Frequently-Asked Questions about the TurboTax Accuracy Guarantee
Receiving a notice from the IRS or State can be a stressful experience. Fortunately, TurboTax's calculations are guaranteed accurate.
On this page, you will find information on what TurboTax's Accuracy Guarantee means to you.
You will also find some steps you can take to find out why you received the notice and what help is available to you.
- What is Intuit's Accuracy Guarantee?
- I received an IRS or State notice. What should I do?
- Why am I getting a notice when TurboTax said my return had no errors?
- What is an omission?
- How do I know if I entered something wrong?
- What amounts does Intuit reimburse?
- How do I obtain reimbursement due to a program error?
- What information does Intuit need to review my case?
- What is a .tax file?
- How do I locate my TurboTax tax return file on my computer?
- What if I don't have a .tax file? (I used TurboTax Online)
- When will Intuit contact me with an answer?
- Will Intuit contact the IRS or State Authority on my behalf?
- I submitted my request and have not received a response
What is Intuit's Accuracy Guarantee?
Intuit works diligently to ensure the accuracy of the calculations on every form prepared using TurboTax. If you are the Primary or Secondary taxpayer on a return prepared using TurboTax with the most recent update available prior to filing your return, reviewed your return for reasonableness, and you pay an IRS or State penalty and/or interest solely because of a calculation error on a form within TurboTax; and not as a result of (among other things):
- Your failure to enter all information accurately;
- Willful or fraudulent omission or inclusion of information on your tax return, such as overrides;
- Misclassification of information on the tax return;
- Failure to file an amended return to avoid or reduce an applicable penalty/interest after Intuit announced updates or corrections to the Software in time for you to file an amended return;
then Intuit will reimburse you in the amount of the IRS or State penalty and/or interest paid by you to the IRS or State up to the date of the first notice.
Important: You are responsible for paying any additional tax liability you may owe and providing any other information Intuit requests to review your claim.
*A "registered user" is a user who either registers his/her purchase with Intuit, or has purchased a license to use the Software directly from Intuit.
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I received an IRS or State notice. What should I do?
If you receive a notice of a change in your tax return from the IRS or your State tax authority, you may find assistance in understanding the reason you received the notice and next steps for you by downloading the Audit Support Center.
Additionally, feel free to contact us for assistance in reviewing the notice and the information on the tax return which may have caused it.
After reviewing the letter, determine whether or not you agree with their decision.
- If you agree with their proposed change, follow the instructions specified in their letter.
- If you do not agree with the proposed change, contact the tax authority to learn why they made the change. If a mistake was made by the tax authority, it can often be resolved with them over the phone.
If, after contacting the taxing authority, you require additional assistance with disputing the change, you may find the number to the TaxPayer Advocate service on the IRS's Web Site or the State Taxing Authority's Web Site.
If you believe the situation was caused by a calculation error within the TurboTax software and you have been assessed penalties and interest which you have had to pay because of this, you may submit your claim for review using the form located on our Web site here.
Note: You need to respond to the taxing authority as soon as possible. If a calculation error is found, Intuit will only reimburse the amount of penalties and/or interest paid by you from the first notice received.
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Why am I getting a notice when TurboTax said my return had no errors?
When you run the Error Check, TurboTax evaluates your return against what is needed for filing a return and looks for:
- Missing information in fields required for filing a return, and
- Entries that are inconsistent with tax regulations.
Prior to E-filing, a second error check is performed for you to ensure that the return meets the IRS e-filing requirements which can differ from the requirements to mail a return. This may show different errors than the initial error check performed as certain forms cannot be e-filed but can be prepared within TurboTax.
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What is an omission?
If your tax return does not include any information that should be reported from all sources, this is an omission and not a calculation error within the TurboTax program. An omission is not covered by the Accuracy Guarantee.
Example: On the form 1099-R received, Box 1 has an amount of $10,000, and Box 2a has an amount of $7,500. Within TurboTax the 1099-R has $10,000 for Box 1, while Box 2a is blank. Since this form only receives input from the user, this omission is considered a data entry error, and not a calculation error.
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How do I know if I entered something wrong?
Review the information on the notice received from the taxing authority and compare that with the forms within TurboTax. If you have a printed copy of your return, it may be helpful to review that as well.
In TurboTax Online, you can print the worksheets that will show the information that you entered into the current return. You may print these by doing the following:
- Sign into your TurboTax Online return.
- Click the Tools button in the upper right-hand corner.
- Choose Print/Save Returns from that menu.
- Click the Show Advanced Options link towards the middle of the page.
- Select "My tax return plus all worksheets for my records."
- Click the View/Print button.
