Has anyone tried to upload tax documents to TurboTax yet? Getting errors
So I've been trying to upload my W-2 and 1099 forms to TurboTax for the past couple days and I'm losing my mind! I followed all the documentation step by step but every time I try to upload anything, I get this stupid error message saying "We're unable to process your documents at this time. Please try again later." I've tried on both my phone and laptop, different browsers, even had my partner try it on their account. Nothing works! Has anyone else run into this? Is there some trick I'm missing? The deadline is creeping up and I've got a stack of documents I need to enter. At this point I'm considering just manually typing everything in, but honestly that defeats the purpose of paying for the "premium" version with document upload. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.
20 comments
Join the conversation
Carmen Lopez
I'm a volunteer tax preparer and I've seen this issue with TurboTax's document upload system already this season. A few things to check that have worked for my clients: 1. Make sure your documents are actual PDFs, not images. Even if they look like PDFs, sometimes screenshots saved with .pdf extensions won't work. 2. Check the file size - TurboTax has a limit of 5MB per document. If you scanned at high resolution, try reducing the file size. 3. Sometimes their system gets overloaded early in tax season. Try uploading during off-peak hours (early morning or late night). 4. Verify you're using the right TurboTax version that includes document uploads. Not all versions have this feature enabled. If nothing works, you might need to contact TurboTax support directly. Their chat support has been more responsive than phone in my experience.
0 coins
Yuki Ito
•Thanks for the suggestions! I double-checked and my files are definitely PDFs (downloaded directly from my employer's portal) and they're all under 1MB. I tried at 11pm last night thinking it might be a server load issue but still got the same error. Do you know if there's any way to tell if my account is properly set up for document uploads? I purchased what I thought was the right version, but maybe something's not activated correctly?
0 coins
Carmen Lopez
•The easiest way to confirm your version supports document uploads is to check your TurboTax account dashboard. Look for "Documents" or "Upload Center" in the main navigation. If those options appear, your account has the feature enabled. Another troubleshooting step worth trying is to clear your browser cache completely or use an incognito/private browsing window. Sometimes TurboTax's website gets stuck with corrupted session data that prevents uploads from working correctly.
0 coins
Andre Dupont
After struggling with the EXACT same issue last year, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it completely changed my filing experience. Instead of dealing with TurboTax's terrible upload system, I just uploaded my tax docs to taxr.ai and it extracted all the data automatically, then gave me a simple report I could use to manually enter the info. Saved me hours of frustration and double-checking numbers.
0 coins
QuantumQuasar
•Does taxr.ai work with state tax documents too or just federal? I've got a bunch of state-specific forms this year and I'm dreading entering all that data manually.
0 coins
Zoe Papanikolaou
•I'm intrigued but also a bit worried about security. How does taxr.ai handle sensitive tax info? Is it encrypted? Do they keep copies of your documents?
0 coins
Andre Dupont
•It absolutely works with state tax documents! I used it for both federal and state forms last year, including some complicated state-specific investment documents. It handled everything perfectly. Their security is actually excellent. Everything is encrypted end-to-end, and they don't store your actual documents after processing - they just extract the data you need and then you can download that as a report. I was hesitant at first too, but they actually explain their security approach really clearly on their site.
0 coins
Zoe Papanikolaou
I tried out taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and WOW what a difference! I was initially concerned about security, but after researching them I felt comfortable giving it a try. Uploaded all my documents (W-2, multiple 1099s, some brokerage statements) and within minutes I had everything extracted perfectly. The report made entering data into TurboTax so much easier, and I'm 100% confident the numbers are right because I didn't have to type anything manually. Definitely using this every year from now on!
0 coins
Jamal Wilson
For anyone who needs to actually talk to a human at TurboTax about this upload issue - I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to customer support after waiting on hold for 2+ hours. Check out their demo video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c It's basically a service that waits on hold with TurboTax for you and calls you back when a rep comes on the line. I was skeptical but desperate after my documents wouldn't upload, and they got me connected to an actual TurboTax technical specialist who fixed my account issue. Apparently my account had some kind of flag on it preventing uploads.
0 coins
Mei Lin
•Wait, how does this actually work? Do they just call TurboTax for you? Couldn't you just put your phone on speaker and do something else while waiting?
0 coins
Liam Fitzgerald
•Yeah right. Sounds like they just take your money for something you could do yourself for free. These companies create fake problems then sell solutions.
0 coins
Jamal Wilson
•They have an automated system that navigates the phone tree and waits on hold so you don't have to. It monitors the line until a real person answers, then calls you to connect. I used to do the speakerphone thing but I'd always miss the call when I went to the bathroom or something, then have to start over. It's not just about waiting - they actually know which options to select to get to the right department faster. When I tried calling TurboTax myself, I kept getting routed to general support who couldn't help with upload problems. Claimyr got me to the technical team directly.
0 coins
Liam Fitzgerald
I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment yesterday, I was still struggling with TurboTax uploads so I figured what the hell, might as well try it. I was SHOCKED when I got a call back in about 35 minutes connecting me to an actual TurboTax technical support person! The agent fixed my account issue (something about my account being flagged for "suspicious upload activity" whatever that means) and all my documents uploaded perfectly after that. Saved me hours of frustration and probably my sanity too. Definitely worth it.
0 coins
Amara Nnamani
Has anyone tried using the TurboTax mobile app for document uploads instead of the website? I found that the website was giving me errors but the mobile app worked perfectly for uploading my W-2 and 1099s.
0 coins
Giovanni Mancini
•The mobile app worked for my W-2 but crashed every time I tried to upload my 1099-INT from my bank. I ended up using the website for those. Seems like different problems on different platforms.
0 coins
Amara Nnamani
•That's interesting about the 1099-INT issues. I only uploaded W-2s and 1099-MISC forms through the app, so maybe that's why I didn't encounter problems. I've found that sometimes their systems don't handle certain document types consistently across platforms. For more complex forms like K-1s, the website seems more reliable in my experience.
0 coins
NebulaNinja
Is anyone elses TurboTax running SUPER slow this year? I finally got my docs uploaded but now the actual software is crawling and sometimes freezes entirely when I try to review sections. I'm using Chrome on a pretty new computer so it shouldn't be my hardware...
0 coins
Fatima Al-Suwaidi
•Try Firefox instead. I had the same issue with Chrome and switching browsers fixed it. Something about their site optimization this year seems really off.
0 coins
Dylan Mitchell
For anyone still having trouble, I found out TurboTax is doing system maintenance every night from 1am-3am EST right now. That's why uploads might work at some times but not others. Their support chat told me to try during business hours for best results. Apparently they're dealing with higher than normal volume this season.
0 coins
Sara Hellquiem
Just wanted to add my experience after reading through all these responses - I had the same upload errors for days and tried everything mentioned here. What finally worked for me was completely logging out of TurboTax, clearing all my browser data (not just cache, but cookies and stored data too), then logging back in. Apparently there was some corrupted session data that was causing the uploads to fail. After doing a fresh login, all my documents uploaded immediately without any errors. Might be worth trying this simple step before going the third-party route or waiting hours for support!
0 coins