Tax season again--ugh. Time to fire up Intuit's venerable
TurboTax,
available in desktop and online flavors for Windows and Mac (desktop
versions of both are now on the same disc). Both desktop and online
versions come in several trim levels, ranging from $10 to $70. The
federal tax-preparation engine is the same in each; it's designed for
personal returns, including Schedule C sole proprietorships. (The
$100-$130 Windows-only TurboTax Business is available for
partnership/LLC and corporate returns.)
More money buys you state
return preparation and/or additional features, such as more extensive
business/investment tax advice and donated property valuation (in a
companion program, It's Deductible). A new $30 annual subscription
option is TurboTax Estimated Taxes, which helps those who must file
these quarterly taxes calculate them and pay electronically.
I
tested the TurboTax Premier desktop ($70) and online versions. In
equivalent trim, the latter is five bucks cheaper and includes
electronic filing--a $15 option with the desktop programs. Intuit stores
PDFs of your online returns and maintains your tax data from year to
year, to keep you coming back. The secure interface is quite responsive
on my broadband connection, at least in January, when I'm writing this;
I can't vouch for dialup, or for performance on April 14.
The
TurboTax interface newly resembles a tabbed Web page (which it is, in
the online version). As in the past, you have two workflow
options--Forms and EasyStep. With Forms, you select and complete
onscreen replicas of IRS forms.
These are "smart," in that
related forms and fields are linked together; without doing an
(ill-advised) override, you cannot directly enter data in a field
TurboTax calculates from another form or line. I prefer to let TurboTax
walk me through most of my return in EasyStep, simply answering
questions and filling in amounts where requested. TurboTax determines
and completes the necessary forms as you go.
You can flip back
and forth between Forms and EasyStep; Forms is often faster for
repetitive entries, such as depreciable assets for a Schedule C
business. The new MyNav feature makes bouncing around in EasyStep easy
and provides feedback on what remains to be done. With either method,
you can flag amounts as estimated (for later correction), and
double-clicking on any entry field brings up a Supporting Details
window. Descriptions and amounts entered here are automatically summed
and reported on the form line--very handy for recordkeeping.
With
either method, you can reduce data entry (especially if you have
business property) by transferring last year's information if you used
TurboTax then; this also transfers supporting detail descriptions to
remind you of last year's entries. You can also transfer tax items from
Quicken or QuickBooks. Unfortunately, while the desktop transfer worked
well, the online version stalled when I tried to upload my 2004 TurboTax
data from my Mac; I tried several browsers and Intuit tech support, all
to no avail. If data transfer matters to you, I'd try it before
committing to this method; you can do everything except file your return
before paying for online TurboTax.
If you bought a state package,
your federal information is automatically transferred to it, and you
complete it similarly. Before you file, TurboTax conducts a thorough
review, where you correct errors, omissions, estimated items and
overrides the program has flagged. You also may select optional reviews
for missed deductions and possible audit flags. When you're done,
TurboTax lets you print a complete copy for your records (with all
supporting details, if you wish). For filing, TurboTax prints just the
forms the IRS or state needs or lets you eFile (after determining that
the return is eligible) and get an email confirmation from
Intuit.
Bottom line, TurboTax makes doing my taxes as painless as
possible, and I've never had to invoke their accuracy guarantee.
Frankly, I don't understand why more people don't tackle their own
taxes. After all, 80 percent of the work is organizing your records, and
many of the pros use TurboTax themselves. --Ken
Henningsen
