After apology, TurboTax will ‘restore desktop software’

Intuit Inc., having admitted one mistake, says it will undo another.

Changes in its popular TurboTax software for this tax season caught many users by surprise. The changes required them to upgrade – and pay more – to use some of the same tax forms this tax season as last year.

Intuit apologized last week for surprising its customers, saying it should have told them more clearly about software changes.

On Thursday, the company said in an emailed statement that it will “restore TurboTax desktop software products for next year.” The restoration will “cover the entire product line with all forms in all products.”

Intuit also said buyers of this year’s Deluxe software will be able to upgrade free and seamlessly to the more expensive version they need this year.

It continues to offer $25 to those who already have paid for an upgrade, though some TurboTax users said their upgrades have cost more than that.

On refunds, TurboTax said it’s working to simplify the process.

House-flipping amateurs warned as market slows

San Jose and San Francisco lead the nation in house flipping, according to a study released Thursday by online real estate site Trulia, but the best days for making a profit may be over as price gains slow.

The market changes have created dangers for amateurs and slim pickings for professionals who buy, fix up and resell homes in a short time.

“People better be awfully careful,” said Kathy Fettke, CEO of Real Wealth Network, an investors club.

“Price gains can’t happen forever. This is a pattern that happens every 10 years, where things go really well and suddenly they don’t,” she said. “The amateurs are going to get clobbered.”

Trulia economist Ralph McLaughlin said “flipping is going to slow down over the coming year, primarily because we’ve seen house price gains slowing.”

Top 10 metro areas for house flipping:

1. San Jose

2. San Francisco

3. Knoxville, Tenn.

4. Bakersfield, Calif.

5. Nashville, Tenn.

6. Orange County, Calif.

7. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

8. Ventura County, Calif.

9. Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, Mass.

10. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.

Honda: Another death may be linked to faulty airbags

Honda Motor Co. said another death could be linked to faulty airbags in its vehicles.

The automaker said Thursday it is looking into a crash of a 2002 Honda Accord on Jan. 18 in Houston. The driver’s side airbag inflator in the car may have ruptured, sending shrapnel into the cabin and killing the driver, who the company did not name.

Honda and other automakers are having problems with inflators made by auto parts supplier Takata Corp.

— From news service reports