You advance from one page to the next by responding and clicking a link at the bottom. If you’ve used TurboTax before, the information appears automatically. If you’re new to TurboTax, you can automatically fill in some of the data by scanning the barcode of your driver’s license or state ID. While I’m not a fan of handling financial matters on my phone — for both personal and practical reasons — TurboTax makes it easy. It’s a bit harder to read the additional information given the smaller screen, but you can still follow along with TurboTax’s interview-based approach on a limited interface.

• That said, in my experience, the answers are helpful more often than not, but please don’t take them as professional tax advice.
• You can often use those options if you don’t own a home, you have no investment income other than simple dividends or interest and you don’t have rental properties or business expenses.
• If you have a more complicated tax situation — say, you’re a self-employed worker with multiple clients or side hustles — TurboTax’s business packages may be overkill and more expensive than others.
• Finally, a confirmation page said the state filing fee was $5, but when we accepted the prompt, the price jumped to $45.
• It’s great if you can file your taxes for free, but the average filer will need to upgrade to another option.
• And our partners can never pay us to guarantee favorable reviews (or even pay for a review of their product to begin with).

After a few years of major tax changes related to the 2017 tax law and Covid-19 stimulus payments, taxes are staying relatively similar for 2023. Melanie Pinola previously covered all things home office as a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. She has contributed to print and online publications such as The New York Times, Lifehacker, and PCWorld, specializing in tech, productivity, and lifestyle/family topics. She’s thrilled when those topics intersect—and when she gets to write about them in her PJs. Whether you’re building an empire of your own from home or making a little extra money through a side hustle, TurboTax helps you find every tax deduction you’re eligible for.

How Much Does TurboTax Live Cost?

TurboTax will suggest which package is best for you (including the free simple tax returns edition) based on your selections. For TurboTax’s Full Service products, you’ll get matched with a tax expert who will handle the entire process once you upload your documents. However, these packages start at $219 for simple tax returns and go up to $409 for self-employed taxpayers. If you’re using one of H&R Block’s do-it-yourself (DIY) programs for online taxes or tax software, the number of free federal e-file transmissions will vary. For example, if you file with H&R Block Online, you can file one federal return for free.

The next few screens will ask you various questions to see if your tax situation requires any additional forms. Just to back up here, in this particular test, I indicated that I was a single filer living in California with $50,000 of W-2 wages as my only income and who takes the standard deduction. Although sharing this kind of information, especially your social security number, over the Internet can feel a bit strange, know that this is completely normal and necessary to completing your tax return. In this TurboTax review I will give a general overview of the TurboTax software as well as the pros and cons of using it so you can decide for yourself whether TurboTax is the tax software for you. You enter a few details about your financial life to get an estimate of your tax refund. The other is ItsDeductible, a tool you can use year-round to record your charitable donations.

How Does TurboTax Compare?

Where these options aren’t available, you click through related clusters of questions. TurboTax walks you through an in-depth, easily understood interview to help you prepare your tax return. While expensive, its usability, state-of-the-art design, and comprehensive coverage of tax topics add to its value. If you qualify for credits or deductions not covered in the Basic plan that boost your refund, it could be worthwhile to upgrade to Deluxe. TurboTax uses a simple question-and-answer model to guide users through the software. The questions are phrased so users don’t get overwhelmed when answering.

Taxpayers in certain disaster areas do not need to submit an extension electronically or on paper. To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. You use buttons at the bottom to advance or go back and click a link that’s always in the upper left to go back to the home page and select one of the app’s section Q&As.

How do I get the biggest tax refund possible?

The IRS Free File program is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the IRS and the Free File Alliance, a coalition of leading tax preparation software companies. The online tax preparation software partners are part of the  Free File Alliance, https://turbo-tax.org/ which coordinates with the IRS to provide free electronic federal tax preparation and filing to you. This non-profit, public-private partnership is dedicated to helping millions of people prepare and file their federal taxes online for free.

TurboTax encourages you to provide more thorough documentation along the way than some competing sites, such as Cash App Taxes. That documentation could make https://turbo-tax.org/what-s-the-advantage-of-turbotax-advantage/ a huge difference if you’re ever audited. When you enter charitable donations, for example, it asks you to select the type, recipient, amount, and frequency.

TurboTax’s software is easy and well-designed but could be expensive for complex tax situations

Join Lauren and Daniel each week as they make personal finance and taxes accessible to everyone. Every episode, our hosts are joined by a special guest to discuss the hottest tax topics, and then take their questions to a TurboTax Expert. Believe it or not, these friends know how to make personal finance fun.

On another screen, you’ll be asked whether or not certain tax events happened in your life during the year (or example, whether or not you had a child). Be sure to click “Show More” at the bottom to be sure you don’t miss anything. The first thing you’ll see after you sign up for TurboTax is a screen with twelve options that you can select.

What you get from TurboTax’s free version

It offers four products that cover a spectrum of taxpayer situations. If you opt for the free simple tax returns online version of TurboTax, expect to get bombarded with insistent offers to upgrade to a paid plan. Your income can include W-2, unemployment, retirement distributions, and some types of 1099 interest and dividends. You can also apply for the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit using the free version. TurboTax has been a leader in tax software for decades, and returns with another impressive version this year, earning it our designation as the best tax software for most taxpayers. A new competitor in the tax realm, Cash App now offers 100% free tax filing options for simple returns on both the federal and state levels.