If you’ve landed on this page, you probably clicked on one of my articles discussing TurboTax. Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect to find here.
Table of contents
Why I don’t use TurboTax
If you’re on this page, you might be wondering how I use TurboTax in my tax preparation. The truth of the matter is that I don’t, but I have in the past. Let me explain.
Each year, as a business owner, I pay my own tax preparer to prepare my income tax returns. I do this for several reasons:
- Two sets of eyes are always better than one
- My tax situation can be a little more complicated than most
- I don’t want to do the work myself
It’s that simple. And if you’re in my shoes, my first and highest recommendation will ALWAYS be to hire a tax professional to do your tax returns. You can read more about how your tax professional can help with year-round tax planning in several of my articles:
But if you do your own taxes, then you might be wondering why I’m talking about TurboTax.
Why are you recommending a product that you don’t use yourself?
This is a very good question, and the reason is simple. Many of my readers and viewers use TurboTax, so a lot of my questions have to do with TurboTax.
Over the past several years, I’ve discovered that the vast majority of my readers and viewers share similar traits:
- They believe that their taxes are not complicated enough to hire a tax professional
- They believe that they should be able to do their own taxes
- They might need the answer to a question or two to get past a sticky spot, but don’t need to be a recurring tax client
The vast majority of these people use TurboTax, for several reasons:
- TurboTax is intuitive and user friendly
- TurboTax is a trusted name
- TurboTax is owned by the same company that owns Quickbooks
- Business owners can import most Quickbooks information into TurboTax, which makes tax preparation easier.
So while I don’t use TurboTax, I feel that I have a responsibility to be knowledgeable about TurboTax so that I can continue helping my audience.
Affiliate Disclaimer
While we’re here, I’ll include this disclaimer. If you use a link from this page to use a TurboTax product, I will receive a small commission. This doesn’t come at an extra charge to you, but I do get paid for my TurboTax recommendations.
Because TurboTax pays me a commission, this allows me to continue serving my online audience for free. The only people who will pay me are those who decide to hire me at an hourly rate for my time. This usually involves work that doesn’t come in the form of comments on my website or YouTube channel (which will always be free to my audience).
For more information about the type of work that I do on an hourly basis, you can check out my Work With Me page.
Where do I go from here?
If you already know which TurboTax Product is right for you, then you can select the affiliate link in the TurboTax Products section below. I’ll get a small commission, which won’t increase your costs, but will allow me to continue providing support to this audience. And you’ll have my sincere appreciation for your continued support.
If you’d like to know more about each TurboTax Product, simply skip down to Which TurboTax Product is the Right One For Me? In this section, we’ll break down the different categories of products by:
- Service level: Ranging from DIY to Full Service
- Complexity: Available in Free/Basic, Deluxe, and Premium
TurboTax Products
Below is a list of the TurboTax products that you’ll find on the website. If you know exactly what you’re looking for, click the following link to get started on your tax return:
- Federal DIY Free
- Federal DIY Deluxe
- Federal DIY Premium
- Live Assisted Basic
- Live Assisted Deluxe
- Live Assisted Premium
- Live Assisted Full Service
If you’re not sure, that’s okay. Let’s discuss the TurboTax products to see which might be the right one for you.
Which TurboTax product is the right one for me?
Because TurboTax tries to cater to the tax needs of every household, it can be a little difficult to understand all of its offerings. After spending the better part of a day going through TurboTax’s website, here is how I’ve outlined TurboTax’s product categories:
- Federal DIY (Do It Yourself)
- Federal TurboTax Live (Assisted)
- Federal TurboTax Live Full Service
- State TurboTax
- Available as an add-on for taxpayers filing state income tax returns at any level
We’ll go through each category in order, starting with Federal DIY.
Federal DIY
This is a self-paced, self-led TurboTax offering that allows taxpayers to go through the federal income tax return by themselves.
Federal DIY does not include state income taxes (see State DIY below). If you’d rather have a tax professional assist you, you might want to skip below to the Federal TurboTax Live section, below.
Federal DIY is broken down into 3 separate offerings:
- TurboTax DIY Free Edition
- TurboTax DIY Deluxe
- TurboTax DIY Premium
We’ll discuss each of these in a little more depth.
TurboTax DIY Free Edition
TurboTax Free Edition is the version where most taxpayers start.
Generally speaking, this includes Form 1040 preparation and limited tax credits only. As a result, only ~37% of taxpayers qualify for TurboTax’s Free Edition. Fortunately, the software will prompt you when you might need to upgrade to the Deluxe version or Premium version.
