Each year we review tax preparation services. This year, before preparing our review, we surveyed a select group of CI subscribers on which service they use and asked for their input on its benefits and downsides. The responses were valuable in helping to focus our write-up, and we refer to their comments throughout.

According to the survey, roughly 59% of respondents use a tax preparation service to file their taxes. A majority of respondents (68%) use TurboTax, while 21% use H&R Block, 7% use TaxAct and 4% use a different service (Figure 1).

In this article we talk about the three major tax preparation services: TurboTax, TaxAct and H&R Block. For each, we give a brief overview, summarize the good and bad features as reported by survey respondents, and discuss the tools available, costs and security.

Each company offers multiple versions of its service. Since investors must purchase TurboTax Premier, H&R Block Deluxe or TaxAct Plus in order to be able to properly account for their investments, we confine our review to these versions.

Figure 1. CI Survey Respondents Usage of Tax Prep Services

According to our survey of users, subscribers look for the following features in a tax preparation service:

Downloads tax information from brokerages
Handles both federal and state taxes
Easy to use
Covers different tax situations and complex tax issues
Clear instructions
Imports all data needed
Ability to record investment transactions, including options
Accuracy
Offers guidance
Integrates with Quicken
Offers good exemption coverage
Handles all forms associated with MLPs (master limited partnerships) and capital gains
Good reputation
Carries data over from previous tax year

TurboTax

TurboTax is the most widely used tax preparation service today. While many customers swear by TurboTax’s services, there were disruptions last year when the company did not properly communicate an important change in pricing to customers. Without notice, the TurboTax Deluxe edition required users to upgrade to the more expensive Premier or Home and Business services to prepare certain forms, including Schedule C and D, which were available in previous Deluxe versions of the software.

In response, Intuit issued an apology to customers affected by the change and offered a $25 rebate. It’s worth noting, however, that the rebate was less than the fees to upgrade to TurboTax’s Premier or Home and Business products.

Figure 2. TurboTax Income Breakdown

This year, as last year, in order to input stock or mutual fund sales, a tax filer has to purchase TurboTax Premier or Home and Business.

I found that the online process was easy to use and the prompted questions were understandable. TurboTax does a great job of asking you questions up front that will shape the way the rest of the questionnaire unfolds.

What I really liked within TurboTax (Premier Online) is the way things are broken down when you’re going through the prompts. If you want to view all categories of “income,” TurboTax gives you that option. It lists every type of income available, along with what documents you need to properly file tax information for that particular income method (Figure 2).

Income forms and schedules initially available that may be applicable to investors include:

1099-MISC and other common income: tax refunds, 1099-G, 1099-MISC and 1099-K
Interest and dividends: Forms 1099-INT, 1099-DIV, 1099-OID
Investment income: 1099-B or broker statements.
Retirement plan and Social Security: 1099-R, IRAs, 401(k), early withdrawals

Regarding option straddles and contracts, TurboTax stated, “The program does not support the import of Form 1099-B Boxes 8, 9, 10 and 11. If values are reported in boxes 8, 9, 10, and 11 on Form 1099-B, or similar statement, manual entry is required.” This seemed to be a relatively standard practice between TurboTax, H&R Block and TaxAct.I noticed the “add-on fees” as I went through the process. It was interesting that for a user to receive “MAX assist and defend” benefits, they would have to pay an additional $44.99. “MAX” includes audit defense, tax identity restoration and priority care (Figure 3).

Figure 3. TurboTax Add-Ons

Overall, TurboTax was easy to get through and offers recommendations based on the information you input. The software lets you go ahead in the tax filing process without completing everything on one page, which is a useful feature for users who need to jump back and forth as they work through the forms.

A notable benefit of TurboTax’s services is its online tools. Most of these tools are available to all taxpayers, not just those who use TurboTax to file their taxes.

TurboTax Tools include:

TaxCaster calculator–estimate your tax refund
Benefit Assistant–get money beyond taxes
Affordable Care Act exemption check
W-4 withholding calculator
Dependents credit and deduction finder
ItsDeductible
Refund Tracker
Documents checklist
Education credit and deduction finder
Income estimator
Health insurance subsidy calculator
Health care penalty calculator
App for phone (iOS and Android) and tablet
Tax tips and videos page
TurboTax blog

Cost

Table 1 lists the costs and requirements of TurboTax’s online and downloadable services, along with their major features. More information about TurboTax’s system and Internet browser requirements can be found here.

