Troubleshoot Transferring from a Prior-Year Return

You can't do that. TurboTax only transfers information from the previous tax year; it won't let you skip years when transferring.

TurboTax will only transfer information from a return that uses the same main form.

For example, you cannot transfer data from a corporate (Form 1120) return into a partnership (Form 1065) or individual (Form 1040) return.

You can, however, transfer data between Form 1040, Form 1040A, and Form 1040-EZ form returns because these are all variations of the same individual tax form.

Errors such as "Transfer Was Unsuccessful", "Internal Error", or "Unable to Read Data" indicate possible file corruption. Try the following suggestions, in the order listed.

Close TurboTax, restart the program, and try transferring again.

Make a copy of last year's return and then transfer from the copy:

1. Close TurboTax 2011 and open TurboTax 2010.
2. Open the 2010 tax file you are trying to transfer from.
   • The message Unable to Read Data means your file is damaged. Search for another copy of your file to transfer from. If you can't find one, you'll need to enter everything manually from a printed copy of last year's tax return.
3. From the TurboTax File menu (Windows) or TurboTax menu (Mac), choose Save As.
4. Save that return using a new file name, for example by adding the word Copy to the file name.
5. Close TurboTax 2010 and reopen TurboTax 2011.
6. Try transferring from the copy you saved in Step 4.

Try reinstalling your prior-year TurboTax software. If problems persist, reinstall the current version of TurboTax. Then, try transferring again.

If your information won't transfer, or the transferred data is so messed up that you don't even know how to begin fixing it, you can always start over.

• To start a new return in the Desktop Software version, you can either:
  • Reopen TurboTax and click Start a New Return on the first screen; or
  • Choose New Tax Return from the File menu (Windows) or TurboTax menu (Mac).
  • You may want to delete the original file if you saved it.
• To clear your return in TurboTax Online, click here for instructions.