TurboTax Review

Introduction

TurboTax is one of the most well known in the world of tax preparation software, but is it really just the same as any other tax software out there? In a way it is, because there is only so much you can do with the rigid set of tax forms that are required for completion by law. What that means is, TurboTax and most of the competition are just helping you do the same thing in almost the same way. You just get some gadgets here, and some bells and whistles there. What does make a difference however it the interface that you use to complete your tax return and whether you can get to grips with it or not.

Free Edition

There is a free edition of TurboTax available which doesn't include phone support or some other functions, but it is still useful for anyone who is new to the TurboTax software and has a fairly simple or uncomplicated tax return. If you have a more complicated tax situation, it is still possible to use this process as a trial run of the software as well, before upgrading later on to a more advanced version with a broader feature set.

Support

Free support is available over the phone (if you have a paid edition) or via live text chat, but it is often well hidden among other things that visually grab your attention or stuck at the very bottom of a page. So the support is there if you truly need it, and it really is free, but they seem, quite understandably as if they don't want you to use it that much. I suppose this is understandable when it's free though as those support call costs add up fast.

You can also seek help from the community of other users, but this should be no substitute for expert information as the community is basically made up of regular people like you.

Paid Edition

The free edition is what gets a lot of people in the door with TurboTax, but it should come as no surprise that most of those people end up paying before they leave. If you're only looking for a free option then this may not be the tax software for you, unless your tax situation is very simple. For everyone else, from basic all the way up to the home and business edition, TurboTax does a good job of taking your tax information and then transferring it to the appropriate forms.

Overall

TurboTax offers a free edition of the software, suitable for simple tax returns, or to be used just as a starting point to see if you like their system in general. Most users may probably pay at some point though to unlock few limitations of the free edition can really get in the way if you want to use most of the features fully.

TurboTax User Reviews