The product was very difficult to use. It required more detail than if I had done it by myself. I am required to use a CA 540 form and the program gave me 540EZ. I could not select the right form. I had CA apply $600 of my 2012 overpayment to my 2013 tax and I could not say this on 540EZ. I worked on my taxes for several days and I could have done this quicker by myself. I would have had to print out the information instead of typing it but this would have been easier. I will have to do this on my CA tax. The product did point out errors I would have made without it so that was a plus. Maybe next year things will go better.
After trying to do an Online version and having someone actually get my taxes online and filed it themselves using our SS numbers which will cause us problems for years. Using the version we download to the computer, it still walked me through what I had to do to PRINT and FILE now.
Overall, TurboTax is a great program that is makes preparing taxes almost as easy as it could be. Its no fault of TurboTax that RDPs (registered domestic partners) have several hurdles in filing, including the completion of a "mock" joint return and for the most part, they have provided steps to get the job done. Thank you for that. Because of IRS rules, we couldn't e-file the Federal return. With that being the case, it would have been nice to be able to e-file the state return free.
This is my second year for Turbo Tax and I like the fact that the information is transferred from the past year to the current year! That really helps to speed up the process! Turbo Tax goes through each part of the returns asking "easy to understand" questions and is very user friendly. In no time at all, you're finished and your taxes are done!
Pros: My job status changed this year (switched jobs, lost a job, got a raise or promotion)