Intuit TurboTax has been a heavyweight in the tax preparation category for several decades now and shows no signs of slowing down. It expertly balances substance and style, combining thorough coverage of tax topics with an easy-to-follow interview format and top-notch support. New integrations with Credit Karma and QuickBooks Online (both of which Intuit owns), a reshuffling of the interview process, and a revamp of its wrap-up make the experience better than ever. Its mobile apps are first-class, too. You pay a premium for all these features, but TurboTax easily earns our Editors' Choice award and an outstanding five-star rating—it's that good. FreeTaxUSA isn't as robust, but it's also an Editors' Choice winner because it enables you to file even complex federal returns for free.
TurboTax costs more than other online tax prep services, but not by much. It maintains a Free Edition (federal and state) for taxpayers who claim the standard deduction and whose returns don't involve anything beyond the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, limited interest and dividend income, the student loan interest deduction, taxable qualified retirement plan distributions, and W-2 income. (Note: approximately 37% of filers qualify for TurboTax Free Edition.)
The Deluxe version ($39 each for federal and state returns) lets you add itemized deductions. The Premium tier ($89 for federal, $39 for state) includes what you need to report rental and investment income and self-employment. The prices for both versions will increase later in the filing season. Through February 28, 2025, you can file federal and state taxes for free (regardless of complexity) if you didn't use TurboTax for the 2023 tax year—as long as you use the TurboTax mobile app this year.
Cash App Taxes (formerly Credit Karma Tax) and FreeTaxUSA are free for federal filing, though the latter charges $14.99 for state returns. Neither competes with TurboTax in terms of guidance or user experience, though FreeTaxUSA gets closer. Although TurboTax Premium is expensive, it costs only a few dollars more than H&R Block Self-Employed ($85 for federal, $37 for state).
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If you need help from a human, Intuit offers additional virtual services via chat, phone, and video. As you prepare your return, you can connect to an expert virtually via the Live Assisted service to ask questions and get a final review of your return. You can also have a tax pro handle your entire return from start to finish (that's called TurboTax Live Full Service). You pay more depending on the complexity of your return. H&R Block offers similar services.
TurboTax originated the wizard-based approach to tax preparation over 30 years ago. It takes you through a lengthy series of pages, one at a time, in a logical order. There’s a home page for every major section that breaks down their many subtopics. It’s very easy to drill down and find the topic you want to visit.
You answer questions by clicking buttons, entering data, and selecting from options. You can also import data directly from some forms, such as W-2s and 1099s (if your employer or financial institutions are TurboTax Import Partners), or you can type in the data yourself. In some cases, you might be able to upload a form from your computer or snap a picture of it.
Investment transaction imports are especially flexible. You can import up to 10,000 stock trades and 20,000 cryptocurrency transactions from more financial sources than any competitor. TurboTax supports numerous financial institutions (like Coinbase, TD Ameritrade, and Vanguard), so you can import your investment data directly. If your broker or exchange isn’t on the list, you can upload a CSV file or enter the information yourself. The site provides more guidance on cryptocurrency than any other product I tested.
TurboTax alternates between walking you through a Q&A and showing you lists of available topics. After you complete the federal section, it transfers data to any state returns you must file. Then, it helps you e-file or print the finished product. The process works beautifully, saving time, easing frustration, and dramatically reducing errors.
If you filed your income taxes using TurboTax or another tax prep app last year, you can import key data to save time. If you are new to TurboTax, it will guide you through the entire setup process. It helps you select the correct version first and then requests information such as contact details, dependents, and Social Security numbers. The site then shows a landing page with the income topics you selected and a comprehensive list of other potential income sources. Finally, it moves you through deductions, credits, and miscellaneous tax issues using a similar process.
Intuit makes some welcome changes to the user experience so that it flows even more smoothly, but not to the extent that returning users will have trouble. The site is more proactive than ever, skillfully moving you along and preparing you for upcoming questions. Still, I wish TurboTax would combine some pages that have only one question to minimize clicks.
TurboTax makes the tax prep process feel like one long conversation rather than a collection of separate steps. It uses clear, understandable, and lively language, explaining financial concepts as it introduces them and providing links to additional help on the interview pages. The latter links open context-sensitive articles and how-tos, usually in a vertical pane that also has direct links to topic pages when appropriate.
