- TurboTax continues to set the bar high
for high quality software.
But with high quality software
sometimes comes with a high price.
In this video,
we are covering the latest updates in 2022
for the TurboTax tax software.
(dreamy music)
Hey guys, it's Justine with The College Investor,
investing and personal finance for millennials.
Today, we are talking about TurboTax.
You know the name.
And does it actually live up to its hype?
You've probably seen the commercials for it,
the advertisements for it online,
and if you are wanting to DIY your tax software this year,
then I bet you're curious whether or not TurboTax is free.
All right,
so they do actually offer some free filing options
for those who have W2 income, unemployment income,
or social security income that you want to report.
Also, if you want to report the child tax credit
or the earned income credit,
you can also claim those credits
as part of the free filing option.
However,
if you have anything beyond just those simple things,
then you're going to have to upgrade into a paid package,
and that can be really steep
depending on what time of year
you are actually buying into the TurboTax software.
Now, I wanted to show you their pricing plan here.
They actually have four different options,
and TurboTax is one of those tax softwares
that is going to offer a discount early on
in the tax season,
and then you're going to see those discounts diminish
as we get closer to that tax filing deadline.
So they have the free edition,
which we've already talked about, the deluxe edition,
so if you have any health savings accounts,
you want to report childcare expenses,
you're going to have to upgrade
at least into this deluxe edition.
Plus there's the premier edition,
which offers investments and rental property features.
And then if you own your own business,
then you'll want to use the self-employed option,
which is also the most expensive pricing package
that TurboTax offers.
So what's new in 2022?
There's really three major features
that we saw added this year.
The first one being
that TurboTax addresses all of the different options
that were provided in the American Rescue Plan.
Whether you received stimulus money
or you received advanced child tax credit payments,
those things are going to be addressed
inside of the software.
There's also service level options
that you can include as part of your software.
So you can get anything from audit support
to live support from an enrolled agent or a CPA.
Plus you can get identity theft monitoring
as part of upgraded service level features.
And finally,
there's also the TurboTax full level service.
This is basically their CPA way of having your taxes done.
Basically it's the old school
pushing all of your tax documents to a CPA,
and then having them completely fill out your tax return
for you.
But if you're going to go with that option,
just be aware that that type of service,
full service tax filing
is going to come with a competitive price.
But if you're still into using the tax software
and DIY-ing this thing,
let's jump inside of the dashboard
and let's pick out some of the notable features
and drawbacks that we saw
when we were testing out the software.
TurboTax has some of the best user experience user design
in tax software.
And what I like about this
is that it has kind of this a vertical menu navigation,
where you can easily kind of pick
and scroll through exactly which section
of your tax return you need to work on next.
So I was just in deductions and credits,
and I can quickly go back in
and keep filling out my tax return.
What I also like about TurboTax
that's a lot different than a lot of tax software
that we've seen
is that it has this really easy
to use question and answer guidance.
So there's nothing else for me to click on.
I can simply just focus on the question at hand
and continue moving forward.
Okay, another notable feature about TurboTax that I love
is if you go over to the left-hand menu,
you can click on documents,
and then you can upload all of your tax documents
into the software, which can save you a ton of time.
Now, if you are self-employed,
you can also upload documents like QuickBooks,
because Intuit is also part of QuickBooks,
and TurboTax is as well.
Those things can be linked together
so that you can quickly have those documents imported
into TurboTax, as well as things like Uber and Lyft.
If you're using things as part of your business,
those have integrations with TurboTax as well.
You're also going to see these integrations
for some of those upgraded features,
such as talking to tax experts, getting audit assist,
being able to get your questions answered,
and have a tax expert review your return.
You can upgrade.
It's going to cost $200
for this TurboTax self-employed upgrade,
but you do get this option to speak with a live expert
and have your tax return reviewed.
Also, let's go up here and search for cryptocurrency.
Now, if you have cryptocurrency
and you want to report that either as a sell or as a trade,
you can do so very easily within the tax software.
And I love how they use these quick, easy icons
to help you determine which service that you've used,
and that you can easily click and continue.
And then you can upload your crypto CSV file
from whatever cryptocurrency program that you are using,
which makes it so easy.
This is one of the best cryptocurrency integrations
that we've seen through our tax software reviews.
You can also quickly navigate
to different sections of your tax return,
and you'll see kind of a breakdown
of the different menu items that you can go through,
whether or not you have the child tax credit, any donations.
These are things that was already Q&A'd on before.
I started really going through my return.
And so it's only going to show what I had answered yes to.
You can also click here to see all of the tax breaks
in case you are forgetting anything.
Now, I think the notable drawbacks here
are that TurboTax really does come at a high price,
but I think this is a software
where what you pay for is what you get.
So even though you're paying a high price,
you're actually getting a very premium tax software
on the inside.
There's also limited choices for that free filing option.
So if you only have a W2
and you want to claim the child tax credit,
that's really all you can do in the free filing situation.
Otherwise, you're going to have to upgrade
into that deluxe or higher pricing package.
Plus you're going to have to pay a premium
for that live tax advice.
As I have already shown you guys,
but here in the upper right-hand menu,
you can also click here to upgrade.
They're not going to let you forget.
They're not going to let you forget
that you can upgrade over here.
So that's always going to be available to you
right here in the upper corner.
Plus, you can quickly just kind of go
through your federal, click around to income and expenses,
and the guidance here is just second to none.
So if you really want that premium, easy way
to import your tax forms, easy question and answer guidance,
then TurboTax might be the solution for you.
And that's a quick look inside of the dashboard.
TurboTax consistently sets the bar
for best usability with tax software.
I mean, you guys saw how easy it was
to import your tax documents.
The question and answer guidance
was just some of the best that we've seen
out of the tax software that we've reviewed.
Now, this is going to come with the highest price out there.
So if the cost is going to deter you
from using this type of software,
then you might be better off looking at bargain software,
such as TaxSlayer or FreeTaxUSA.
Also, H&R Block has a very similar user experience
for a slightly smaller price.
Now, if you're still unsure
of what tax software you want to use,
don't forget we have complete walk-throughs and reviews
of a bunch of tax software
that's available to file your taxes this year
at thecollegeinvestor.com.