Table 1. TurboTax Features and Cost

TurboTax Online Tax Preparation Services

	Federal Free Edition (Online)	Deluxe (Online)	Premier (Online)	Home and Business (Online)
Federal cost	Free	$34.99	$54.99	$79.99
State cost	Free	$36.99/state	$36.99/state	$36.99/state
Easy prep, print and e-file with 100% accurate calcuations	x	x	x	x
Jumpstart your refund by automatically importing your W-2 tax forms	x	x	x	x
Searches 350+ tax deductions and credits (Schedule A)		x	x	x
Maximize mortgage/property tax deductions (Schedule A)		x	x	x
Turns chartiable donations into big deductions with ItsDeductible		x	x	x
Covers freelance and independent contractor income with simple expenses (1099-MISC)		x	x	x
Get a head start by transferring last year’s info from your TurboTax return		x	x	x
Know more "whys" behind your refund with ExplainWhy		x	x	x
Understand your tax history and maximize next year’s refund with My Analysis and Advice		x	x	x
24/7 secure access to all of your TurboTax returns and tax related documents		x	x	x
Covers stocks, bonds, ESPPs, and other investment income (Schedule D)			x	x
Automatically imports investment income including cost basis (Schedule D)			x	x
Covers rental property income and tax deductions (Schedule E)			x	x
Covers self-employment and small business income and expense reporting (Schedule C)				x
Maximizes business tax deductions and asset depreciation (Schedule C)				x
Talk to credentialed tax experts, all CPAs and Eas, for tax advice if you need it				x

TurboTax Download/CD Tax Preparation Services
	Basic (Download/CD)	Deluxe (Download/CD)	Premier (Download/CD)	Home and Business (Download/CD)
Federal cost	$29.99	$59.99	$89.99	$99.99
State cost	$39.99/state
Other	Federal e-file included	5 federal e-files included	5 federal e-files included	5 federal e-files included
Maximum refund guaranteed	x	x	x	x
Easy prep, print and efile	x	x	x	x
Walks you through your return, double-checks as you go	x	x	x	x
Save time by importing financial data including W-2’s, investment and mortgage information, plus import from Quicken and QuickBooks	x	x	x	x
Guides you through the latest tax and health care laws with ease	x	x	x	x
Import’s last year’s data from TurboTax and other software	x	x	x	x
1 state download*		x	x	x
Get additional help on 350+ deductions and credits, including mortgage interest, property taxes and energy-efficient improvements		x	x	x
ItsDeductible helps you accurately value donated items		x	x	x
Answers to your tax questions by phone from CPAs and EAs ($19.99 value)			x	x
Additional help for investment sales such as stocks, bonds, royalties, mutual funds and employee stock plans			x	x
Extra guidance for rental property income, expenses, and refinancing			x	x
New: Retirement tax help and our IRA tool helps you get more money back this year and when you retire			x	x
Designed for your small business taxes including sole proprietors, consultants, and the self-employed				x
Extra coaching to maximize small business or self-employment income and deductions				x
Creates W-2 and 1099 forms for employees and contractors				x
Walks you through start-up costs new businesses can deduct				x

Security

Since concerns have surfaced over the last couple years regarding the security of tax preparation services, many have added a “security” section onto their website.

TurboTax lists the following items in the security section of their website:

Sign-in safeguards
Multi-factor authentication
Touch ID
Data encryption: SSL encryption that exceeds IRS standards
Login and device history
Auto email notifications
Dedicated security staff

On February 5, 2015, Intuit (the maker of TurboTax) announced it would be acquiring Porticor, a leader in cloud-based security. The very next day, Intuit announced that it is working with state agencies to address growing concerns over state tax fraud. The press release stated, “After working with third-party security expert Palantir on a preliminary examination of recent fraud activities, Intuit believes that these instances of fraud did not result from a security breach of its systems and that the information used to file fraudulent returns was obtained from other sources outside the tax preparation process. The examination is ongoing.”

Allegations by two former employees took issue with TurboTax’s denial of responsibility. On February 13, 2015, Intuit responded to the comments in a statement, and said, “Allegations by two former employees are flat out wrong, and are based on their complete misunderstanding of the facts and total mischaracterization of our business.” Any suggestion that Intuit or any of its leaders made decisions to sacrifice customer security for financial gain is untrue and without merit.”

On November 19, 2015, Intuit announced additional security features in TurboTax software. The new enhancements included expanded multi-factor authentication, Touch ID (with select iOS devices), soft token technology, login and device history and real-time notifications.

CI Survey Comments

CI survey respondents who use TurboTax commented that it is the most efficient and easy to use out of all the services discussed in this article. Aside from its efficiency, they feel that it is accurate and stable enough to handle complex tax situations.

Some of the caveats that respondents mentioned had to do with TurboTax’s cost as well as its sudden change in pricing last year. Subscribers commented that TurboTax “isn’t great” at handling master limited partnerships (MLPs), royalty trusts, foreign taxes or K-1 forms.

TaxAct

When signing up for TaxAct Plus (Online version), the security seemed to be more rigorous than when I started filing information with TurboTax. With TaxAct, I had to create three security questions and answers and I also had a verification code sent to my email before I could proceed with filing my taxes. While TurboTax also sent a verification email, I didn’t need to verify my email to proceed through the tax filing process and I didn’t have to create security questions.

