Fidelity chooses to give a selected group of customers free TurboTax Premier every year. If you’re selected and you use the link in the special offer to TurboTax’s website, the online version of TurboTax Premier is free and the download version costs only $5 (plus tax in some states).
Where to Find the Offer
Fidelity doesn’t email or otherwise alert you that you have this offer. If you’ve been selected to receive the offer, you’ll see it appear on the All Accounts -> Summary tab after you log in to Fidelity’s website.
The All Accounts -> Summary tab usually displays some informational and marketing “cards” such as this one:
You’ll see a card with the free/$5 TurboTax offer among these other cards on the All Accounts -> Summary tab if you’ve been selected to receive the offer. Be sure to scroll down and look for it.
Buy the Download
If you have the offer, buying the downloaded version of TurboTax Premier for $5 is a better deal than using the online version for free. I explained why that’s the case in Tax Software: Buy the Download, Not the Online Service. If you used TurboTax Online last year, the downloaded software can import last year’s data from TurboTax Online.
The downloaded version also has the useful What-If Worksheet for tax planning, which isn’t available in the online version. See Tax Planning with TurboTax What-If Worksheet: Roth Conversion.
The downloaded software charges a fee for state e-file (federal e-file is free) but you can e-file for free on the state revenue agency’s website in many states. See Free E-File State Tax Return Directly on the State’s Website.
Selection Criteria
If you don’t see the offer for free/$5 TurboTax on the All Accounts -> Summary tab after you log in to Fidelity’s website, that means Fidelity’s marketing algorithm didn’t choose you. Which customers Fidelity chooses to offer the free/$5 TurboTax is always unclear.
Having large accounts probably helps but it doesn’t guarantee it. Some people with 5-figure accounts get the offer and some people with 7-figure accounts don’t get it.
Being in the “Private Client Group” and having an assigned advisor may help but it doesn’t guarantee it either. Some people receive the offer without an assigned advisor or the Private Client Group status and some people still don’t get the offer even though they have the Private Client Group status and an assigned advisor.
Having a taxable account isn’t required either. Some people get the offer with only retirement accounts and some people with a large taxable account still don’t get it.
There’s quite a degree of randomness and mystery in who gets the free TurboTax offer and who doesn’t.
Not Chosen, What to Do?
I have a large taxable account with Fidelity, I’m in the Private Client Group, and I have an assigned advisor, but I never received the free TurboTax offer. Not last year, not this year, never. If you’re like me and you think you have all the reasons to get the free TurboTax offer but you don’t see it on the All Accounts -> Summary tab, what now?
Check Spouse’s Login
If you’re married and your spouse has a separate login, ask him or her to check under his or her login. Sometimes one spouse has the offer and the other doesn’t.
Unfortunately my wife doesn’t get the offer either.
Wait
Not everyone sees the offer at the same time. Some people see it in mid-December and some people see it in January. If you don’t see the offer, it may still show up at a later time.
Ask Your Advisor
If you have an assigned advisor, he or she has no control over who gets the free TurboTax offer or when the offer shows up for you but your advisor may have some discretionary client relationship budget. Some advisors will tell you to buy the software yourself and they’ll reimburse you when you send them the receipt.
It’s up to you whether you want to pursue this with your advisor.
You know whether you have an assigned advisor by looking at the top right on the All Accounts page after you log in to Fidelity’s website. You have an assigned advisor if you see a photo and a name when you click on the dropdown. You don’t have an assigned advisor if you only see a toll-free number.
Don’t bother calling customer service if you don’t have the offer. They don’t know how the offer targeting algorithm picks customers for the offer. Customer service can’t put an offer in your account.
Ask a Friend or Family
Someone may have the free TurboTax offer from Fidelity but they don’t use TurboTax because they use an accountant or tax preparer or they prefer some other software.
If a friend or a family member has the offer but they won’t use TurboTax, you can use their link to buy it. After they log in to Fidelity and click on the offer, you use their computer to log in to your TurboTax account to buy it.
Buy It From Amazon
While it’s great to get TurboTax for $5, it isn’t that expensive when you buy it without the special offer. Amazon typically puts TurboTax on sale between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The Deluxe + State edition, which is sufficient for most people, usually sells for $35-40 at that time.
