This is my first time ever filing taxes myself. Always had a preparer do it. Part of my research included reading the Bogleheads forum where people were hysterical that Schedule D had been dropped from the online version. Needless to say, all the hysteria made me nervous about doing the taxes for the first time myself. I was wrong.
I bought the desktop version and it was fantastic. Compares exactly to the preparers forms that I've been paying over $200 for the past few decades. Loved how as a first timer I was walked through everything.
Only downside was I had to search for Schedule D, and I would have thought that would be part of the walk through. Of course as it was my first time, I could have done something wrong, too.
Overall, I was expecting to spend a couple days on preparing the taxes and it only took a couple of hours for fed/state. Even that was because I was going slow as it was my first time. Overall, a very positive experience that I recommend to anyone else nervous about doing their own taxes for the first time.
What's great about it: Easy, lot quicker thank I thought, and great hand holding
What's not so great: it didn't walk me through carry-over long term losses
I've been using Turbo Tax for several years. Each year, it's as easy as the previous. I just love this program. It makes completing and filing your taxes as easy as can possibly be. I have absolutely no reason to even consider using anything else for filing my taxes than Turbo Tax. Wonderful product.
What's great about it: Extremely Easy For Anyone.
What's not so great: None
Pros: My job status changed this year (switched jobs, lost a job, got a raise or promotion)
The ever increasing complexity of the IRS minefield makes it foolish to do it yourself without some kind of help or training. It doesn't take a genius to make the choices, but it's too easy to miss some obscure rule or form. Even the IRS won't stand by any advice or answers they give--smart. I've used this product for many years, and many changes in the code and my status... it has consistently proved reliable. I've only done a direct comparison of the results with a CPA once, but TurboTax results were better then, and I'd bet they are always better. The tax code is an incredible mess--this product clears it up.
What's great about it: Translates IRS bafflegab into plain English
What's not so great: Options for filing could be better
Pros: My job status changed this year (switched jobs, lost a job, got a raise or promotion), I bought or sold investments
I've used TT for a long time. Experienced some frustration when entering stock info when the program didn't offer options of Form 8949 ABCDEF until I did my last update. Then, I had to delete a lot of information to put it into the correct category.
What's great about it: Familiar human interface
What's not so great: Some things didn't work until several program updates