Figure 4. TaxAct Life Events Section

TaxAct began with asking me if I wanted to import PDF data from last year’s tax return from H&R Block or TurboTax, which is definitely a competitive feature. TaxAct generally asked the same basic questions as TurboTax: name, birthday, Social Security number. Whereas TurboTax asks you right away if you’re married, TaxAct provides an input page for information regarding your spouse and says “if you are not married, leave the fields blank and click continue.” There were a couple instances where TaxAct required that I skip pages if they didn’t apply to me, as opposed to asking questions ahead of time that could rule out specific filing information.

Some users might find it slightly confusing that not all of the questions TaxAct asks are directly defined. For example, “Did you make any federal estimated tax payments for 2015?” TaxAct explains what clicking yes or no entails, but I could see why it may seem not as helpful or straightforward as TurboTax.

I liked TaxAct’s Life Events section, which displays different selection options for users who are interested in understanding the tax implications of each event (Figure 4).

Figure 5. TaxAct Income Examiner

TaxAct shows credits and deductions in a table-like format that allows users to easily edit any information they’ve input throughout the process. I found this display rather helpful for reviewing input information. Next to each credit and deduction, the software shows the monetary implications of your inputs (Figure 5).

Additionally, it has an easy-to-understand Federal Quick Q&A Topics page. Users choose between selecting topics themselves and taking step-by-step guidance.

Along the right-hand side of the page are always help links to popular help topics and TaxTutor Guidance. There is a link to “form instructions” that would define parts of the particular form you were using box-by-box.

TaxAct Tools include:

Tax Credit Calculator
Tax Penalty Calculator
ConnectedHealth: Guidance for the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Donation Assistant
Stock Assistant
Tax Calculator
Loan Calculator
Savings Calculator
Tax Dictionary
College Tax Whiz

From what I could tell, access to the Donation Assistant and Stock Assistant are available once you begin filing your taxes with TaxAct. All the other calculators can be assessed without signing up to use TaxAct. Users can also access these tools by clicking “tools” along the right-hand side of the page while filing taxes.

Figure 6. TaxAct Stock Assistant

The Stock Assistant is a useful tool for investors who want to record their stock transactions in a spreadsheet-like format in order to figure out applicable figures for tax filings (Figure 6). It was definitely a unique tool in comparison to other tax preparation services.

Cost

Table 2 lists the costs and requirements of TaxAct’s multiple versions, along with the major features of each. More information on TaxAct’s system and Internet browser requirements can be found here.

Table 2. TaxAct Features and Cost

TaxAct Tax Preparation Services

	Free (Online)	Basic (Online)	Plus (Online)	Premier (Online)	Free (Download /CD)	Basic (Download /CD)	Plus (Download /CD)	Premier (Download /CD)
Federal cost	$0	$14.00	$19.99	$29.99	$0	$19.99	$29.99	$39.99
State cost	$0 (1040 EZ/A)	$14.99 /state	$19.99 /state	$19.99 /state	$14.99 /state	Includes 5 federal*	Includes 5 federal*	Includes 5 federal*
Prepare, print and e-file your return with 100% accuracy	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Save time by importing your W-2	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Get on demand help with TaxTutor Guidance	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Receive your guaranteed maximum refund	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Access unlimited tax and technical support	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Receive the best deal in tax with our Price Lock Guarantee	x	x	x	x
Full Identity Recovery, including free, powered by InfoArmor		x	x	x
Import last year’s TaxAct Return for a head start		x	x	x		x	x	x
Optimize your savings through hundreds of potential deductions and credits (1040)			x	x			x	x
Easily report on stocks and other investments with time-saving tools and expert guidance (Schedule D)			x	x			x	x
Maximize your itemized deductions (Schedule A)			x	x			x	x
Answer easy questions to report rental property income (Schedule E)			x	x			x	x
Easily import or enter your chartiable donations with Donation Assistant			x	x			x	x
Utilize step-by-step guidance to report business and farming income (Schedule C and F)				x				x
Maximize your business deductions and depreciation				x				x
*Includes 5 federal e-files and 1 state return. State e-file additional.

Security

TaxAct has a page dedicated to explaining how it handles security. Below are some of the bullet points featured on its security page.

State-of-the-art technology and monitoring processes
Comprehensive identity verification
Enhanced protection: partners with the IRS and state authorities to prevent unauthorized access
Users can set their own security rules
Sign-in history
SSN notifications if another user has already entered the same SSN
Data encryption every time your data is sent to TaxAct or the IRS using industry-standard Secure Socket Layers (SSL) protocol
Free identity recovery powered by InfoArmor
Recently implemented security features that include more complex password requirements, new security questions, authentication by email or mobile phone, trusted device verification

TaxAct even provided a separate page with additional security information.

Security features aside, TaxAct had some problems in January regarding personal data of customers. Apparently hackers “gamed” TaxAct’s identity verification controls and may have copied personal and tax return information from hundreds of customers. TaxAct identified suspicious activity within 9,000 accounts; these accounts were frozen shortly after.

TaxAct said that it had no evidence of its systems being hacked; rather, it believes thieves obtained the information elsewhere, then used the personal information to crack open individual accounts.

