Review by Henry Wolford

I’ve been using TurboTax for many, many years and have never had a problem. It is easy to use, with clear instructions. Don’t do taxes without it. Depending on my situation, I have used several versions. The basic or what they call the deluxe will do for most anyone who has fairly straight-forward tax situations. They will still handle simple stock trades and capital gains situations, as well as simple business situations. It just requires you to be more involved and knowledgeable instead of asking you all their questions and then doing the work for you.

In years where I have traded a lot of investments or stocks, and my business situation remains simple, I have upgraded to their Premier product. It walks you through all the purchases and sales, to make sure you are not getting hosed on the taxes. This year, my business got more complicated so I upgraded to the Home and Business product to handle it. If you look at the TurboTax comparison sheet, you will see this is the normal transition decision. Deluxe gives more detail and support about typical personal tax situations. Premier has everything Deluxe has, but it adds detailed support for investments. Home and Business has everything Premier does, but adds specific support for small business situations on Schedule C.

If you are totally confused by taxes and the whole process, but you have fairly straight-forward needs, you can turn to H&R Block or a similar company. If you have investments, complex business situations, or major life events (deaths, inheritance) I would suggest using an accountant. On the other hand, if you have a reasonable understanding of the tax process, business rules, and such, TurboTax can get the job done as well as an accountant at a much lower price. I used an accountant for many years and a couple of years before I decided to drop him, I used TurboTax and compared the results. They came out EXACTLY the same, so I dropped the accountant about 15 years ago.