The other day I was wondering if I owe any income tax this year, so I decided to give Intuit TurboTax Online Federal Free software a try. In general, I was impressed at how far online software industry has evolved over the years (not just Intuit’s). For this 2008 tax year software, you could hardly tell that you are working with a tax preparation software that is shown through a web browser.
My First Impression Of TurboTax Online
When I first signed up, I was immediately impressed by the well-designed user interface. It’s very clean, intuitive, and organized. The software does an excellent job of getting me started and moving in the right direction. I have to say that the interface is even better than desktop tax software from a few years ago.
However, my tax situation is rather complicated due to my web business, investment capital gains & losses, and itemized deductions. As such, I wasn’t able to enjoy the Free edition for long before TurboTax recommended that I upgrade to the Basic Edition ($14.95), then to the Deluxe Edition ($29.95), and finally to the Premiere Edition ($49.95). The software even suggested that I upgrade to the Business Edition ($74.95), which I declined. Fortunately, I am not obligate to pay for any of these upgrades, or the State software that costs additional $34.95 until I print out my tax returns or file them online through efile.
Although I think the software is excellent and I absolutely love the online support forums, I will most likely end up buying either TurboTax Premier Federal + State + eFile 2008 ($64.99) or H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + State + e-file ($43.99) from Amazon.com. This is mainly due to the higher fees and one tax return per user account limitation.
I really can’t figure out why the online version is more expensive than the desktop version.
TurboTax Online Tax Software Comparison
Here’s a comparison chart of different editions of the TurboTax Online tax preparation software:
TurboTax Online Pluses
- The account set up process is very easy.
- The user interface is excellent. It’s user-friendly and very organized.
- You can easily upgrade to the product that fits your unique tax situation the best
- Awesome online support forums, aka. Live Community. I think it’s worth signing up for the online software and upgrade just to gain access to these forums for tax help and advice.
- 24/7 access from any computer, any where.
TurboTax Online Minuses
- You could easily get carried away with all the upgrades and add-ons.
- Strange pricing structure that could cost you more money than you expected.
- You can only file one tax return per user account.
Conclusion
Since TurboTax Online software is free to try, I highly recommend that you give it a test drive and see if you like it. If it doesn’t work well for you, don’t print or efile your taxes and you won’t have to pay. If the software meets your needs, just finish up your tax returns with them.
In case you are curious about my situation, it looks like I’ll have to open a SEP IRA to avoid owing the IRS money, because we didn’t have enough federal income tax withheld. Although I could pay the few hundred dollars, I want to keep my self employment safe harbor and avoid paying quarterly estimated taxes. Luckily, my state and local income tax refund will help partially fund the SEP IRA.
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Pinyo Bhulipongsanon is the owner of Moolanomy Personal Finance and a Realtor® licensed in Virginia and Maryland. Over the past 20 years, Pinyo has enjoyed a diverse career as an investor, entrepreneur, business executive, educator, financial literacy author, and Realtor®.
Thanks for the good review, we’ve been getting ready to file for this year and have been trying to decide between TurboTax and our other options. I think this will help us choose.
Let me know which software you decide to go with and I look forward to reading about it on your blog.
I was a huge TurboTax fan, but there are some things that surprised me with this year’s edition, specifically with the state portion.
I also used TurboTax to file my taxes last week and should be getting my $900 refund any day now. This was my first time filing taxes and I must admit, it was fun and exciting. I think I will be filing my own taxes from now on, since it’s so easy. Still haven’t decided what I will be doing with my tax return once it gets here but I will keep you all informed. But for sure, it will be going to continuing to build wealth for myself so that I can retire when I am 25.
I also used Turbo Tax to see what our situation was. I did go with the “upgrade” features. I was able to include capital gains/losses in my tax calculations. I did not pay for the upgrades as I am not filing via Turbo Tax. The net is you can still use the software to simulate more complex situations without having to pay.
I was able to identify the appropriate documentation I need for all of my deductions. TT was very helpful in stepping me through what deductions were possible.
Best Regards
I used TuboTax’s home & business software this year, and was uber impressed. It got me a $500 refund too 🙂
I have been very happy with TurboTax since 1989 – only recently has my CPA been able to do a better job.
Useful information for newbies like me.. Unfortunately, it seems that my first comment was not accepted !