The help pane contains two other types of guidance. First, you can search for words and phrases to get links to help articles and related pages on the site. When you click one of the many hyperlinks in the interview, the relevant content appears in the right vertical pane. The second type comes courtesy of Intuit Assist, which works like an AI-driven version of the old TurboTax Assistant. It converses with you and allows for follow-up questions. It learns, too, something the more traditional guidance tool doesn't.
Intuit Assist seems smarter than it was last year. I asked it what I thought was a challenging question, and it addressed my issue correctly. I did the same search on the site’s older tool and got completely unrelated hits. Further, responses there sometimes came from TurboTax community forum pages, not Intuit employees.
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I encountered more error-trapping in TurboTax than I did with competitors. For example, I used the same Employer Identification Number (EIN) for two different employers on 1099-NECs. The site flagged these and asked how I wanted to handle them.
H&R Block also has a traditional search option and an AI-driven interactive tool, AI Tax Assist. H&R Block’s traditional search is top-notch—just as effective as TurboTax. In addition, the content in H&R Block’s vertical help pane changes dynamically, displaying new context-sensitive help as you advance through the site. TurboTax doesn't do this.
TurboTax accommodates LLCs and REMICs that file a Form 1040 and related schedules, sole proprietors and partnerships, and S corporations. It supports small businesses of many types and all kinds of gig workers. The site does an exemplary job of walking you through all of the income and expenses that you must report.
This section of TurboTax starts by asking for your profession and posing standard small business questions. Other tax prep services, such as TaxSlayer, do this, too. TurboTax displays a home page that lists the primary sources of income for a self-employed individual, such as the 1099-NEC and cash and checks. I like how it lays all of these out on one page instead of several.
Most tax prep sites allow you to enter business expenses only manually by category, such as advertising and office supplies. TurboTax highlights expenses that businesspeople in your industry most commonly report, such as home office and vehicle, and looks for ones you might have missed. When I completed this section, TurboTax checked it and found two questionable entries (I had entered only round numbers, and it questioned if I really needed business insurance as an Etsy seller). It also estimated my audit risk and told me my expenses seemed reasonable for someone in my line of work. No one product does this.
But there are other options that competitors don’t offer. Last year, I was able to connect a credit card to TurboTax, which then imported transactions and sorted them into appropriate tax categories. This year, the company says you will be able to import personal income and expenses from Credit Karma and business income and expenses from QuickBooks Online.
Once you complete the income and expense sections and answer some additional questions, TurboTax reports your profit or loss and related numbers on Schedule C.
As mentioned, TurboTax does a lot of error-checking along the way. But it also checks both your federal and state returns once you exhaust all the topics you need to complete.
When I ran the Federal Review, it found that I needed to revisit Child and Other Dependents Tax Credits. The site provided links to those sections, and I made the corrections. TurboTax then returned me to the Federal Review page, where it showed a personalized explanation of my refund, complete with applicable numbers. The state review didn’t find any errors and presented another personalized recap of the important numbers on my return (like total income and deductions).
Intuit says it helps safeguard your data and protect your privacy by using industry-leading practices and technology. The company claims it constantly tests and improves its cybersecurity practices, collaborating with security researchers worldwide and providing safeguards like multi-factor authentication and AES-256 data encryption.
Whenever you enter personal information, such as your Social Security number and birth date, into a tax website, you should always take additional safety precautions, such as using a trusted network—your home Wi-Fi, for example.
Even if you have a complex tax return that involves investment sales or self-employment, you can do your tax preparation and filing via TurboTax’s mobile apps for Android and iOS. The apps, which are attractive and intuitive, work like the desktop browser version and offer simple data entry and import options. They even provide access to the Intuit Assist feature.
TurboTax extends its impressive lead in the tax preparation field, offering a top-notch interface, exceptional guidance, and very capable mobile apps. The AI-powered Intuit Assist feature continues to improve, too, providing expanded support. Meanwhile, refinements to the interview process and the final check further cement the software's class-leading user experience. While TurboTax is on the pricey end of the spectrum, its many outstanding aspects earn it our Editors' Choice award and a full five-star rating. Our other Editors' Choice winner, FreeTaxUSA, doesn't rate quite as highly overall, but it charges nothing for federal returns.
