TurboTax Review 2024: Pricing, Features, Ease of Use
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TurboTax is generally pricier than everything else out there. Confident filers may not need all the bells and whistles that most TurboTax online products offer, but some people may find the streamlined program and the availability of human help worth the extra cost.
We’ve long praised TurboTax for its design and user experience. Jump to: Full review.
Full TurboTax review
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Free Version Paid Packages | Pros:
Cons:
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TurboTax pricing
TurboTax has a lot going for it, but price isn’t one of them. The list price of its software routinely is on the high end of the spectrum, especially when adding the cost of a state return. And if you want access to human help, it costs even more.
TurboTax also consolidated its Premier package (for investors) and Self-Employed package (for freelancers) into a new "Premium" package. This means that investors who formerly used TurboTax Premier will now need to use Premium, regardless of whether they need help with self-employment taxes — which might be a sticking point for some filers moving forward.
What you get from TurboTax's free version
TurboTax offers a free version that lets you file a Form 1040 and claim limited tax credits. Roughly 37% of taxpayers qualify.
The free package won't handle itemized deductions or the full Schedule 1 or Schedules 2 or 3 of Form 1040, which means it probably won’t work for you if you plan to deduct mortgage interest, report business or freelance income, or report stock sales or income from a rental property.
TurboTax at a glance
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FREE | $0 + $0 per state filed. It allows you to file a 1040 for free, but you can’t itemize or file Schedules 2 or 3. Roughly 37% of taxpayers are eligible. TurboTax Free Edition supports Form 1040 and limited tax credits only. |
PAID PACKAGES | Live Assisted Basic $89 + $59 per state. Free edition, plus access to a tax pro, advice and a final review. TurboTax Live Assisted Basic supports Form 1040 and limited tax credits only; roughly 37% of taxpayers qualify. Deluxe $69 + $64 per state. Itemize and claim several tax deductions and credits. Works well for business income but no expenses. Premium $129 + $64 per state. Investment reporting and rental income (Schedules D and E, and K-1s), plus business income, expenses on a Schedule C, home office deductions and features for freelancers. Access to tax pro support requires upgrading to TurboTax's Live Assisted packages, which range from $89 to $219, plus state fees. Promotion: NerdWallet users can save up to an additional 10% on TurboTax. |
One note about prices: Providers frequently change them. Discounted services and packages may be available toward the beginning of the tax filing season, but these markdowns tend to be replaced with surge pricing closer to the tax filing deadline. You can verify the latest price by clicking through to TurboTax’s site.
TurboTax also offers desktop software, where your return doesn't reside in the cloud, but it’s not part of our review.
TurboTax's ease of use
How it works
TurboTax’s interface is like a chat with a tax preparer. If you’re a new user, you’ll be asked to confirm a series of tax situations — such as whether you have dependents, donated to charity, received unemployment income or sold crypto or stocks during the last tax year — to determine which of TurboTax’s packages will best suit your specific situation.
If you’re a returning user, information from the previous tax year will be preloaded into the program. You’ll be asked about life changes that occurred in the last year that might affect your tax picture, such as if you bought a new home or started freelancing.
Once you start working on your return, TurboTax will run you through a series of Q&A-style and fill-in-the-blank questions and import documents (e.g., W-2, 1099s) automatically where possible to eliminate time-consuming manual entry.
Questions are phrased simply, and tax jargon is kept to a minimum. This makes the process of filing your taxes generally seamless — the program never drops the curtain between you and the IRS forms. You simply answer questions, and your return gets filled in behind the scenes.
If you accidentally start working with a higher-tiered package, say the Premium version, and then realize the lower-tiered Deluxe might suit your needs, you’ll have to start from scratch to downgrade. According to the provider, the easiest way to downgrade is to clear your return and start over, but you won’t be able to do this if you’ve already submitted a credit card payment. You can find more information on downgrading here.
What it looks like
One of TurboTax’s most notable features is its contextual help in the form of videos, expandable sidebar information, and embedded links throughout that offer tips, explainers, videos and other resources. Help buttons can also connect you to the searchable knowledge base, on-screen help and more.
As you make your way through the return, a banner running along the side keeps track of where you stand in the process and flags areas you still need to complete. You can also skip around if you need to. A refund estimator is present on all pages. Not only does it tally up your estimated bill or refund, but it also provides a detailed breakdown of what factors are currently affecting it.
TurboTax also offers a “RaceMode” banner that times how long it takes you to finish your return. However, if you find the banner distracting, you can opt to turn off the function.
TurboTax's handy features
You can switch from another provider: TurboTax imports electronic PDFs (not scans of hard copies) of tax returns from H&R Block, TaxAct, TaxSlayer, Liberty Tax/Tax Brain and ezTaxReturn.
Auto-import certain tax documents: You can automatically import W-2 information from your employer if it's partnered with TurboTax, but you can also take a picture of your W-2 and upload it to transfer the data to your return. The Premium version also lets you upload 1099-NECs and 1099-Ks from clients via photo, as well as import income and expenses from Square, Uber and Lyft. TurboTax also boasts a large number of import partners (review them here).
