I've used TurboTax for a number of years. I am by no means a "financial guy"! But, TurboTax's step-by-step data entry using everyday, common language makes completing my taxes quite simple!
yes turbotax is easy, but the cost of the product for the entire process is misleading. after clicking on the "free to file" ad, it said it would charge me $60 to file state. i agreed to that, then at the end it said i needed turbotax deluxe for some reason despite declining it at every opportunity. i said fine, i agreed. then in the end, it charged me an additional $40 fee to direct deposit despite me specifically selecting the free deposit option. overall, spent over $200 for a product advertised as free. this is why i did not use turbotax in 2024, and i will not be using it in 2026.
I have been a loyal customer of Turbo Tax, and have used it for many years. This year, there are so many changes to the program that it requires the user to troubleshoot on his/her own. This edition is no longer the user friendly tax program that it used to be. I continued to receive error messages related to the RMD that should have been listed as "0", but my correction of the error would not be accepted. This put me into an endless loop. I was finally able to proceed by clicking the "Continue" button multiple times.
Another problem was a rejection of my return by the IRS that had to do with an incorrect EIN number. The path to correct this error was to blindly navigate through several screens before I could find the appropriate page.
I will seriously consider using an alternative tax program in the next filing cycle.
Some of the processes were difficult to figure out, for example, it took me a long time to figure out how to record my interest earned. I never did figure out how to enter my primary mortgage interest, because the only information I have is who services my loan, and that was none of the available options. I tried several ways to search for it, but it was never found. Yet I had the 1098 they had sent me. I realized that the standard deduction was higher anhyway, but it was still frustrating.