The four online tax-prep services in our evaluation all offer expert "human" advice for a price. Some of the issues were minor, but others could affect what a DIY tax filer might end up owing, or the size of the refund from the IRS. Most notably, we found at least one glitch within each of the DIY programs or their tax-advice services. Our electronics experts also ran diagnostic tests on the apps, mainly related to privacy and security. And she looked at special features and the depth of information that each brand provides. She also used a Samsung Galaxy S9 for some biometrics testing. She did the same for each product's mobile version, using an iPhone 7 and Motorola moto g6. She also played around with each program, attempting to add a hypothetical adult dependent inputting erroneous figures from a W-2 to see which programs noticed, and spot-checking each service's database of tax information for accuracy and currency.įinally, she considered how easy the systems were to use, including navigation and data entry.
In the pros' responses, she looked for nuances that a boilerplate answer in a tax program might not provide-but that a human might know to bring up. She asked questions of each services' tax pros in order to gauge accuracy and response time. The online products that were reviewed included H&R Block Deluxe, TaxAct Online Deluxe+, TaxSlayer Premium, and TurboTax Deluxe.Īll the products let the reporter start them for free, though she had to pay to access some of TaxSlayer's advice.
TURBOTAX APP SAFE PROFESSIONAL
She used the least-expensive version of each service that would handle her situation and also include the opportunity to get help from a tax professional through available help channels (email, chat, phone or one-way videoconferencing). The reporter was on the borderline between itemizing or taking the new, higher standard deduction. To evaluate, a CR reporter used her own tax situation: a household with two W-2 wage forms, a mortgage, a home-equity line of credit, and charitable contributions. To help you choose the right online tax-prep product for your situation, we evaluated the advice, information, and user experience of these services, as well as their mobile versions.
0 kommentar(er)
