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Price: $29.95
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When it comes to the subject of tax preparation services, TurboTax has become a household name. After utilizing their service ourselves, we can clearly see why! Tax time comes quicker than many of us anticipate, when attempting to figure out which service is the best, one must first consider the type of services and forms they need to file. The TurboTax program makes these factors quite easy for you with their step by step guides to ensure that you are not only filing the correct tax forms but that you have considered every possible deduction you may be entitled to.
What's New With Turbo Tax?- Live Tax Advice-from a tax professional
- Returning users can transfer last year's data to this year's tax return.
- Automatic renewal is now offered for future use.
- TaxCaster 2010
The TurboTax Experience:
TurboTax is available in both online and desktop versions. The TurboTax website is just as user-friendly for novice Internet users as some of the other products on the market. However, it is definitely faster and more accurate in our opinion. If you are familiar with using online tax services, you will likely find the online version of TurboTax to be very easy to navigate and use. The desktop version is also user-friendly and the average user can save quite a bit of time with the product. If you aren’t that familiar with tax preparation service and software, have no fear, TurboTax has live tax consultants you could turn to who will walk you through the process step by step.
Once you land on the TurboTax website, you can immediately utilize their TaxCaster 2010 feature. Here, you enter all of your personal information, your income and financial records and of course, your deductions, in order for TurboTax to estimate your 2010 refund. It took me literally 20 minutes or so to enter all of my information as well as the figures from 2 different W2 forms. Once I was done, I utilized the help options in the deductions section. This feature helped me tremendously as I really didn’t want to speak to a live agent but was a bit confused about some of the deduction types.
Once you’re satisfied with the TaxCaster, I suggest using the Its Deductible feature as well. This option will direct you to log in to a different website, but it is surely worth it. I found 3 more deductibles I was eligible for with this feature which resulted in an extra $168 on my return! Its Deductible asks you a series of questions to determine which additional deductions you may qualify for.
We truly appreciated the TurboTax guarantees as well. Not only does TurboTax guarantee their accuracy on your return, they will pay for the IRS and/or state penalty or interest if it is determined that the program miscalculated your information! Overall, TurboTax is one of, if not the easiest tax preparation services to use. Their import feature makes it much easier to continue to use their service year after year but also creates an additional system of checks and balances. This feature helped me to remember that I was missing a W2. Being that I had left my former employer in mid-January, I had completely forgotten about them. As TurboTax was checking over my return for errors, it flagged that there was an employer listed on my return from last year that was not included in the current return. Since I was not yet ready to file without the W2, it was easy for me to save the information, and enter it in when I received it!
StarReviews Favorite Turbo Tax Feature:
TurboTax guarantees their accuracy and if they make a mistake, they won't just refund the cost of their product (like other online tax products), but they take it a step further and will even cover any interest and penalties that you may incur due to their error! Although other tax preparation services may also refund their fee, we feel TurboTax truly stands behind the accuracy of their product by offering to pay for the damages that their mistakes could cause.
TurboTax Features:
- Step-by-step interview and guidance to process your return.
- Accuracy Guaranteed.
- Maximum Refund Guaranteed
- Both Federal and State filing available.
- Ability to e-file.
- Helpful tax tools section
- Tax Prep Checklist Available
- TurboTax Prepaid Refund Visa Available
- More than 350 available deductions for you to maximize your refund
- Ability to import last years tax information
- Ability to import current income information through certain payroll companies
TurboTax Preparation Pricing:
| |
Basic |
Deluxe |
Premier |
Home & Business |
| Online Federal Return |
$19.95
|
$29.95 |
$49.95 |
$74.95 |
| Online State Return |
$36.95 |
$36.95 |
$36.95 |
$36.95 |
| CD/Download Federal Return |
$29.95 |
$59.95 |
$89.95 |
$99.95 |
| CD/Download State
Return |
Included |
Included |
Included |
Included |
TurboTax File Options and Packages:
Basic Online Package:
- Includes the preparation and e-file of 1 Federal Tax Return
- Separate Filing Cost for State Tax Return
- Start for free, pay only when you are ready to file option
Basic CD/Download Package:
- Includes the preparation of unlimited Federal Tax Returns
- e-file up to 5 free Federal Tax Returns
- Separate Filing Cost for State Tax Return
Deluxe Online Package:
- Includes the preparation and e-file of 1 Federal Tax Return
- Separate Filing Cost for State Tax Return
- Star for free, pay only when you are ready to file option
Deluxe CD/Download Package:
- Includes the preparation of unlimited Federal Tax Returns
- e-file up to 5 free Federal Tax Returns
- Filing Cost for State Tax Return is Included
Premier Online Package:
- Includes the preparation and e-file of 1 Federal Tax Return
- Separate Filing Cost for State Tax Return
- Start for free, pay only when you are ready option
Premier CD/Download Package:
- Includes the preparation of unlimited Federal Tax Returns
- e-file up to 5 free Federal Tax Returns
- Filing Cost for State Tax Return is Included
Home/Business Online Package:
- Includes the preparation and e-file of 1 Federal Tax Return
- Separate Filing Cost for State Tax Return
- Start for free, pay only when you are ready to file option
Home/Business CD/Download Package:
- Includes the preparation of unlimited Federal Tax Returns
- e-file up to 5 free Federal Tax Returns
- Filing Cost for State Tax Return is Included
TurboTax Customer Support:
TurboTax offered very good customer support system. You can contact the company via email, chat or phone (although we could not get chat support to work using either Internet Explorer or FireFox). When we contacted TurboTax via email, we received an answer the same business day and our question was answered accurately to our satisfaction. When we called the toll free number listed on the website, we were put on hold for approximately 4 minutes before the call was answered by a live representative. While our rep was very friendly and helpful, it did sound like our call may have been transferred overseas as he had a thick accent and it was hard to understand him at times.
Just to verify our assumptions, we called the toll free number again and were immediately answered by a different representative. This representative was just as helpful without the language barrier. He informed us that when TurboTax experiences a high call volume, some customer service calls may be routed overseas to ensure that customers are assisted promptly. Again, we truly appreciated that TurboTax provides such attention to their customers.
Upside:- Speed of TurboTax is definitely a plus
- Quick response from customer support
- Accuracy Guarantee
- Step by Step Guidance throughout process
Downside:- There is no e-file option for NY State returns
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