“We recently suspended a small number of accounts—less than 0.25%—after identifying instances of suspicious activity. As a result of our existing processes, we identified the issue early and prevented any further data from being compromised,” a TaxAct spokeswoman told the security professional’s SCMagazine.com.

CI Survey Comments

Of the CI subscribers that took the tax preparation survey, only a handful of them use TaxAct. Those that do use TaxAct said they like the ability to access it online anywhere and pick up where they left off, that it’s easy to use, and that navigation between forms and topics is easy. Several subscribers mentioned the beneficial “error checking” feature that prompts you to correct mistakes throughout the filing process. Many subscribers moved to TaxAct after TurboTax’s pricing debacle last year, which is primarily why they like TaxAct’s “price lock guarantee.” The price lock guarantee (for online users only) ensures that users will pay the product price listed at the time that he or she started filing their return.

Subscribers did note, however, that sometimes TaxAct can be difficult to navigate, especially if you are not familiar with the tax filing process. They also mentioned that there is no “save” button because the program saves automatically, which can sometimes get confusing.

H&R Block

When setting up my H&R Block account, I was also prompted to input three security questions, much like TaxAct.

I didn’t have to verify my email to continue filing my taxes; however, I wasn’t able to get past the first page without inputting a valid Social Security number (a feature the other services didn’t have). This somewhat limits the ability for individuals to review the software before deciding to use H&R Block to file their taxes (unless they’re comfortable entering their actual Social Security number). You can select “continue without creating an account,” meaning you don’t have to create an email account that lets you log in and out, but you still have to input your personal information from page to page to move to the next section.

After entering your personal information, including your name, age, address and Social Security number, you move onto the income section. I liked that H&R Block had a section that displayed “what you might need next” for each new section.

Figure 7. H&R Block Income Section

In the income section, H&R Block displayed the categories of income in list form, similar to TurboTax (Figure 7).

Income forms and schedules initially available that may be applicable to investors include:

Interest, dividends and capital gain distributions: Forms 1099-INT, 1099-DIV
Investments: Form 1099-B, child’s 1099-INT or 1099-DIV, K-1 estates or trusts, and other income
Retirement and Social Security: Forms 1099-R, RRB-1099, RRB-1099-R, and SSA-1099

Each sub-category has a link where users can “learn more” and also a “visit topic” option.

When clicking “visit topic” next to “Section 1256 contracts or straddles,” I was brought to a page that prompted me to upgrade to Best of Both, which adds the help of an H&R Block expert for an extra $45 fee. The page explained, “Because an Interview for section 1256 contract or straddle isn’t supported in our online program, you’ll need to upgrade to Best of Both. Continue your return online today, then work with a tax professional to complete this form and find any deductions you might have missed.”

When I scrolled through the list of tax forms available on the H&R Block website, it seemed shorter than what TurboTax offered. Nonetheless, H&R Block’s tax preparation online service was easy-to-use and rather intuitive.

H&R Block Tools include:

W-4 Calculator
ACA Tax Impact calculators
Wide variety of tax-related articles
In-person audit support
Phone application available (iOS and Android)
Brick and mortar offices

Cost

Table 3 lists the costs of H&R Block’s online and downloadable services, along with their major features.More information about H&R Block’s system and Internet browser requirements can be found here. Click on the heading View Requirements and Supported Forms halfway down the page.

Table 3. H&R Block Features and Cost

H&R Block Online Tax Preparation Services
	Free (Online)	Basic (Online)	Deluxe (Online)	Premium (Online)
Federal cost	Free	$24.99	$34.99	$49.99
State cost	$9.99/state	$36.99/state	$36.99/state	$36.99/state
Extra bonus on top of your federal tax refund	x	x	x	x
Automatic import of your W-2 and 1095-A	x	x	x	x
Free in-person audit support	x	x	x	x
step-by-step guidance makes it easy	x	x	x	x
Free import of your last year’s return from TurboTax or TaxAct	x	x	x	x
Free unlimited advice from a tax expert	x	x	x	x
Free technical support - real-time chat or phone		x	x	x
Store and access your tax return for 6 years		x	x	x
Automatic import of your 1099 and last year’s tax return from H&R Block - FREE		x	x	x
Guidance on home mortgage interest deductions and real estate taxes			x	x
Optimize tax savings from charitable donations			x	x
Help for reporting investments, dividends, and retirement income			x	x
Guidance for rental property income and expenses (Schedule E)				x
Maximize deductions for self-employment income (Schedule C)				x
Help to determine the cost basis of home sale, dividend, gift and inheritance assets				x

all online products include:
Maximum refund guarantee
Free federal e-file
Free unlimited expert tax advice
Data security
100% accuracy guarantee

