Turbo Tax - Miles
#16
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: WN, DL, UA, AA, Hilton, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 1,303
The other thing to watch out for: If you're used to using the disc or download with Federal + State bundled together, the online prices aren't structured the same way. If you want your state return done with TurboTax, make sure you look at all the fees before buying in.
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: MN
Programs: Lots of programs, dirt on all of them!
Posts: 11,938
With all due respect, I've used both products and reached a different conclusion. TaxCut missed some key deductions/credits that would have cost me some money, Turbo did not. So I find it worth a few more $$. The Turbo Deluxe ($40 on amazon) works for the vast majority except for those who have significant rental real estate, a consultancy business with expenses or perhaps significant securities trading, in which case I think Premier is probably better.
HR Block Basic has the same features as Turbo Tax Deluxe at half the price (or less). I have been pleased with it up to now. YMMV.
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 106
Interesting. Did you buy both the same year and try both to realize the differences? Just curious. I have been using HR Block for years and have a keen awareness of the tax laws. Have never seen any issues with HR Block.
HR Block Basic has the same features as Turbo Tax Deluxe at half the price (or less). I have been pleased with it up to now. YMMV.
HR Block Basic has the same features as Turbo Tax Deluxe at half the price (or less). I have been pleased with it up to now. YMMV.
#20
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 205
Do you realize that except for the simplest tax returns, Turbo Tax costs way more than HR Block? The HR Block Basic does all the stuff you need the Turbo Tax Premier to do, at half the cost. Most the times the miles earned for Turbo Tax aren't worth the additional out-of-pocket cash cost.
Right now, I don't think that $20 is enough to get me excited about switching but the 10% bonus for e-gift cards could entice me as I have about $3,100 coming back to me in Federal so an extra $310 in my Amazon account would be nice.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I couldn't find anything about hidden fees on the site.
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: MN
Programs: Lots of programs, dirt on all of them!
Posts: 11,938
I checked out H&R Block and you are correct for an EZ form, Turbo would be cheaper ($0). For my situation, H&R Block recommended Deluxe so this would save me $20 compared to Turbo. Whether their software is as effective as Turbo remains to be seen. I suppose that I could prepare my returns on both as one should only be charged when one files.
Right now, I don't think that $20 is enough to get me excited about switching but the 10% bonus for e-gift cards could entice me as I have about $3,100 coming back to me in Federal so an extra $310 in my Amazon account would be nice.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I couldn't find anything about hidden fees on the site.
Right now, I don't think that $20 is enough to get me excited about switching but the 10% bonus for e-gift cards could entice me as I have about $3,100 coming back to me in Federal so an extra $310 in my Amazon account would be nice.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I couldn't find anything about hidden fees on the site.
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: MN
Programs: Lots of programs, dirt on all of them!
Posts: 11,938
#23
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 205
With all due respect, I've used both products and reached a different conclusion. TaxCut missed some key deductions/credits that would have cost me some money, Turbo did not. So I find it worth a few more $$. The Turbo Deluxe ($40 on amazon) works for the vast majority except for those who have significant rental real estate, a consultancy business with expenses or perhaps significant securities trading, in which case I think Premier is probably better.
As another poster mentioned and despite what their website recommended, I was steered towards H&R's Basic package ($24.99). State returns were a wash so Turbo ended up being $30 more but this is made up by the higher refund.
If I knew the exact reason/s that it failed to get me the maximum refund guaranteed I might be able to work around it but I'm not sure that I can trust the program unless it could be proven that Turbo was taking liberties with how their returns were prepared.
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Danville, CA, USA;
Programs: UA 1MM, WN CP, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Gold, IC Plat
Posts: 15,720
Do you happen to know which deductions/credits it missed? ***
If I knew the exact reason/s that it failed to get me the maximum refund guaranteed I might be able to work around it but I'm not sure that I can trust the program unless it could be proven that Turbo was taking liberties with how their returns were prepared.
If I knew the exact reason/s that it failed to get me the maximum refund guaranteed I might be able to work around it but I'm not sure that I can trust the program unless it could be proven that Turbo was taking liberties with how their returns were prepared.
My guess is that TaxCut may have missed a Schedule A deduction or Schedule E expense, i.e. failed to ask a question that would have captured the expense. They may have fixed the issue by now, but then again, your experience suggests otherwise.
I think it very unlikely that Turbo is "taking liberties" with preparing your return. Intuit is not going to risk throwing away a billion dollar business (well, aside from last year's stealth price increase ) by risking its reputation with its customers, much less the IRS. Far higher chance that an individual preparer would goose your returns, as demonstrated by several criminal cases every year...
#25
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: RDU
Programs: AAdvantage, National Executive
Posts: 99
I checked out H&R Block and you are correct for an EZ form, Turbo would be cheaper ($0). For my situation, H&R Block recommended Deluxe so this would save me $20 compared to Turbo. Whether their software is as effective as Turbo remains to be seen. I suppose that I could prepare my returns on both as one should only be charged when one files.
Right now, I don't think that $20 is enough to get me excited about switching but the 10% bonus for e-gift cards could entice me as I have about $3,100 coming back to me in Federal so an extra $310 in my Amazon account would be nice.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I couldn't find anything about hidden fees on the site.
Right now, I don't think that $20 is enough to get me excited about switching but the 10% bonus for e-gift cards could entice me as I have about $3,100 coming back to me in Federal so an extra $310 in my Amazon account would be nice.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I couldn't find anything about hidden fees on the site.
#26
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 205
A side rant about H&R's guarantee: If one guarantees something, something should be offered to offset the balance and not merely refund the fees and allow use of that same program to amend a return.
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: MN
Programs: Lots of programs, dirt on all of them!
Posts: 11,938
My experience is that most inaccuracies in the tax software (either Turbo Tax or HR Block) is user error - not checking a box (or checking a box they shouldn't), not answering a question correctly, forgetting to enter a number somewhere, etc. I am sure there are exceptions, but that is my experience between my using tax software and seeing others using such software.
Turbo Tax's guarantee will pay the penalties and interest:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/25...ions-guarantee
It appears the guarantee is very similar to HR Block's:
http://www.hrblock.com/online-tax-fi...culations.html
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/25...ions-guarantee
It appears the guarantee is very similar to HR Block's:
http://www.hrblock.com/online-tax-fi...culations.html
#29
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 205
My experience is that most inaccuracies in the tax software (either Turbo Tax or HR Block) is user error - not checking a box (or checking a box they shouldn't), not answering a question correctly, forgetting to enter a number somewhere, etc. I am sure there are exceptions, but that is my experience between my using tax software and seeing others using such software.
Update after receiving my 1099 this morning:
The returns are still off in favor of TurboTax. My guesstimate regarding my 1099-B was pretty close as my refund is $87 less. One place I missed on my original trial was the input of interest income in the H&R software but I corrected that this morning and that closed the gap by $26.
At this point, maybe the software is the same and I screwed up by not forcing H&R to look at something else but I entered everything that I have into both programs before it made its respective calculations. I guess that I'll never know as I'm not curious enough to go through both programs 1 step at a time to see the difference/s.
Best of luck to others regardless of whichever program one decides to use!