Turbo Tax is a reasonable and easy to use software for federal and state tax preparation. Pulling data from the previous year's filing moves the preparation process nicely.
What's great about it: The walk through, step-by-step, is a great option for use.
What's not so great: Charging for the DC govt. filing.
I've been using TurboTax for over ten years and find it takes a lot of the paper shuffling and aggravation out of preparing my moderately complicated tax returns (federal and state). Sure, there's a lot of record-keeping and organization required, but the step-by-step process readily serves up reminders to help remember everything. One key point TurboTax seemed to miss is offering a choice of where best to claim the deduction for health insurance premiums – Schedule A or Schedule C. With a self-employment situation and relatively low medical expenses, Schedule C turned out to be the better choice this year for me. Only the near-final comparison between 2012 and 2013 deductions pointed out this discrepancy, as I had included the health insurance in Schedule C last year and in Schedule A this year. Researching the options and making the change reduced my federal tax by ~$1,300. The difference was so startling that I double checked to make sure my choice was acceptable and frankly, I’m still not entirely sure.
What's great about it: Step-by-step process, automatic flow of entries, "free" federal and state e-file
What's not so great: STILL can't alphabetize my list of charitable deductons
I have used TurboTax for several years and love it. I like most people do not like tax season. But each year the step by step process makes it very easy.