TurboTax 2020 conundrum re Mac High Sierra O/S

I've been informed by the folks at Intuit that I will NOT be able to do my 2020 taxes on my iMac using TurboTax unless I upgrade my O/S to Mojave or Catalina. My (perfectly functioning) 2012 iMac 27" is NOT UPGRADABLE beyond High Sierra, which I presently use. So... while I'm entirely ready, willing and able to purchase a new (2020) iMac with the Catalina O/S, I would VERY much prefer waiting a bit for the upcoming Apple Silicon line, with its new Apple chip and probably a larger than 27" display. It may be only a few months down the road, but I will likely miss the tax filing deadline if I want to use TurboTax-- which I have been comfortably using for many years and do not want to switch to some other program. It is a dilemma! Unless Intuit makes it possible to use High Sierra for its 2020 TurboTax version (which seems doubtful, I'm told at this time,) or the new Apple Silicon becomes available before the end of 2020 or very early 2021. Your thoughts, advice and guidance would be very much appreciated! Thank you.

Posted on Sep 16, 2020 12:19 PM

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Mrokcratron

Level 2

401 points

Posted on Oct 30, 2020 1:51 PM

If you installed Parallels you'd could run a copy of Windows 10 inside it w/ the Windows version of TurboTax, or you could run macOS inside it with the Mac version of Turbotax.

The easiest method would be on your 10.13 High Sierra iMac w/ Parallels to install a self-contained copy of macOS. This would be installed via Parallels utilizing your physical Macs Recovery Partition. I'm fairly sure Parallels on a 10.13 High Sierra machine would allow you to install directly a 10.14 or 10.15 Mojave or Catalina virtual Parallels machine directly. However the "worst" case is you would install a 10.13 High Sierra Parallels virtual machine...and then once it's working you'd upgrade the virtual machine to Mojave or Catalina. Either way, this would be the quickest and easiest way to get your a self contained macOS that'll use the Home/Business TurboTax you need. And it would be TurboTax for Mac.

The other option is to in fact install Windows 10 in the Parallels virtual machine. The downside of this is you would need to download the Windows 10 disk image (ISO) file from Microsoft. However, this is very easy and you can do it from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

And Parallels would then utilize that image to create a Windows 10-based Parallels virtual machine. If you go this route then you would need to buy TurboTax for Windows. The advantage of this though is that you then have a Windows virtual machine which you could potentially have other uses for beyond TurboTax. The downside is that it is an extra step...but it's not much of an extra step.

How much RAM do you have though? As long as you have 8GB+ you're fine. Otherwise, if you only have 4GB of RAM I'd recommend at a cheap $30 RAM upgrade to bring you up to 8GB total. If you search for "mid 2011 iMac 4gb kit" you can get them for this price on Amazon. If you plan to retire your iMac in the coming months, that's all you need. If you plan to keep it, or give it to a family member, or someone deserving, then you can get an 8GB kit for $50 to have a total of 12GB or even spend $70 to get a 16GB kit.

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47 replies

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,096 points

Jan 30, 2021 8:25 AM in response to ROBINUWS

I believe TT online is only for doing simple returns. If you have a complicated return you need to install. At least that was the way it was in the past.

Sep 17, 2020 8:37 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thank you so much for your thoughts, however, I must correct myself on one very important matter-- my 27" iMac is vintage Mid 2011 (not 2012.) Very careless error on my part. And that changes the equation with respect to upgrading to at least Mojave (which would enable TurboTax 2020.) I understand that installing Mojave on a 2011 iMac is NOT doable.

So, I'm stuck between a rock & a hard place. I really want to wait for the non-Intel iMacs BUT... I equally want to continue my relationship with Turbo Tax. The ball is in Intuit's court and at this point. I'm hopeful that enough folks will pressure them to help out those of us with these vintage Macs.

Sep 17, 2020 8:52 AM in response to den.thed

As I responded to rkaufmann87, I made a dumb mistake with respect to my vintage 27" iMac -- it's a Mid-2011, not 2012 !!! which apparently rules out the possible upgrade to Mojave or Catalina. So I guess I'm still stuck regarding TurboTax.

Hoping that the Intuit people with find compassion for those (and there are probably many) who have pre-2012 machines. As much as I want to continue using TurboTax, I really want to wait and see the new non-Intel line and the likelihood of a larger than 27" iMac -- despite knowing that the new 2020 iMacs are the best iMacs ever.

Thanks for your response.

Sep 17, 2020 9:04 AM in response to Old Toad

I will definitely touch base with Intuit to look into your note about the online Turbo Tax for 2020 (when it's released,) I require the Home & Business version... which I always pick up on disk at COSTCO. Don't know if that's available online and/or will be compatible with my non-upgradable High Sierra O/S (Mid-2011, not 2012 as I originally posted.

