Which turbo tax to purchase?

[FIREball567]

My relative has been doing my taxes using turbo tax for the past few years. I'm thinking of doing it myself this year.

Which version of turbo tax will suite me? I live in NY and will use the standard deduction of $24,000. In addition, I will file joint married, have no rental properties, will tax loss harvest $3k, expect 1099 for bank bonus interest and will claim the student loan deduction. Thanks.


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[jpdx]

Get TurboTax Deluxe disk version. Split it with a friend or sell it when you're done. Print and mail your state return to avoid the e-file charge. The disk version also has Forms Mode which is a valuable feature.

-Unhappy TurboTax customer of 12 years.

[Indexer]

https://www.freetaxusa.com/

It's $12.95 for state, nothing for Federal, and after your first year using it you get 10% off in future years. Unlike every other tax software I've tried using, TurboTax included, it has never popped up with extra hidden fees.

If you want the sophistication of turbotax but the price of freetax, just prefill everything in both, make sure they come out to the same refund/bill, and then hit submit on freetax. This is what I did the first year, just to be sure, but now I exclusively use freetaxusa.

[JSMustachian]

I've used the free version of Turbo Tax and free tax USA. Never had any issues with either. My return is very similar to yours. Very basic standard deduction with some tax loss harvesting and money market account interest.

[dragoncar]

If you don't qualify for the free versions of Turbotax, sign up as an uber driver -- for at least the last 2 years they've been partnering to give drivers free federal+state in the "self-employed" version which is pretty high up there in features.  I don't know if you still get the benefit for 2018 tax year if you sign up now, but I'll note that I never even completed the verification process or drove a single fare so it might work for you.  Do a google search for "uber turbotax partnership" http://bfy.tw/LvPB

[Livingthedream55]

https://www.freetax.com/ may work for you. Free for state and federal.

[calman]

Does anyone have concerns using the free version of TurboTax?  Does TT save your data?

[geekette]

We've bought the Deluxe disc version at a warehouse club or Amazon for years, and shared it.  It says right on the box that it's good for 5 filings, so no guilt from me.  $40, and it includes one state.  I keep my data on my machine, and it imports history and such from the previous year.

[FIREball567]

We've bought the Deluxe disc version at a warehouse club or Amazon for years, and shared it.  It says right on the box that it's good for 5 filings, so no guilt from me.  $40, and it includes one state.  I keep my data on my machine, and it imports history and such from the previous year.

I was thinking about getting Deluxe. If I'm tax loss harvesting and deducting student loans, would I need premier or can deluxe work?


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[neo von retorch]

I'm confused - on the TurboTax web site, Self-Employed is $170* $90! But if I buy Home & Business TurboTax from Amazon.com, it's $65 and includes 5 Federal e-Files? So that's a way, way better deal? Am I missing something?

* Oops I was looking a the "Live" versions.

[DavidAnnArbor]

I'm confused - on the TurboTax web site, Self-Employed is $170* $90! But if I buy Home & Business TurboTax from Amazon.com, it's $65 and includes 5 Federal e-Files? So that's a way, way better deal? Am I missing something?

* Oops I was looking a the "Live" versions.

Can you still get support if you don't buy the "Live" version ?

[geekette]

You can get online support for the disk versions, but their "live" support is help from a CPA or Enrolled Agent and only available for their online versions.  The support for disk version is mostly searching online to see if someone else has reported the same problem, or asking a question and waiting for someone to respond.  I've always gotten answers, eventually, the few times I've had weird questions.

I've used Deluxe for years, and had a lot of ESPP and general stock sales, so I don't see a problem with tax loss harvesting (although I've never done that).  There's not a lot of handholding, though, which the Premier might offer.

In my 2018 TTax (disk version), I searched for 1098E, and it came up as part of the walk through, so that seems okay.

If all else fails, you can upgrade your version from within TTax for $30 for Premier, or $40 for Home and Business.