TurboTax Canada login problems: getting back into your account

Why can't I sign in to TurboTax Canada?

TurboTax Canada login problems nearly always come down to one of four things: the user ID or email is not the one attached to your returns, the verification code does not arrive, the account is temporarily locked after failed attempts, or you are on the US TurboTax site. Each has a different fix, so identify yours before resetting anything.

Your TurboTax Canada sign-in is an Intuit Account. The same account is used by TurboTax Online and by TurboTax Desktop when you activate it, so a sign-in problem can block both. Intuit Canada's help centre publishes the recovery process in Recover your Intuit Account if you can't sign in.

Is my TurboTax Canada account separate from the US one?

The sign-in is shared, but the tax products are not. An Intuit Account is a single login for Intuit products, while TurboTax Canada at turbotax.intuit.ca and US TurboTax at turbotax.intuit.com prepare returns for different governments. A Canadian return started on turbotax.intuit.ca will not appear in the US product, and the reverse is also true.

This causes a common sign-in issue: someone searches for TurboTax, lands on the US site, signs in successfully and sees no returns. Nothing is wrong with the account. Go to turbotax.intuit.ca and sign in there with the same credentials.

More than one Intuit Account

Returns belong to the user ID that created them. If you used a work email one year and a personal email the next, you may have two accounts, and each will show only its own returns. Try signing in with every email address you have used before assuming a return is lost.

How to recover a TurboTax Canada login

Intuit Canada's recovery steps work whether you forgot the user ID, the password or both. Use them before creating a new account, because a new account will not contain your past returns.

1. Open Intuit's account recovery page (accounts.intuit.com, account recovery).
2. Enter the phone number, email address or user ID you think is on the account.
3. Choose how to receive the verification code: text, email or phone call.
4. Enter the code when it arrives.
5. Reset the password when prompted, or select Skip if you only needed to confirm the account.
6. If the code method does not work, select Try something else and answer the identity questions, which can include your last name, date of birth, Social Insurance Number and postal code.

TurboTax Canada sign-in issues with verification codes

A verification code that never arrives is the most common TurboTax Canada sign-in problem after a forgotten password. The code goes only to the phone number or email saved on the account, so if that detail is out of date, no amount of resending will help.

• Email code missing: check the junk or spam folder, and search for messages from Intuit. Email delivery can take several minutes.
• Text code missing: confirm the phone has signal and can receive short-code texts. Some prepaid plans and call-blocking apps filter them.
• Wrong destination: the masked number or address on screen shows where the code went. If it is an old number, choose a different method.
• Too many resends: requesting several codes in a row can invalidate the earlier ones. Use only the newest code.

If none of the listed methods reach you, choose Sign in a different way on the sign-in screen. Intuit Canada offers this alongside the text-message option.

Account locked or password reset not working

Repeated wrong passwords lock the account for a short time. Intuit Canada's instruction is to wait 15 minutes and try again, or to get a code texted to your phone instead. Trying again during the lockout restarts the problem, so set a timer.

When a password reset appears to succeed but the new password is refused, the usual cause is a browser autofill entering the old one. Clear the saved password for intuit.com in your browser, type the new password by hand, and sign in from a private window to rule out stale cookies.

No access to your old phone or email

If the phone and email on the account are both gone, use the Recover my account button in Intuit's sign-in help. Intuit Canada asks for clear images of government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's licence or provincial ID card, and says it processes these requests within one business day.

Finding past returns after you sign in

Once you are in, past TurboTax Online returns are listed in your account's tax return history. If a year is missing, two explanations cover most cases: that return was prepared in TurboTax Desktop, which saves a file on the computer rather than in your account, or it was done under another Intuit Account.

Desktop users should search the computer for the tax file saved in the TurboTax folder under Documents. If you are moving to a new computer, the Desktop licence also needs to be set up again; see install TurboTax Canada.

Your Intuit password is not your CRA password. Auto-fill my return asks for your CRA user ID and password, or a Sign-in Partner, inside TurboTax (Canada.ca, Auto-fill my return). A failure at that step is a CRA sign-in issue, covered in Auto-fill my return not working.

TurboTax Canada login issues on Desktop

TurboTax Desktop asks you to sign in to an Intuit Account when you first activate it, and Intuit Canada says the licence code is then saved to that account (Intuit Canada, install help). Signing in with a different account on a second computer is what triggers the already-linked message described in TurboTax Canada error code 608.

If the program shows a blank or frozen sign-in window, the embedded browser may be blocked by security software. Temporarily allow TurboTax through the firewall, restart the program and try again. For activation-specific messages, see TurboTax Canada activation code not working. The full list of Canadian issues is on the TurboTax Canada problems hub.