For prior year returns in TurboTax Online, you may print the forms that were filed by doing the following:
- Go to http://turbotax.intuit.com
- Click the Sign In button on the right of the page.
- Sign into the account used to prepare the return for the tax year in question.
- Click the View Returns from Prior Years link in the lower right-hand section of the page.
- Select the file for the year you would like to view.
To access the forms within TurboTax Desktop, do the following:
- Open your return within TurboTax
- Do one of the following depending on the tax year for which the notice was received:
- 2007 and prior: Open the Forms menu at the top of the window and select Show My Return
- 2008: Open the View menu at the top of the window and select Forms Mode
- 2009 and later: Click the Forms button in the upper right hand corner of TurboTax
- Double-click the form that you would like to view.
Numbers within Forms Mode in TurboTax Desktop are color-coded to let you know how the forms were filled in.
TurboTax can only perform calculations based on the information you entered (blue text). If there is any data missing or entered in error, then this will cause TurboTax to perform the correct calculations using incorrect numbers.
If you would like further assistance reviewing the information from within TurboTax and the notice you received, please feel free to contact us.
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What amounts does Intuit reimburse?
After you submit all the requested information, we will then review your case to find the cause of the error. If we determine there is a calculation issue causing the notice, then Intuit will reimburse you for the amount of penalties and/or interest paid to the taxing authority from the first notice received.
Note: Intuit does not pay any additional tax liability you may owe.
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How do I obtain reimbursement due to a calculation error?
If you believe the notice is a result of a calculation error, and have incurred penalties and/or interest which you have paid due to this error. You may submit your claim no later than 30 days after receiving the first notice from the taxing authority here.
Note: Submissions must come within 30 days of the first notice. Intuit will only reimburse penalty and interest on the first notice received.
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What information does Intuit need to review my case?
All documentation must be submitted electronically. In order to attach them to a submission, they must be scanned in. Before we can review your case, we will need you to submit the following documents:
- A complete copy of the Federal or State assessment or notice letter.
- A copy of your .tax file.
- Any documentation related to the notice received. (W-2s, 1099-Rs, etc.)
If you have questions regarding what is related to the notice, please contact us, the IRS, or the State taxing authority for further clarification.
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What is a .tax file?
The .tax file is an electronic file that TurboTax creates as you prepare your return. The .tax file contains all information that was input, calculated, imported, and transferred. By analyzing this file, we are able to trace a number back to its original entry point, allowing for easy identification of a mis-entry or a calculation error within TurboTax. You can visit this TurboTax support article for more information on how we determine the source of data within TurboTax.
Note: The Accuracy Guarantee department cannot accept .pdf copies of your tax return in lieu of a .tax file. A .pdf copy of your tax return, though valuable to keep for your records, does not contain the original points of entry into TurboTax. Not being able to view the original source of entry, we cannot determine whether or not the issue lies with a calculation error in TurboTax.
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How do I locate my .tax file on my computer?
Windows: Click here for assistance in finding the .tax file on your computer.
Macintosh: Click here for assistance in finding the .tax file on your Mac.
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What if I don't have a .tax file? (I used TurboTax Online)
If you do not have a .tax file and did not e-file, the return will need to be re-created as it was filed. Please Contact Us to obtain a copy of the program for the tax year under review.
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When will Intuit contact me with an answer?
Once you submit your case you will be sent an automated e-mail with your case number. Be sure to keep this number for future reference. After Intuit receives all required documentation, we will make a determination within 8 to 12 weeks.
We do require documentation at the time of submission, but at times we may need to request additional documentation. In these cases, we cannot begin reviewing the case to make a determination until all requested documentation is received.
Note: You need to respond to the taxing authority as soon as possible. If a calculation error is found, Intuit will only reimburse the amount of penalties and/or interest paid by you from the first notice received.
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Will Intuit contact the IRS or State Authority on my behalf?
No, Intuit does not correspond with the IRS or any State tax authority regarding any taxpayer's tax return. Intuit will only correspond with the Primary or Secondary taxpayer regarding potential errors on his/her tax return prepared with TurboTax software.
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I submitted my request and have not received a response.
If you received confirmation that your request was submitted, you will receive a claim number by e-mail within 24 hours. If you submitted your case more than 24 hours ago and have not received this e-mail, check your Spam or Bulk E-mail folders; as some E-mail programs and Internet service providers treat our response as unsolicited e-mail. If you still cannot locate our message, you may obtain an e-mail address to contact the Accuracy Guarantee Department by submitting another request through our Web site here.
Note: Submissions must come within 30 days of the first notice. Intuit will only reimburse penalty and interest on the first notice received.