H&R Block Download/CD Tax Preparation Services
	Basic (Download/CD)	Deluxe (Download/CD)	Premium (Download/CD)	Premium and Business (Download/CD)
Federal cost	$19.95	$44.95	$64.95	$79.95
State e-file cost	$19.95/state	$19.95/state	$19.95/state	$19.95/state
State cost	$39.95/state	$39.95/state	$39.95/state *	$39.95/state **
Import your 1099 and last year’s tax return from H&R Block and TurboTax software - FREE	x	x	x	x
Free in-person audit support	x	x	x	x
Step-by-step guidance makes it easy	x	x	x	x
Double checks your return for issues	x	x	x	x
Free unlimited advice from tax expert	x	x	x	x
Free technical support - real-time chat or phone	x	x	x	x
Itemize your deductions with Schedule A	x	x	x	x
1 personal state program -FREE ($39.95 value)		x	x	x
Maximize mortgage and real estate deductions		x	x	x
Automatically value and optimize your chartible donations		x	x	x
Assistance on investment income and stock options		x	x	x
Help to determine the cost basis of home sale, dividend, gift and inheritance assets			x	x
Maximize deductions for self-employment income (Schedule C)			x	x
Guidance for rental property income and expenses (Schedule E)			x	x
Corporate, S corporation, partnership and LLC, estate and trust, non-profit tax returns				x
Produces payroll and employer forms				x
Maximizes vehicle tax deductions, deprecation and business expenses				x
*Additional state programs are $39.95/each
**First personal state program included. Unlimited business state returns included.

Security

H&R Block has a separate section dedicated to security. It lists the following items in terms of the security it provides:

Web browsing encryption technology
Multi-layer authentication
Bank-level encryption technology
Security protection team
Secure facilities
Inspections by top security firms

I didn’t see any recent news articles reporting recent issues with hackers, but there were forums where users were commenting that their personal data was stolen after using H&R Block.

CI Survey Comments

CI survey respondents commented that H&R Block is easy to use and intuitive. Other comments mentioned its audit defense feature, jargon-free interview questions and its ability to handle “relatively complex” tax returns. Interest in H&R Block was attributed to its comparatively favorable price, especially for those who need Schedule D.

Caveats mentioned included the software’s warning that it can’t handle “some publicly traded partnerships,” the lack of K-1 tax form support in the Deluxe version and difficulty updating the software. One respondent commented that when downloading brokerage forms, the software doesn’t allow you to pick and choose which forms to download; they all come at once. Since some brokerage forms are ready at different times, you have to upload a couple times, which may lead to duplicate uploads. However, with comments like this, it’s hard to distinguish whether this is a recurring problem or if it only happened in just one case.

Conclusion

Overall, these three tax preparation services are very similar. While the user interface differs between the three, the overall processes mirror one another. Based on what survey respondents said they looked for in a tax preparation service, it seems that these three services fit the description. Why one service is chosen over another seems to come down to individual taste.

The survey was very helpful in terms of understanding which services our subscribers use and why. It was interesting to see that many respondents switched to either TaxAct or H&R Block following TurboTax’s “secret” change in price last year.

While each of these websites had a dedicated section on security features, these additions didn’t come out of the blue. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has recently taken a stand against cybercriminals due to recent data-breach issues. The IRS now has a minimum level of encryption that it recommends for any entity handling federal tax information. New initiatives have been taken in 2016 to strengthen protect consumer protection and reduce the risk of identity theft.

The desire to protect consumers increased after the IRS released an announcement last year that roughly 100,000 tax accounts were breached. Then just recently (February 9, 2016) the IRS announced that it again had issues with authorized users:

“The IRS recently identified and halted an automated attack upon its Electronic Filing PIN application on IRS.gov. Using personal data stolen elsewhere outside the IRS, identity thieves used malware in an attempt to generate E-file PINs for stolen social security numbers. An E-file pin is used in some instances to electronically file a tax return.

No personal taxpayer data was compromised or disclosed by IRS systems. The IRS also is taking immediate steps to notify affected taxpayers by mail that their personal information was used in an attempt to access the IRS application. The IRS is also protecting their accounts by marking them to protect against tax-related identity theft.”

The IRS issued a consumer alert on February 18, 2016, to taxpayers, notifying them of the 400% surge in phishing and malware incidents so far this tax season.

With each of these data breaches, I can’t help but notice many tax preparation services saying phrases similar to “it wasn’t our servers that were hacked.” Instead of properly identifying the issue, all they will say is that it wasn’t them; the hackers just “got the data” from somewhere else.

Only three popular tax services were analyzed in this article, but there are many more options listed below. If you decide to check out one of these, you can use the discussion here as a basis for judging whether it has the features and tools you need.

Other Tax Services:

Each tax service has its benefits and caveats; depending on your specific tax situation, one product may be right for you, while another product better suits someone else.

Discussion

Stephen Schuster from MD posted over 10 years ago:

One thing this review of TurboTax missed is that TT now does not have the ability to print locally on an Apple Macintosh. In order to print your return on a Mac, you must have an internet connect and be willing to have your data sent through Intuit's servers. Not exactly the best security option. Mac users should consider running TurboTax in a windows environment such as Parallels or BootCamp - but that hasn't been verified to solve this problem. Other tax prep software or a Windows laptop for TurboTax may be the only secure alternative.