I buy the Deluxe (federal-only) edition for under $30 because my state tax is dead simple. I file the state tax directly on the state tax department’s website for free with only three numbers from the federal return.
I go this route every year. Fidelity doesn’t owe me a $5 TurboTax. It isn’t a feature they advertise. Some people just get a surprise gift. I’ll take it if they choose to give it to me but I’ll just buy it on my own when they don’t.
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Bill says
Excellent article, especially checking the spouse account. I’ve always considered myself an expert on this offer and there’s nothing in here which is incorrect (fortunately, I get it every year myself). It’s very strange that you have a rep and are PCG and never get the offer. Not having a rep is usually the gotcha for people who don’t have it.
Richard E Martz says
Agreed. I think it is mainly if you have a rep. A relative has an 8 figure account but no longer gets it for free.
Bill says
They should call and have a rep assigned.
Steve says
I received the Fidelity TT offer and paid $5 for download version. The only reason I paid attention to it this year was because of thread in Bogleheads forum about it. I normally use Block desktop tax software but have used Turbotax last couple of years due to having to fill out Form 1116.
Nice to know I am one of Fidelity’s select clientele.
Steve says
My wife got the offer from Fidelity, too.
larry says
We have gotten the offer on either my or my wife’s account for the past three years, but as you said I have had to be proactive in searching for it each time.
I find it curious that a firm such as Fidelity doesn’t promote this more, or at least notify all eligible customers that the tax program is available. Why offer a benefit and then not market it? Strange….
Bill says
It is absolutely ridiculous that they do not tell their customers about it. Think about the goodwill they would get if your rep emailed you about it! I met a couple of fellow PCG customers at a Fidelity event a few years ago, and they had no idea that this even existed, but had it when they looked. So now every year when I see it, I send them a text message to let them know to go look. Customers who exclusively use the app or don’t go to the Portfolio page will never see it, never mind that it’s at the very bottom of the page if you DO go to the Portfolio. I always used to email my rep to let her know abut it, but I think she’s still angry with me for moving a bunch of assets out of Fidelity (but kept enough there to still receive TT and have her as my rep since she’s now a VP).
Steve says
It is probably similar to the reason Costco constantly changes the location of products in its stores, without labeling products in aisle. Costco wants you to travel throughout the store on your “treasure hunt”.
Fidelity rewards some of its customers who access their portfolio pages with a gift every now and then. Keep scrolling down your Fidelity portfolio page or you’ll miss out.
Maybe Harry will make it one year!
Bill says
Steve, the location on the Fideelity site does not change. It’s always at the bottom of the Portfolio page. It used to be a challenge to find the download version, butthey made that much easier this year.
TJ says
Sounds like Utah has simpler tax forms than California if you only need to copy 3 numbers. 🙂
Or are your taxes simpler in early retirement than they were while employed, also?
Harry Sit says
The state tax forms are simpler. The only 3 numbers I need from the federal return are federal AGI, federal standard or itemized deductions, and interest from Treasuries (not directly on the federal return but a subset of interest and fund dividends derived from Treasuries). The state’s online system calculates everything else.
Larry says
A good summary of everything known and unknown about the free TT offer. Anyone who truly knows how this works has been sworn to silence.
Fidelity is free to extend or not extend this perk as they see fit, but in 2018 a rep told me (after having given it to me the previous 2 years, and had low 7-figures and 30+ years with them) that “my relationship with Fidelity was insufficient”. Words I will never forget. I even asked him to confirm that those were the words he intended to use. I’m sorry but that crosses a line that no financial firm should ever cross.
A couple phone calls later, I had moved most of my Fidelity assets to Schwab, who gave me a bonus that could pay for TT for the next 100 years.
Christian Walenta says
when I saw your article a few weeks ago I checked my Fidelity account and indeed had an offer for Free TT, this week I went back in to click on it and get the SW, but the offer is nit there anymore. Strange, but could it be that the offer is only temporary or can disappear of not used?
Bill says
They pulled the offer, hopefully only temporarily. My theory is that pulled it because some folks figured out how to hack TT using cookies so that people who did not receive the offer were able to take advantage of it. Hopefully they will fix the problem in the new year and reinstate it. This has happened previously, too.
