Turbo Tax: Instant Relief from the Tax- Filing Blues
Written: Jul 16 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Time to Complete: |
 |
|
| Web Site Experience: |
|
|
| Confidence: |
|
|
| Web Site Load Time: |
 |
|
| Helpfulness of Preparer: |
|
|
|
Pros: Easy, simple, accurate, fast; Direct deposit and state return options available
Cons: Fees may make it impractical for some tax payers
The Bottom Line: Turbo Tax offers a quick, simple way to take some of the pain out of tax filing.
|
|
|
| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Quicken TurboTax for the web |
Tax preparation is a drag for many individuals and families. After working all year and keeping only the leftover crumbs of our paycheck, we get to spend the winter and early spring seasons gathering up all of our W-2 forms, 1099 forms, capital gain distribution documents, dividend statements, and other items in order to prepare to compute how much is owed to various government agencies. The process can be very easy for those who do not itemize deductions, but it can be very time- consuming and stressful for those who do.
Fortunately, there are many services to help make the tax season a little less stressful. Some of these services require that you drive to an office and hand your records over to a tax expert and then wait for the returns to be completed. Other services involve logging into a web site or loading software and working on- line to complete your tax preparation. One such service that I have used on my PC is Quicken Turbo Tax, one of the best- known tax prep services on the market.
How Does This Service Work?:
Turbo Tax has four levels of services to choose from, with a tax service to fit each person’s needs. The choices are:
EZ- This is the simplest and most basic service. Intended for those who have income but no itemized deductions, EZ is the shortest and easiest of the four options, but it isn’t practical for those who have substantial deductions and write- offs.
Basic- This option is good for those who have itemized deductions and want to file their return quickly and put the process behind them. It is intended for individuals and couple’s who have substantial numbers of write- offs, but who don’t feel the need to search for loopholes or any other tax- saving ideas because they don’t feel they have any.
Premiere- Here, you will find a service that takes the Basic option one step further by helping the taxpayer look for extra ways to cut taxable income and lower the tax burden.
Home & Business- This service is the most deluxe offering from Turbo Tax. It is designed to help taxpayer’s with small businesses look for ways to save money.
No matter which service you select, Turbo Tax will make the process smooth and simple. Starting with the basics, like your name and Social Security number, Turbo Tax steps you through the process, question by question, page by page, until the process is completed. You need to have all of your tax forms ready, next to the PC, so that when each question pops up, you will be ready with the necessary information to input.
Establishing an Account:
To use this service, you must first create a unique user account that will be used by Turbo Tax to keep and store your data. This requires setting up your own user id (must have at least four characters), creating a password (at least six characters), entering your e-mail address, and choosing a security question and answer. Once this information is input, you are ready to begin entering your tax information.
Service Fees:
With all good services, one has to expect to cough up some change. And Turbo Tax is no exception to this rule. Fees for services are based on the level one chooses. Presently, the cost to use EZ is $9.95; Basic is $19.95; Premiere is $29.95; and Home & Business is $49.95. These rates can (and likely will) change at any time, so you should only consider this a rough guide of your costs.
Final Thoughts:
Intuit Corporation’s Turbo Tax is the most widely used tax preparation service in the United States, with nearly fifty million users. I avoided this service for a long time, preferring instead to work out my taxes on paper, like I have done for many years. But this year, I decided that I was tired of the mess, the mistakes, the constant use of white- out, the hand- writing of forms, and all of the other headaches that come with manual tax preparation. I decided that, since I use my home PC for most everything else, it was high time I allowed a service like Turbo Tax to help make my tax preparation a little simpler.
The main reasons I decided to use Turbo Tax were because of the speed, accuracy, and the possibility of finding new ways to reduce taxes. First, let’s talk about speed and accuracy. Entering your information on a PC is most assuredly going to reduce your tax prep time and this is especially true on longer, more complicated tax returns. Everything in Turbo Tax is organized and automated. You don’t need to worry about forgetting a certain form or making critical math errors. Turbo Tax asks many questions as you enter your data and as you answer the questions, the software automatically responds with the appropriate forms. Math errors are reduced substantially, too, because the software keeps track of what has been entered and it performs the computations for you. And once you are finished, Turbo Tax performs an error check and then lets you know if any areas have data that seems like it might be incorrect.
