Review by JWINK

I have been a believer in Turbo tax as my primary way of filing for a few years now and this version is similar to the previous years software. Even though I am a fan of TT, I do have a few gripes about the software. One of my main gripes is that I think that there are too many versions of this software. I really wish they would sell one turbo tax that allows you within the software to use the version you need and then charge you accordingly instead of having to figure out which version to purchase and get. In my case, I have mutual funds, so do I get deluxe or premier? I don’t really handle the sales of the investments within the funds but I do know the fund management company does move things around from time to time. So what do you do? I have used deluxe in the past with no issues but elected to go with premier because of its advertised extra help on investments. How much this extra help is and whether it is worth it to go from deluxe to premier remains to be seen and I will update once I file. I just personally think these multiple versions are confusing the for the average consumer who isn’t familiar with the type of product that they would need for their tax filing. The TT website helps some with this but still I still leaves too much confusion for some.

TurboTax has also increased the price a bit of this software (which can be pricey depending on the version you need) that is essentially the same (with some changes for the new tax year which occurs every year) as the previous years version. I am just not sure what changes justify this increase.

In addition to the upfront cost of the software purchase, is one of my complaints that I have year after year is the additional cost that TT charges you for e-filing with the state. This little detail is usually hidden away in the fine print and can cost you up to 36 bucks to e-file for each state. Really?? It costs that much extra to electronically transfer data to the state for filing?? I think that this should be a little more reasonably priced especially considering you are paying what you are for the software or in this case, the yearly use of the software.

Another small complaint is the numerous updates that TT has throughout the tax season, I can understand and appreciate the state and federal tax form updates as sometimes states make last minute changes, but the one thing that I don’t understand are the updates for bug fixes for the program interface, which like I said, has changed very little in the last few years. You would think that TT would have that part of the program squared away for the given year without having changes in the program throughout the year even after the filing date expiration. I mean how do you explain to the IRS that you have a miscalculation due to a bug in your software (although to be fair to TT, that has never happened to me).

For all my complaints though you would think I don’t like this program but that is not true. I like this program for my taxes and I think it is the best tax software out there. It is quick, easy, and does a good job at helping you get your taxes done correctly with a pretty good and accurate return and I recommend it for those of you wanting to do your own taxes. Even though the software is pricey, it is cheaper than going to a tax preparer, especially if you have to file for something other than the EZ form.

As far as pricing and the promotion here with Amazon, I am less than impressed. I would prefer a better price and better promotion than having to subscribe to prime to get 10 bucks off or spend on a gift card. I would have preferred last years deal with better pricing and a chance to get 30 bucks off Quicken. If you shop around, there are places that have the premier version for $59 bucks and you don’t have to subscribe to prime.