Dennis Fisher from OH posted over 10 years ago:

I had no trouble with Schedule K-1 Estate and Trust Income and Schedule K-1 Partnership and S Corporation Income forms with deluxe version. When accessing my brokerage accounts more than once for importing data it did lead to duplicate data which took awhile to delete, one transaction at a time. With a lot of transactions it was not immediately obvious that the entries were duplicates. Review these carefully. I was a long time user of TT until their deceptive products/price last year. Am very happy with H&R deluxe product and price/support.

Scott from WI posted over 10 years ago:

I have used tax preparation software since the early days of Macintax and continue to use Turbotax. Note all of my comments relate to the downloadable versions of Turbotax. I would advise against the use of any online based tax preparation software. I do not understand Stephen Schuster's comment above. The 2015 downloadable version of Turbotax prints just fine from my Mac, does not require an internet connection to print and does not send any data through Intuit's servers when printing. If he is referring to the web based version, of course it can only work if you are online and have an internet connection. I cannot speak to the web versions ability to print, as I would never use web based tax preparation software. FYI, the downloadable version of Turbotax Deluxe supports both Schedule C and Schedule D. Again, I cannot speak for the online version. This was reinstated by Turbotax after the prior year debacle over pricing. Contrary to the articles comments, when I complained to TurboTax about dropping Schedule D from the deluxe version last year, they upgraded me to Premier at no cost, as opposed to a $25 rebate. Please note I do not consider Turbotax to be anywhere near perfect. I have spent many an hour, over the years, on the phone with tech support addressing significant bugs and tax law errors, but in the end I have always managed to get it to work. Of course YMMV.

Barry Tolle from WA posted over 10 years ago:

I am an experienced (but now retired) computer systems auditor and an active enrolled agent preparing tax returns at a CPA firm. I would never use online software to prepare my tax return. Download or purchase the software so your personal information is on your computer (a removable hard drive is preferred). And if you really want to be secure then mail your tax return to the IRS. Doesn't eliminate risk but greatly reduces it. Of course then the IRS can say they lost it! (Hint: be sure to send it certified) Obviously this has drawbacka in terms of speed and convenience. There are always tradeoffs!

Jeff from NY posted over 10 years ago:

The prices shown for H&R Block may be high. I paid $34.95 on sale for the Deluxe software and I have seen it at this price at several retailers including office supply stores. In New York that includes up to 5 Federal e-filings and state e-file. I have a fairly complex return including Schedules C and D and everything was included.

Jonathan Brown from CA posted over 10 years ago:

I would echo Scott's comments. I was easily able to print all of my documents on a Mac without going to an external server. They were printed out in PDF. I was an original user of MacInTax but about a decade ago my returns became a lot more complicated and so i began to do my own calcs and then ship the raw data to my accountant. This year I was asked to help my Son's wife's grandmother file her return - so I looked at the options and chose Turbo Tax. For less than $100 I was able to file her return at both state and federal levels and based on my own initial calculations (she had a small income but a lot of complications including death of a spouse) - Turbo Tax effectively caught all of the necessary information. For my money it was well worth the price and very simple to use.

Edward Gehringer from NC posted over 10 years ago:

I was surprised to read that you needed to purchase TurboTax Premier to input mutual-fund transactions. I have TurboTax Deluxe, and had no trouble inputting my one taxable mutual-fund sale from last year.

James Greenebaum from IL posted over 10 years ago:

The big thing I like about TurboTax is that it alphabetizes everything so items in the 1099 file and charity file are easy to find and enter. I have voluminous files.

Richard Garth from NY posted over 10 years ago:

Turbo tax has strange way of referring to all corporate and state income pensions as annuities and asking whether what you received was your complete RMD. When they referred to annuities as I was initially trying to input my pension incomes I was puzzled. Who ever refers to a pension as an annuity even though some companies do purchase an annuity each year to cover their future retirement plan responsibilities.

John Rhodes from CA posted over 10 years ago:

Whereas you are able to receive a K-1 and enter the data on TT Deluxe and Premier, you will need TurboTax Business ($154.99 plus $54.99 per state) in order to be able to generate one, as might be the case if you are managing a small trust. Plus TT Business does not run on a Mac, so us Apple users have to also purchase and install a Windows OS emulator such as Parallels (an extra $79.99) as well as a license to Windows itself ($99.95). To add insult to injury, TT Business can't be used to do your personal taxes (it doesn't do 1040's) - you have to buy an additional version of TT (either Deluxe or Premier, depending on your needs). That said, once you have everything purchased and installed, it all works pretty well together.

Richard Fitzgerald from CT posted over 10 years ago:

I have used taxact for several years and it was great. I've been telling friends for years to try it. But this year I can't find an iPad app and the online version from my laptop has crashed several times and the server will not allow me to log back in for an hour or so. After too many problem this year, I have move to turbotax iPad app and it is working without any problems. taxact 2016 is a waste of time.