Crypto support: TurboTax’s Premium package eliminates one of the biggest pain points for cryptocurrency investors — manual entry. Users can import up to 20,000 crypto transactions at once.
Donation calculator: The Deluxe and Premium packages integrate ItsDeductible — a feature and standalone mobile app — that’s helpful for quickly finding the deduction value of donated clothes, household items and other objects.
Platform mobility: Like many other providers, TurboTax lets you access and work on your return across devices: on your computer via the website or on your phone or tablet.
Spanish language support: New this year, TurboTax allows users of its online products to complete their taxes in Spanish if preferred.
TurboTax's human tax help
TurboTax Live Assisted
One of TurboTax’s most notable tax help options is TurboTax Live Assisted. It’s a service that you can add to every package for an additional fee, and it gets you screen sharing, phone or chat access to tax pros who can help you with questions that arise as you fill out your return. From Jan. 29 through the April tax-filing deadline, you can access the tax pro feature seven days a week, from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time.
Taxpayers are matched with a pro based on the question they have, and you can request a new tax pro if you’re not satisfied with the one assigned to you. According to TurboTax, its pros are either tax experts or TurboTax employees who have gone through vetting and internal training. Once you’re connected with your pro, you’ll also get to see their credentials. The Live Assisted option also gets you a final review with a tax pro before you file.
TurboTax Live Full Service
TurboTax also offers Live Full Service, which does away with tax software altogether. Instead, you upload your tax documents and a human puts together your tax return. You’ll be matched with a tax preparer, meet on a video or phone call before they begin working, and then you’ll meet again when your return is ready for review. The preparer files the return for you, and if you choose to use Full Service next year, you can even request to work with the same tax pro if they’re available.
Live Full Service starts at $129, but per the company, the final price may vary based on your actual tax situation and the forms used or included with your return. State returns are additional.
Intuit TurboTax Verified Pro
New this season, TurboTax will give some Full Service filers the option to work with a local tax pro in person. The local pro is vetted by Intuit per the company, but beware that you’ll be venturing outside the TurboTax world. This means the pro may have different work hours, and the services they offer may be different from those advertised by TurboTax.
TurboTax's support options
Here are some of the various ways you can find answers and guidance when filing your return with TurboTax.
Ways to get help
General guidance: Searchable knowledge base, forums, calculators and video tutorials are helpful for research on the fly.
Tech support: TurboTax also has an online support page that covers basic questions taxpayers may have about the product or their return, as well as a community forum. Paid packages get access to a TurboTax specialist as well as phone support.
Intuit Assist: TurboTax’s digital chatbot, powered by AI, is available to all filers, regardless of package type.
If you're audited
Getting audited is scary, so it’s important to know what kind of support you’re getting from your tax software. First, be sure you know the difference between "support" and "defense." With most providers, audit support (or "assistance") typically means guidance about what to expect and how to prepare — that’s it. Audit defense, on the other hand, gets you full representation before the IRS from a tax professional.
TurboTax gives everyone free audit support from a tax pro to help you understand what’s going on if you get that dreaded letter about your 2023, 2022 or 2021 tax return; if TurboTax can’t connect you with a pro, you’ll get a refund or $30 if you used the Free Edition. If you want someone to represent you in front of the IRS, you’ll need TurboTax’s audit defense product, called MAX. It runs an extra $49 and includes features such as identity theft monitoring, loss insurance and restoration help.
TurboTax refund options
No matter how you file, you can choose to receive your refund in several ways:
Direct deposit to a bank account.
Transferred to your Credit Kama Money Spend account (up to five days early).
Direct deposit to Coinbase account.
Paper check.
Apply the refund to next year’s taxes.
Directing the IRS to buy U.S. Savings Bonds with your refund.
You also have the option of paying for the software out of your refund. But there’s usually a $39 charge to do so.
How TurboTax compares
Promotion: NerdWallet users get 25% off federal and state filing costs. | |
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Promotion: NerdWallet users can save up to an additional 10% on TurboTax. | |
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Bottom line: Is TurboTax right for you?
With its intuitive design and variety of human support options, TurboTax is, in many ways, the standard for the do-it-yourself tax-prep industry. However, its products come at a price, and confident filers might find that similar offerings from competitors provide a better value.
» How does TurboTax stack up against the competition? TurboTax vs. H&R Block and TurboTax vs. TaxAct
Methodology
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest online tax software providers. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of available software to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from providers, do first-hand testing and observe provider demonstrations. Our process starts by sending detailed questions to providers. The questions are structured to equally elicit both favorable and unfavorable responses. They are not designed or prepared to produce any predetermined results. The provider’s answers, combined with our specialists’ hands-on research, make up our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance.
The final output produces star ratings from poor (1 star) to excellent (5 stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star. For more details about the categories considered when rating tax software and our process, read our full methodology.
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