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PC Magazine’s 2009 Editor’s Choice: TurboTax
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PC Magazine named its 2009 Editor’s Choice for personal tax preparation software and the winner was Intuit’s TurboTax, beating out H&R Block’s TaxCut and TaxACT. Before you run out and just buy a copy of TurboTax, read the review itself. The advantage TurboTax has over the competition is in their breakdown of difficult and complicated topics. TaxCut won more points because of pricing and matches up in terms of functionality, it was TurboTax’s goes the extra mile in explanations. TaxAct is billed as the product if you’re “more budget-conscious and knowledgeable.”
PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice
In PC Magazine’s review of TurboTax Premier 2008, a product that retails around $90, they compare the three products on a variety of levels. The real distinction is in what PC Magazine calls “guidance systems:”
There’s a much clearer distinction between the competitors when it comes to their guidance systems. TurboTax makes help more obvious in many places, and gives more—and more useful—explanations more often. Take home-office expenses, for example. After you’ve told TurboTax the dimensions of your home office, it asks for a list of expenses for your entire home, like insurance, mortgage interest, and real estate taxes. It tells you up front that it will prorate those expenses for you, and warns you not to duplicate some amounts you’ve already entered.
TurboTax also offers direct importing of W-2 data from ADP, Paychex, and ProBusiness; TaxCut doesn’t. TurboTax’s FAQs are more context sensitive, TaxCut are less so. It sounds like TurboTax has a lot of nice features that can make your life a little easier, if you’re the type who transposes numbers incorrectly often enough.
Pricing
However, when it comes to pricing, H&R Block’s TaxCut wins out. Their TaxCut Premium Federal + State + E-File 2008 only runs you $45 compared to the TurboTax Premium, which goes for $90. Twice the price for a few bells and whistles? I’m not sure if it’s worth it.
All that goes out the window if you qualify for free tax filing. If you qualify for free tax filing, just go with the one you’ve always used and the one you feel most comfortable with. I have always used TurboTax because I could file for free and it didn’t matter which I used. When you’re filling out a 1040EZ and you aren’t paying a cent (except the e-filing fee), it doesn’t really matter which one you use!
Summary
If I had to choose which one to use, I’d go with the cheaper one. I have a pretty simple tax situation without any crazy investments or schedules I need to account for. If you have a more complicated tax situation, but not so complicated you need a living breathing accountant, maybe it would serve you better to use TurboTax and it’s superior interface and greater degree of handholding. Either way, using one of these packages beats walking into a tax accountant’s office!
Which do you prefer? Do you agree with PC Magazine that TurboTax is better? Or are you a TaxCut fan?
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I use Turbo Tax online and I think they do a great job. I haven’t used any of the other online services tho. One way to save money is to use an online service for your Federal Return and then if your state has it file online thru them. I live in Maryland and they have iFile which is free and is easy enough to use.
I’m a long-time Turbo Tax fan, but that’s probably because we haven’t used anything else.
TaxCut – I’ve used it for about 5-6 years now. It seems like I always find a discount code somewhere and get it just about free every year.
I’ve used TaxAct and Turbo Tax and I found that TaxAct was better. I found that going back and changing an error in Turbo Tax messed things up, and I’d end up starting from scratch. I’ve used Tax Act the past 3 years and have had zero problems.
I was TurboTax all the way, and then tried TaxCut and have used it the past 2 years. I think this year I may go back to Turbo as it prompted me for other savings techniques.
TurboTax for sure. I’ve tried on two separate occasions in the past few years to use TaxCut to save a little money. Both times I’ve ended up taking advantage of H&R Block’s money-back guarantee and going back to purchase TurboTax. In general it does a much poorer job of explaining things than TurboTax and, in one instance, it just flat did things incorrectly.
There are some nice things about TaxCut and you may want to give it a try if you want to save a little. But, for me, I’ve wasted too much time on TaxCut already.
I got in the habit of using TaxCut because I use a Mac, and for several years TurboTax wasn’t offered for the Mac.
I guess it all comes down to how complicated your return is. I itemize and work in two states, but other than that my returns aren’t all that complicated. It does irk me that I spend all year tracking my charitable deductions on a spreadsheet, then I have to re-enter all that data, even though I have the grand total right in front of me. Is TurboTax any smarter about this?
I’ve stayed away from TaxAct and other online-only programs because I am very leery of posting my tax info on a company’s Web site. They may be as honest as the day is long, but I am very skeptical about Web security based on some of the consumer identity theft disasters we’ve seen in the past few years.
Guys- turbotax has multiple errors (yer even after all patch updates added)that cost me big. Even the home intest mortgage deduction was not worked correctly in 2008 personal return for fed income tax!
- I had CPA review all taxes after another turbotax error stated I could hold off on filing. Outrage- multiple basic issues we simply NOT valuated correclty even though they WERE entered correctly. In all cases error against me and artificially raise the amount I thought I was to pay.
At this pont we wonder if these “errors” were errors at all?… I mean someone has to pay for all these stimulus plans? Stealing an extra $1k or $2k from each working/honest tax payer each year could help out dont you think?