Thanks for your comments.

Dec 26, 2020 10:23 AM in response to philzaleon

I have parallels but an older version on my mac but with 4gb of ram it runs really slow. I can actually get the new turbo tax and use it on my wife’s MacBook Pro, but I prefer to use my iMac and will get TaxCut since our taxes are simple and doesn’t even need schedule A since the standard deduction is so high that I don’t need to itemize for mortgage interest and taxes.

Jan 2, 2021 6:42 PM in response to belizeans

I am in the same situation and I am very frustrated by the non-support from Intuit.

I keep using my 2011 iMac because it is the last Mac with an internal CD/DVD drive. Can you believe it: it is almost 10 years since Apple made the last Mac with a built-in CD drive! Over the years, I have upgraded the RAM and installed a 1TB Samsung SSD drive, and the iMac is running as charm as always, and fits my needs perfectly with High Sierra.

I don't understand why TurboTax has to require Mojave to run. There is nothing wrong, not even any security issue with all the latest updates. If this can not be resolved, 2020 could be my last year to use TurboTax.

a04971

Level 1

4 points

Jan 15, 2021 10:52 AM in response to belizeans

Add me to this unfortunate group. I love my mid 2011 iMac and while, I will consider upgrading, I'm not ready and don't appreciate being forced into it. Always did my own taxes and been using Turbo Tax for many years. Might consider the online version but I'm intrigued with the aforementioned TaxCut option.

Has anyone used both TaxCut and Turbo Tax and willing to give brief comparison?

P.S. Wife just handed me our 2nd stimulus check (shocked it wasn't direct deposit). Looks like Apple may be getting that money.

Feb 21, 2021 2:25 PM in response to oldfridayrider

agreed, & forced obsolecense

I have quickbooks, old version, if I update to Catalina, then I must first update QB.

now, an extra download today adding more procrastination getting the taxes done. Should have come here first & tried the online option.

Feb 22, 2021 9:01 AM in response to S0T5E3V0E1

I guess there is still a market for TT Deluxe, but we are talking about TT Premier and Small business versions, none of them are available for free or online.

1040EZ can be done online for free for sure, not just from TT site.

Mar 17, 2021 3:46 PM in response to Barry Sommers

Well, just an fyi, my computer did an update to MacOS Big Sur last week, and my 2019 and 2020 Turbotax don't load any longer. Big, big problem to finish with what I was doing since I do taxes for family and friends. I sat on the phone for about an hour plus with someone from Apple and she couldn't help me other than to tell me to create a "new user" on my computer. I then, for some reason, was able to load the 2020 from there, but had to start from scratch with the tax return I was working on. I know there's a way to share "files" from user to user on a computer, but for the life of me, I just can't figure out how to get all the files from the taxes I already did, over to my "new user" area. I've tried to google, youtube, etc. with no luck. I think I need to take a class but someone is responsible for this!!!! (Meaning Apple or Turbotax) Just wondering if I buy a new Turbotax program, and try to load it in the user area I'm already using (not the new one) if it would work then and open the taxes I was working on??

Mar 17, 2021 6:28 PM in response to LauraD1954

Wow! I don’t have an answer for your conundrum. It seems that the Apple software writers don’t consider TurboTax, Quicken, and Intuit when they write their upgrades. Vice-versa also applies.

Three years ago, after upgrading to High Sierra, I could no longer open my Quicken Essentials program. I had backed up my data but couldn’t open the program. The people at the local Apple store were useless, even though I had purchased Quicken Essentials from them three years earlier. I tried upgrading Quicken, to no avail. I ended up having to back up my hard drive and then reformat it with plain old Sierra. Then I could install Quicken Essentials again.

By then, I had decided to buy a Windows computer so that I could run Quicken. Getting my data from the Mac to a Windows-based Quicken was difficult and time-consuming. I finally got it there, and I mainly use that computer for Quicken. I have used Quicken since 1994. It looks like, in the future, I’ll also have to use that computer for TurboTax.

den.thed

Level 10

91,060 points

Sep 16, 2020 1:23 PM in response to Barry Sommers

+1 to what rkaufmann87 say's, only I would shoot for Mojave instead of Catalina. That will give you time to look into finding and replacing any 32bit app's that no longer run in Catalina.

Dec 26, 2020 8:35 AM in response to oldfridayrider

Agreed ...nothing wrong with our 2011 Macs, even for security. I will finally have to use TaxCut!

Dec 26, 2020 9:30 AM in response to belizeans

I meant OS X High Sierra 10.13

Dec 26, 2020 11:48 AM in response to belizeans

I understand your dilemma. My mid-2011 has 16GB which is sufficient even when Parallels partitions a Windows portion. That said RAM is now dirt cheap and installing on an iMac easy.

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TurboTax 2020 conundrum re Mac High Sierra O/S