Last year I tried to prepare the taxes myself. With a farm and and LLC as well as kids in college, this was pretty overwhelming. Turbo Tax made it a lot simpler, but I was frustrated by the exclamation points telling me a form was not completed, yet when looking at the form not being able to fully determine what was wrong. At some point we realized that we were giving too much information. It just wanted numbers and not all the explanations. If explanations are not wanted, they should not be allowed by the program.
What's great about it: Asked lots of and good questions which made me think of things I had not thought about earlier
What's not so great: Notation of "not done" was confusing. Could not find on the forms what had not been completed appropriately.
Pros: My job status changed this year (switched jobs, lost a job, got a raise or promotion)
The 2012 return had a few surprises--some sections that I had not encountered before. TurboTax made it very easy to understand these changes and move through the process.
What's great about it: Great step-by-step guidance through the whole process.
What's not so great: A few missing bits of information were caught during the review that should have been entered during the process.
Overall, this is great for anyone to prepare income taxes, especially those who are not really familiar with irs and state forms, but would like to do taxes on their own.
What's great about it: User friendly, easy to follow instructiions.
What's not so great: Was a little bit confused with rental properties, real estate agent activities, and k1
TT H+B is thorough and complete. However, there is a level of "fuzziness" that exists between personal and business deductions, particularly if there is an area of "overlap". The most serious trend that I noticed was if a business expense could be entered as a personal expense, and how to determine the overall reporting "strategy" that should be used by the taxpayer.
What's great about it: Thorough, step-by-step evaluation of my tax situation
What's not so great: Confusing business/personal amount allocation