I always paid to have my taxes prepared in the past. I was nervous to fill out my tax forms on my own when my son advised me to purchase the Turbo Tax software several years ago. Now I cannot do without Turbo Tax. I've also learned a great deal about taxes that I had no idea prior to Turbo Tax. I feel confident in submitting my tax forms now.
What's great about it: Turbo Tax helped me greatly to fill out the form and helped with deductions.
What's not so great: None
Pros: My job status changed this year (switched jobs, lost a job, got a raise or promotion), I moved
Could not figure out how to print Blank 1040-ES. Filled out W-4 Worksheet but printed wrong vouchers. Also, tried to complete Sales Tax Info - we are snowbirds and couldn't fill out Jan- Mar 2013 and -Sept-Dec 2013 in one state and Apr-Aug 2013 in another State as we are only given 2 spaces for options!!
What's great about it: Overall, a very thorough program as long as you know what the outcome should be! I worked at HRBlock for 15 years.
What's not so great: Too much "selling" of options after we''ve already paid for the program
Every time I tried to download an additional state form, I would get a popup saying my payment session had timed out. It WOULD NOT let me get past that screen. It popped up every time, even though I had not entered any payment information previously. The same thing happened when I tried to e-file my state returns. It never would let me past that popup, even though I went in and changed my popup settings to allow from intuit. This was very frustrating. I ended up printing and paper filing my state returns after I eventually just went online to purchase the additional state return I needed. My program never would link to allow me to purchase it while I was working in turbo tax.
What's great about it: step by step questions have made me continue to use this product for several years
What's not so great: There were glitches in the system this time that made it much more difficult to use than in previous years.
Pros: My job status changed this year (switched jobs, lost a job, got a raise or promotion)
Our situation was pretty weird since we just got married in August, I moved from CA to FL, she finished her Masters in FL, and she used her mutual funds to pay for tuition. We thought we'd give TTax a shot. It was easy to input everything but at the end, it said that she lived in CA with me the whole year - she was in school in FL - and that I took out mutual funds while in CA - she took it out before we got married. We couldn't find a way to change any of that information when going back to through the process. In the end, we were lucky enough to have the tax credits of being married offset her withdrawal. It was just a bit unsettling to think we are doing something wrong.
What's great about it: most things were easy to navigate and fill in
What's not so great: still not confident about the newly weds/ out of state/ capital gain input
Pros: My job status changed this year (switched jobs, lost a job, got a raise or promotion), I moved, I bought or sold investments