Turbo Tax is NOT Free as Advertised!
By Stephanie Mas on
This year my husband and I decided to do our 2008 taxes through Turbo Tax. We used another service like this last year that was free but I couldn't remember who. After some research, TV ads and internet ads, we decided to try Turbo Tax.
They say this is an easy and FREE service so we made that decision to try it. The service is very easy to use and it will walk you through everything including deductions, donations, stocks, etc... As you are going through the program, it updates the amount you owe or get back within minutes and you can see the progress you are making as you are using it.
They offer the program for free however when you get to the end, it tells you that they will prcess your refund for $29.95. Because we are a state that also has state taxs, they chare you an additional $15.95 and then if you are getting money back and you want them yo direct deposit the refund, they charge you another $29.95. They say that amount doesn't go to them but to the bank that processes the e-file refund into your bank. Needless to say, I was very unhappy with that misleading part of the program. After all, they do offer this as a FREE service. I ended up paying for the services only because I wanted to make sure my taxes are done but if you are a person who needs the services without paying for anything then this may not be for you.
Overall, the service is great and I would reccomend it BUT with warning. It is NOT free as they advertise. They will charge you once you have gone through the tax part.
Hello, Colleen from TurboTax here. I just wanted to share that there is a free federal online edition available that absolutely is free to prepare your federal return and to e-file. "Federal" is mentioned is all our ads for the free online edition. There are fees for the state return. In addition, there are no fees to direct deposit a refund into an account. What you may be referring to above is an option to deduct tax prep fees from your refund. It's called a refund transfer and the processing fees do go to the bank for that . It is an option which some people prefer so they don't have to use a credit/debit card. It is not mandatory, nor does it speed up your refund beyond what e-filing and direct deposit do (in as little as 8 days). I hope that helps a bit.
Great clarifying information TurboTaxColleen - thanks for the info to you both!
I was about to mention what Colleen did from Turbo Tax. We have used them for the whole ten years we have been married. The only down side is that the fee has gone way up since we first started. But we use the online service and it has worked well for us. In Florida, we don't have state fees and even though it is free to file our Federal return, the Intuit/Turbo Tax fee is high. Not sure who we will be using this year.
I have used Turbo Tax in the pass, but must say i changed to Tax Act.
www.freetaxusa.com They only charge $9.95 to file state and fed is free. Plus they help you step by step. Good luck. Great review