a great experience to our desktop customers and ensuring they get their biggest possible tax refund.”
If you’re wondering about the timing of the announcement, it is, in fact, a confirmation that tax season is on the way. Tax season traditionally opens mid-January, just about two months away. TurboTax is already prepping its products for release: those desktop products are available for pre-order now and at retail stores beginning November 27.
