Every year filing taxes seems to be more complicated. turbotax software dos a good job of simplifying the process in terms I understand. I want to pay my taxes, I just don't want to miss something or make a mistake. turbotax helps me overcome that fear of the dreaded tax Form.

Every year I tell my wife I shouldn't use TurboTax next year, then I do it. I keep forgetting how much I don't like it. They charge extra for state returns, then again if you want to efile a state return, then they tack on a bunch of representation fees if you didn't file right, which you should do since you didn't really file it yourself, they just generate a bazillion forms and send it to the government. Bah. Taxes...

Been using TurboTax for years and find it simple and fast. Easy to follow as the program walks you through whatever you need. Only issue was in the Premier Edition it never gave me a chance to enter my wife's estimated tax payments. Used search but none of the explanations matched my edition. Based on my experience I found it myself by going directly to Forms.

It works. The detail in the Federal software is nice. The software has a pretty graphic indicating they are getting the maximum refund for me this year, but there were no changes or suggestions, so I believe the algorithm consists of only a pretty graphic. I wish they would auto-compare the situation of married filing separately with married filing jointly. The price point has become way too expensive this year for a single use program. For this reason, I am considering going to the competition next year.

Pulls data from previous TurboTax return as a starting point. Compares Year-to-Year info. Easy to enter W2 and regular bank statement info. Investment data is easy only if it can be downloaded from the institution. Otherwise there is not enough explanation provided to do it manually. K-1 sections (federal and state) are not clearly explained. You end up having to become a tax expert to fill out these sections. In general, terminology is used that requires tax expertise to understand. For example, the term "addback" is not explained. What is an addback? You have to go outside of TurboTax to educate your self on too many tax terms in order to determine what information it is asking for and where to find it or how to create it.

Hard to get past errors because they don't allow a user to fix all entries that need fixing at once to proceed. For example California Form 593--address or parcel number. It gave me the option to delete parcel number, but not the other associated field--County, so it was in a loop until I went back in to the return and fixed the form. Opportunity for improvement. Also, there is no option to change the font, some fields are too small and it would be nice to increase the font size/magnify.

Glad I did TT years ago. Also, helped us greatly when we, as amateurs, didn't realize we had to file with another state because of a small business investment. Using TT allowed us to go back 3 yrs., become current with tax debt in that state & have filed there ever since. Never got any backlash from that state or feds. Thank you, TT.

Turbo Tax has trouble handling a"Health Insurance Buyout". The step by step processes it as compensation for services provided in the tax year by a self employed contractor working for the payer. This "Buyout" is a retirement benefit and does not require a schedule C. Turbo Tax will only process this "Buyout" correctly only if after entering the 1099-Misc you go to the 1099-Misc work sheet and click "Other Income" in Box 7 of the worksheet after entering amount for 1099 Box 1. Do not answer questions about this entry. If this is done the schedule C problems will not be created. Although the "Health Insurance Buyout" is not a common or pervasive retiree benefit offered by employers, many School Districts around the county offer the "Buyout" option to employees who have health insurance coverage elsewhere such as spousal benefits. In such a case it is cheaper for the School District to offer the benefit as a fractional payment directly to the retiree rather than paying the full preium to the insurer. Turbo should handle this in the step by step.

You could go on and on and expound on the attributes , or just say this simplifies the entire process. It removes the tedious time of researching and evaluating different options and choices to make on your taxes. Just get it, just fill in the blanks, and then go about enjoying the time and frustration that you don't expend. It is worth the price.

Overall, a very solid package. Good references, relatively intuitive and always up-to-date. Challenges are (1) in the flow for areas like Deductions. Many sections, but only about three are visible on the screen at the completion of each section. User must scroll down repeatedly to get to the next section. Particularly a nuisance from the fifth through tenth areas. (2) Have an option to select forms to print instead of having to de-select from tens of forms not desired for printing. This is particularly a problem when I want to print only the second page of Schedule B, one item in the Non-Cash Deductions and the Two Year Tax Summary. Thanks, g