Larry Roles from WA posted over 10 years ago:

I was pleased to read the comments of Scott & Barry. As I was reading the article, I was worried that I might be the only one who wants the software (TT) on my computer, rather than using the internet. I was disappointed, however, that I could not import last year's return information, since TT said my prior year file was too large. This is my second year using TT and not worrying about carryover info was a major selling point. I am surprised that TT could not handle this function; I don't consider my return overly "large" although the IRS complexity with foreign tax credits and AMT generates lots of schedules. I wonder if this problem would also exist with the on-line version. I am using a Mac and while I haven't finished my return yet, I don't anticipate problems printing. I did learn last year that fewer of the support folks are familiar with the Mac version of TT, but I guess that is to be expected.

John Rhodes from CA posted over 10 years ago:

Larry Roles: In all my years. I've never experienced a "file too large". I'm guessing that the file was somehow corrupted. Suggestion: Try opening the old file that has last year's return 'xxx.2014' with this year's TurboTax. If that works, then save it as "Temp.2014". The process of saving it should clean it up. Then open this year's taxes and reference the file that you just saved as the previous year. That should work. I've done returns of over 300+ pages (with worksheets, et al) and have never seen this. Good Luck!

John from NY posted over 10 years ago:

After 20 years or so, I switched from TT to H+R Block Deluxe. I got a CD through Amazon for $25.95. I found H+R to be as easy to use as TT. In fact, for an experienced filer, I think H+R does better than TT. One item where the dialog needs reworking is the reporting of muni-fund dividends. It does not ask you to specify what % of dividends are coming from what state. A quick workaround is to go to the form and input it there.

Richard Garth from NY posted over 10 years ago:

Turbo Tax does not automatically recognize that NYS pension income(annuity in their terminology) is exempt from NYS income taxes. Since it terms the pension as an annuity, it is considered an investment in their system's terminology. To exempt the NYS 'pension income', considered an 'annuity', it is treated as an 'investment exclusion'. Very odd for what is apparently the best tax software available. My brother in California has found errors in the CA state tax software on an annual basis.

Maria from New York posted over 10 years ago:

I have used H&R for many years and have found it thorough and user-friendly. I always purchase the CD for security reasons, and the state return is included in the price for the Fed - always less than $50 at Best Buy or Staples. It includes all forms for my investments as well as my rental property. When I purchased a new laptop, Block gave me a free download of a prior rear version so I could import my prior year's data.

Bob from PA posted over 10 years ago:

The CD version of TurboTax Deluxe does mutual fund sales and Schedule D. Last year H&R Block software did not correctly calculate state taxes on cash received from closing a life insurance policy. I won't use H&R Block software if it is not accurate.

Joel Maynard from CT posted over 10 years ago:

I also found a little confusing how TT handles pensions and annuities. I have used TT for many years and have had some issues every year but they were corrected relatively easily, competently and timely either by phone or chat. Except for this year, some of the people I had phone contact with were not that well trained or technically competent. With a little persistence I got the problem solved and still use TT. One problem I have encountered almost every year is that the program does not start where it left off after saving and exiting. I now save to a different file name each time which works. I just accept that there will be a few “bugs” in every new program. One thing I don’t like with TT, and don’t know how other companies handle it, is that if I file early and then go into the program TT has updates to install and they are not explained so I don’t know if the update would affect my return without updating and comparing the results

John Roling from IA posted over 10 years ago:

Relative to HR Block and estate K1 as a beneficiary, the software handled but only in a rudimentary way. In my case it did not handle depreciation. Had a note indicating filer needed to determine correct use and modify other forms accordingly (manually). This might be ok with suitable knowledge, but the correct block of the form requiring modification was locked. Override of lock was possible but electronic submittal was then disallowed. Block local office could not help - they do not even maintain a copy of the software. Eventually with much hassle was able to submit a support case but only response I ever received was literally at a "did you cycle power" level.

Neill Patrick from NC posted over 10 years ago:

I have used and am using TT Premier DVD version. It's been fairly good over the years. This year I have to report sales of an MLP. TT apparently doesn't handle this event gracefully. I called TT for help and the advice given revealed the ongoing year-to-year confusion at TT and their software. If you want to see evidence of this just google something like "Reporting MLP sales in Turbotax" and read through the extensive questions and comments from numerous TT users. You'll see complaints like "Why can't TT fix this". I've spent many hours trying to figure out TT workarounds that won't get me audited or pay unneeded taxes. I'll probably stay with TT, but will NEVER again buy an MLP. I'd call the IRS for help, but anyone who's done that knows that's an exercise in futility. BTW I also checked AAII for help but found no specific help for my situation.

Steve Arneson from Washington posted over 10 years ago:

I switched to Tax Act several years ago when TT had another one of their frequent errors. Tax Act has been completely reliable, straight forward and easy to use. With its capability to bring up last years return entry pages t is very easy to make whatever updates needed for this year. I'm sold on Tax Act and will stay with it.

