Turbo Tax 2012 Online - Review

Turbotax has been the leader in tax software. Providing both an online version and boxed software version, they have dominated the tax software area for the past 2 decades. To be a survivor in the Tax software market, a company has to constantly innovate. Year over year, Turbotax has added new features and improved the customer experience. For tax year 2012, there are plenty of improvements to the software and the online site.

For the 2012 tax year, Turbotax is offering 5 different turbotax online packages. Each one is suited for a different type of individual.

The basic versions like the Turbotax Online Free and TurboTax Basic is for people with very basic tax return filing requirements. Typically this would be singles, people who do not itemize their deductions, no children or income is below a certain level.

Turbotax will automatically transfer the previous year’s tax return. TurboTax fills in information from your previous year’s return to help save time and increase accuracy. The import procedure will show you what you’re importing and where it goes in your tax return. You can also import from other tax software including TaxACT and H&R Block At Home™.

TurboTax 2012 online is available in 5 different versions. See a detailed Comparison of Turbotax Products

This edition is ideally suited if you have income from investments (stocks bonds etc) or own a home and have mortgage expenses. Turbotax automatically looks for deductions that apply to you. In fact Turbotax deluxe is the version you want to start with if you itemize your deductions. More on deductions later.

ItsDeductible : This is a great piece of software that comes included with Turbotax deluxe online. If you are wondering why this software s this useful - here is why :
If you want to take a deduction for household items that you donated to charity, you are required to deduct only the fair value of the item. So for instance, you donated your used suit which was in pristine condition to Salvation army or Goodwill, you could take a deduction for the fair market value of the suit on your tax return. But do you know how to figure out the value of that used suit ? Is it $10 or $50 - the right answer could mean several dollars of additional deductions and a bigger refund. This is where ItsDeductible comes in useful. ItsDeductible will determine the fair market value of the item you donated and automatically transfer it to the tax forms.

What distinguishes Turbotax Premier and Deluxe is the extensive investment advice available. Ability to import your investment transactions from major financial firms directly into Turbotax (eg. Fidelity, Schwab etc). This is a great timesaver. Whats more, the profit/loss, and capital gains (short term or long-term) are automatically calculated and entered directly on the tax form.

If you own a small business as sole proprietorship, you would need to prepare and file your business income and expenses. Turbotax Home & Business should be your starting point. The other editions can also do a schedule C, but the detailed help you need for your business deductions are available only in the Home & Business edition.

If you just need to file a state tax return, starting this year, Turbotax is offering an option to file only your state taxes online. This is particularly useful if you used a free filing option to file your Federal tax return and somewhere else and just need to file your state tax return. .

See a detailed comparison of Turbotax versions.

In conclusion, Turbotax is excellent for anyone looking for detailed help and guidance in their tax preparation. The context sensitive help is outstanding - the best of any tax sites out there.