You'd think TurboTax would be the one Intuit product that wouldn't be subject to any sunsetting tactics, since customers have to buy the new version every year anyway. So I was a bit surprised when my recent story about Quicken sunsets prompted some TurboTax 2004 customers to report that Intuit seems to have retired a few features of the tax program.
One TurboTax feature that's apparently no more in the 2004 version is the ability to automatically import files from sunsetted versions of Quicken. "I use Quicken 2002, and I received the Intuit letter advising me I had until April 19th to convert," one reader wrote. "I thought I was fine. Then, I installed my TurboTax 2004 -- Premiere edition, no less. As I started my return, the program asked me if I wanted to import my data from Quicken. Well, of course I did. After beginning the import function, the program then told me, in no uncertain terms, that it was 'unable to import data from Quicken 2002 or earlier versions.' Well, I guess April 19th comes early this year. Now, not only will I not be able to use online services, but also I must print out my entire 2004 expense profile and then manually enter the data. I have been using TurboTax for over ten years and have been very happy with it. Until now."
Another loyal TurboTax user found Intuit limiting his options in a different way. "I have used TurboTax since 1993, even through their notorious registration/spyware problems, because I trusted the product," the reader wrote. "I don't run my own business, so the Basic version is all I ever needed or wanted. In the fall of 2004, I had a unique opportunity to do a same-day sale of stock from a stock option plan from years ago. No problem -- I even tried a 'test' return using my 2003 copy of TurboTax, and the program worked flawlessly. All the questions I needed popped up, numbers went into the appropriate forms, even a series of help items -- everything I had come to expect from TurboTax. Great; just buy the 2004 version in January and I'm all set."
When the reader bought the Basic version he noticed a list of features on the back. "Under 'stock options' is a bullet that indicates the Premier version has 'Extra help for stock options.' Well, I don't need extra help, just what was built into the Basic version. Wrong! When I told the interview session I had stock options, it immediately popped up with a message that this feature was only available in the Premier version and would I care to upgrade online for $40? Of course not. But I guess I'm stuck."
What really bothered the reader was not the $40 upgrade but the elimination of actual functionality in the Basic version. "My previous experience with TurboTax has been that differences between the versions were that Premier and Deluxe just offered you more bells and whistles," the reader wrote. "They had extra features that were nice, but you could always do everything with Basic. Given that last year's package contained the stock option functionality in the Basic version, and this year's does not, I wonder what missing functionality we'll find is 'extra help' next January?"
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