The other reason I decided to try Turbo Tax was because of the outside chance that it might be able to help find additional ways to reduce taxes by helping me look for legal ways to lower taxable income (such as tuition credits, IRA, business write- offs, child care, charitable donations, etc.). In this area, I did achieve a degree of success, but it came with a cost. When I originally signed up for this service, I was going to use Turbo Tax Basic. But then, as I answered questions, it became evident that I needed the additional user support tools offered by Turbo Tax Premiere if I was serious about looking for loopholes. At one point, I was entering some information on self- employment and received a message from Turbo Tax, stating that if I wanted to utilize my business write- offs, I had to upgrade to the Premiere level. I did a few hand calculations and determined that the additional fee was worth the money because I could potentially save me more than the cost of the fee. My calculations were proven correct, and I did save more in taxes than the additional $10 fee. I was a little annoyed at having to make this decision because I felt that what I wanted to write- off was basic and therefore should be offered in the Basic package. But that’s how the Turbo Tax system works, so I had no choice but to give in and pay the extra money.
Another nice option available through Turbo Tax is the ability to have your return money electronically deposited for you, directly into your checking account. I used this option myself and it added to the convenience. I did not have to wait for a check and then make a deposit manually. My money was automatically placed into my checking account by Turbo Tax. This helped to shorten the amount of time needed to get my return by several more days. My total waiting time, from the day I submitted my return to the day the money showed up in my account, was about three weeks (fifteen working days). Considering that I filed my returns later than usual (only a week before the deadline), I was satisfied with this turnaround time. Had I submitted my returns on paper, I would have been forced to wait an additional one to three weeks to get my refund. Oh, and if you are unfortunate enough to owe taxes, you can of course still use this service. Turbo Tax will allow you to pay the taxes using a credit or debit card. You can also pay using a paper check by mailing the 1040V form, along with your check, to the IRS.
For those who need it, Turbo Tax can also assist in filing your state tax return. In this situation, you need to decide if the additional fee is really worth it. Most state tax forms are short and simple (when compared to Federal forms) and don’t require much preparation. Also, some states offer a phone touch- tone return system, which is often just as simple as the Turbo Tax system and doesn’t cost anything to use. For myself, I decided that Turbo Tax wasn’t worth it for state filing. I took care of it myself.
On the negative side, one must remember that Turbo Tax does charge fees for its services and sometimes these fees can make the process impractical. I think it depends on the amount of data each tax payer has to enter and the complexity of the situation. If you have a home- based business, multiple jobs, capital gains, etc., then Turbo Tax can prove to be worth the money and effort because it can make the process simple and save you money in the long run. If you don’t have much to enter (like in the case of those who use the 1040EZ form) the Turbo Tax system may not be worthwhile. It comes down to personal preference and convenience. If you like the quickness and the accuracy, then the EZ fee might be worth it. If you don’t mind filling out the one- page 1040EZ form and you are not desperate to get your return, then the EZ fee isn’t worth it.
If you need to temporarily stop entering your information or if you just need a break from staring at your PC screen, you can stop at any time and come back to the on- line site later on to finish. When you log back, you will be presented with two options: Start a new 2003 tax return, or Continue my existing 2003 tax return. This allows users to log off and come back at any time to complete the process. Also, once you complete your return on- line, you will have the opportunity to print everything out, for your records. If you lose a form, never fear- you can log back into Turbo Tax at any time and reprint the forms. Keep in mind that Turbo Tax requires that you pay your usage fee first, before you can print your forms and submit your return. You cannot have Turbo Tax deduct the fee from your return. It must be paid up front.
Tax time is over now. Most everyone has finished filing for the year and either paid the bill or received a refund check. Paying taxes and filing returns is a pain, but it can be made much simpler and less frustrating with an electronic filing service like Turbo Tax. It will cost you to use this service, yes. But since it is self- directed, the fees are much lower than a full –service tax preparation business, like H&R Block. The accuracy, the timeliness, and the convenience, make Turbo Tax a good buy in tax preparation. It’s a service that I will likely use each year from here forward.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 29.95
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.