Michael Armstrong from FL posted over 10 years ago:

After 20+ years with TurboTax, I, too, switched from TT to H&R Block for tax year 2014 when TT made us buy Premier for common investment reporting. H&RB was a mixed bag. All in all, it felt somewhat inferior to TT. I did find a clear violation of IRS filing rules in one area, which I reported to H&RB, but they didn't seem too concerned. I bought a copy of H&RB for 2015 just to see if the error was still there, but haven't gotten around to that yet. Also, I just received a nice additional refund for 2014 from the IRS, claiming an error in my Sch D calculation. I couldn't find any errors, but who am I to question the IRS?. Back to TT for 2015. Sch C and D are available, but a TT popup advises you that you'd be much happier with Premier, and offers an upgrade for $30. I declined. TT didn't catch an inadvertent duplication of a large charitable contribution. I caught it only when I wondered why my refund was so large, and hand-checked things. So, I had to file an amended return. During the creation of the amended return, TT claimed an error during the final error check, but was never able to pin it down. I spent a few hours with TT support; they said it would be escalated and I'd get a callback. Never happened, so I just filed it as it was. The overall TT experience was not as positive as I had remembered it in the past. Forms are not available until data has been entered requiring them, and some fields are better entered directly into the forms rather than via TT's prompts. All in all, TT felt like a new product that wasn't quite ready for prime time. Bottom line: Neither TT nor H&RB is perfect, nor are their customer support groups.

Earl from CA posted over 10 years ago:

I agree with Barry and Maria, it's safer and faster to work with the program on ones own computer. I have a high speed internet connection and find the online version is slower. The past two years I used the online version to do my W-2's and 1099's and find that slower and I cannot fill out the forms with as much information as the CD version. I've used TurboTax since it was Chipsoft, and they do a nice job of upgrading the software every year. Several years ago I had three tax years audited by the IRS, and that was such an unpleasant experience I went with the $49 tax service upgrade this year. The auditor did tell me that I was in the 1% of those audited that passed with few problems and I did get a small refund. TurboTax was not keeping seven years of software available then as they do now, and I had to re-install some of the software to do amended returns, and the TT staff graciously helped me with new installation codes to allow that.

Tom from VA posted over 10 years ago:

Echoing earlier comments...I don't feel safe putting my exact tax return online so I only use the download version of tax prep software. However, it makes sense to have an account and your purchase history online with whatever company you choose. I'm a 15+ year user of TaxCut/H&R Block but of course don't have all the prior year programs/applications on my current computer. When IRS contacted me about a prior year return(which required me to file an amended return) I couldn't load the tax file associated with that year as I had changed computers and no longer had the program/app for that particular year. But after I showed Block that I was an original purchaser, I downloaded that prior year program from their website. Basically, I wanted to re-create the scenario to validate the letter from IRS. Oh, and yes, IRS was right -- and so was the tax prep software.

Tom from VA posted over 10 years ago:

Echoing earlier comments...I don't feel safe putting my exact tax return online so I only use the download version of tax prep software. However, it makes sense to have an account and your purchase history online with whatever company you choose. I'm a 15+ year user of TaxCut/H&R Block but of course don't have all the prior year programs/applications on my current computer. When IRS contacted me about a prior year return(which required me to file an amended return) I couldn't load the tax file associated with that year as I had changed computers and no longer had the program/app for that particular year. But after I showed Block that I was an original purchaser, I downloaded that prior year program from their website. Basically, I wanted to re-create the scenario to validate the letter from IRS. Oh, and yes, IRS was right -- and so was the tax prep software.

Jay Lagree from DE posted over 10 years ago:

HR Block deluxe federal for $24.97 at wally. Includes a $50 rebate if you buy a gift card worth $400 at Walmart. Will look into that at a later date. I use the Mac software CD for my federal return. Just one more person who left TT after the pricing rip off attempt and, by the way, am not going back.

J V Jones from TX posted over 10 years ago:

I have used TT for roughly 30 years;CD only. Over that time I have found the addition of the "guide features" to be somewhat annoying. The program does have some glitches when you have to override an entry but nothing serious. The debacle last year pulling our the stock sale entries requiring an upgrade was a marketing mistake which TT did finally correct. This year they announced that they would no longer be compatible with XP systems. Sorry but windows 8 and 10 are productivity killers and not worth spending the money for one program.

Stephen Schuster from MD posted over 10 years ago:

My issue with TT started with the CD 2014 version. On a Mac (OS X 10.8), this version REQUIRED an internet connection in order to print - Intuit's "explanation" was "Apple did not share the print drivers for distribution, so we had to centralize print formatting." I was unwilling to send my personal information to Intuit for "print formatting" - any time information lands on a server, there is a high probability of it staying there. So, I used HRB for 2014. The same issue arose with the CD version of TT 2015 under OS X 10.10 (internet connection REQUIRED in order to print. I'm done with Intuit and TT. BTW, HRB was very receptive to constructive suggestions to improve their user interface.

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