BTW, this is a good reason why you should always take advantage of the offer when you see it. Either purchase the download version, or go into the online version and skip ahead to the file section and “pay” the $0 fee to lock it in.
Barry N. says
This is the second year in a row I have gotten the offer. I looked after Harry’s article appeared and seized the opportunity (with the $5 download). Why me is a mystery. I don’t have a rep and only have a mid 6-figure account with Fido but I do trade a fair amount. The offer remained on my Summary page after I took it but is gone now. Last year the offer disappeared and then reappeared. Very weird Fidelity behavior.
Bill says
If you are what they consider Active Trader Pro, that is one sure way of getting the offer. Or maybe you just have to sign up to use the program?
As I mentioned in my last comment, my theory on the disappearance is that they realized that people who were not supposed to be getting the offer had figured out how to trick the TT website into thinking that they qualified (there were posts on other sites about using cookies). So it’s been pulled for retooling. At least that’s my theory based on what has happened in the past.
Larry says
This blog does not allow replies to replies but this is for Bill who replied to comment #8.
I guarantee that if you look around the internet, you will find that _no one_ knows how this perk works.
Being an Active Trader? Having a certain amount of funds? A certain number of accounts? Being in the “Private Client Group”? Having an assigned advisor? Those all seem plausible but it has been proven that NONE of them are guarantees.
Bill says
And I can tell you that over the years, I have been one of the main people who have posted about this perk on other sites (I used to be the starter of the thread on a popular consumer site, I’ve slacked in recent years). Yes, there is no 100% guarantee that you will get it. But there are certain things that have shown to increase the likelihood of getting it. My rep has told me that she has nothing to do with who gets it, and I’m the one who always tells her when it’s available. And yes, there are some people who get it and shouldn’t based on the “guidelines”. The description here does a pretty good job of explaining what we know about it.
Fidelity used to talk about it on the following page. Interestingly, the footnote is still there, but they seem to have deleted the item in the table that it referred to. You can tell that they’re talking about tax software by reading to the end.
https://www.fidelity.com/trading/active-trader-trading-service-levels
Active traders who trade 120+ trades per calendar year and has one or more nonretirement account(s).
Certain covered clients: Private Wealth Management (PWM) client and owns one or more nonretirement account(s) or PCG, Premium, and ATS clients with minimum assets of either: PWI assets of $1,000,000 or more and PI assets of at least $500,000 and own one or more nonretirement account or Nonretirement assets $1,000,000 or more. Applies to Federal returns and one state return only. Cost of additional state returns are the responsibility of the client.
Bill says
Fidelity temporarily pulled the offer just before the end of the year. No official word on why, but I think it’s because people had figured out how to set the browser cookies in a way that made it look like you were eligible for the offer when you got to the TT site (this was discussed on SD and likely other sites). As of yesterday, they’re now showing a box saying that you qualify for the offer and that it will be available by the end of January. So, if you looked for it in the past week or so and did not see it and thought you didn’t qualify, look again.
Rich T says
Thanks so much for this article!
I checked, and found the offer!
Bill says
Just to clairfy, the offer is not currently available, but they put a placeholder on the portfolio page saying that you qualify and that it will be available by the end of the months.
The contents of the thread on the popular consumer thread that talking about setting cookies to fraudulently get the offer when you did not qualify has been removed. First time I’ve ever seen that happen.
JG says
I received the offer for TT Online Premium free, however, when I click “Get started now,” I am directed to a page offering “Save 20% on TurboTax.”
Harry Sit says
Go back and try clicking on “Get started now” again. It usually works on a second try.
IH says
I have the same problem. I saw the offer on the summary page, but when I clicked ” get started now,” the page only directed me to 20%. I contacted Fidelity, and the rep confirmed that I was eligible. She couldn’t understand why clicking on “get started now” only gave me a 20% discount. She instructed me to log out and log in again, and it still did not fix the issue. Frustrating.
Arun says
Excellent article as always. Using the spouse login worked for me after mine did not. Thanks Harry.
Steve says
Any idea when Fidelity is likely to start offering free/discounted Turbo Tax 2024?
Harry Sit says
Usually mid- to late December.
Bill says
Usually around the third Thursday.