As stated on the TurboTax website, the Free Edition covers the following types of income:
- W-2 income
- Interest or dividends (1099-INT/1099-DIV) that don’t require filing a Schedule B
- Schedule B applies to taxpayers who receive $1,500 or more in interest income or ordinary dividends, and other specific tax situations
- IRS standard deduction
- Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
- Child Tax Credit (CTC)
- Student loan interest deduction
TurboTax Free Edition does not cover the following:
- Itemized deductions claimed on Schedule A
- Unemployment income reported on a 1099-G
- Business or 1099-NEC income
- Stock sales (including crypto investments)
- Rental property income
- Credits, deductions and income reported on other forms or schedules
Included forms and schedules
TurboTax Free Edition includes the following forms and schedules (I’ve highlighted links to articles I’ve written about each form and schedule in case you needed to check it out):
- IRS Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
- Schedule EIC, Earned Income Credit
- Schedule 1, Additional Income and Adjustments to Income
- IRS Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals
- IRS Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher
- IRS Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
- IRS Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement
- IRS Form 1098-E, Student Loan Interest Statement
- IRS Form 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions
- IRS Form 1099-INT, Interest Income
- IRS Form 1099-OID, Original Issue Discount
- IRS Form 1099-R, Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement, etc.
- IRS Form 1310, Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer
- IRS Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit
- IRS Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration
- IRS Form 2210, Underpayment of Tax/Annualized Income
- Includes Schedule AI
- IRS Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Form
- IRS Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2 or 1099-R
- IRS Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File
- IRS Form 8332, Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents
- IRS Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation
- IRS Form 8453, U.S. Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS E-file Return
- Schedule 8812, Additional Child Tax Credit
- IRS Form 8822, Change of Address
- IRS Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief
- IRS Form 8862, Information to Claim Certain Refundable Credits After Disallowance
- IRS Form 8888, Direct Deposit of Refund
- IRS Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request
- IRS Form W-2, Wages and Tax Statement
- IRS Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
- IRS Schedule LEP, Request for Change in Language Preference
- IRS Form 1099-K, Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions
TurboTax will allow you to proceed with TurboTax Free Edition until the software determines that the tax situation cannot be handled at this level. At this point, it will prompt you to upgrade to TurboTax Deluxe, the next level offering.
If you’d like to start with TurboTax Free, click here to get started.
TurboTax DIY Deluxe
TurboTax Deluxe is the next level offering for the ~63% of taxpayers who do not qualify for the free version.
TurboTax Deluxe covers approximately 350 tax credits and deductions, making it a suitable solution for most families and individual taxpayers. Although the TurboTax website does not specify these 350 credits and deductions, it provides a general summary of these features, such as:
- Homeowner assistance, such as itemizing mortgage interest and real estate taxes on Schedule A
- Can be used to claim expenses related to selling your home, which should minimize (or help eliminate) capital gains taxes
- Education related expenses and tax credits
- Charitable donation assistance
As with TurboTax Free Edition, TurboTax will allow you to proceed with TurboTax Deluxe until the software determines that the tax situation cannot be handled at this level. At this point, it will prompt you to upgrade to TurboTax Premium, which is TurboTax’s highest offering.
Included forms and schedules
In addition to the forms and schedules provided under the TurboTax Free Edition, TurboTax Deluxe includes the following forms and schedules:
- Schedule 2, Additional Taxes
- Schedule 3, Additional Credits and Payments
- Schedule A, Itemized Deductions
- Schedule B, Interest and Dividend Income
- Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business (Income)
- Schedule SE, Self-Employment Tax
- IRS Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement
- IRS Form 1098-C, Contributions of Motor Vehicles, Boats, and Airplanes
- IRS Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement
- IRS Form 1099-A, Acquisition or Abandonment of Secured Property
- IRS Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt
- IRS Form 1099-G, Government Payments
- IRS Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income
- IRS Form 1099-NEC, Non-Employee Compensation
- IRS Form 1099-Q, Payments from Qualified Education Programs
- IRS Form 1099-SA, Distributions from an HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA
- IRS Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit
- IRS Form 2106, Employee Business Expenses
- IRS Form 2441, Child and Dependent Care Expenses
- IRS Form 2555, Foreign Earned Income
- IRS Form 3903, Moving Expenses
- IRS Form 4137, Tax on Unreported Tip Income
- IRS Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization
- IRS Form 4684, Casualties and Theft
- IRS Form 4952, Investment Interest Expense Deduction
- IRS Form 4972, Tax on Lump-Sum Distributions
- IRS Form 5329, Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans
- IRS Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit
- IRS Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits
- IRS Form 6251, Alternative Minimum Tax
- IRS Form 8283, Non-cash Charitable Contributions
- IRS Form 8396, Mortgage Interest Credit
- IRS Form 8582, Passive Activity Loss Limitations
- IRS Form 8606, Nondeductible IRAs
- IRS Form 8615, Tax for Certain Children who have Unearned Income
- IRS Form 8801, Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax
- IRS Form 8814, Parents’ Election to Report Child’s Interest and Dividends
- IRS Form 8815, Exclusion of Interest from Series EE and I U.S. Savings Bonds
- IRS Form 8834, Qualified Electric Vehicle Credit
- IRS Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses
- IRS Form 8853, Archer MSAs and Long-Term Care Insurance Contracts
- IRS Form 8859, Carryforward of D.C. First-Time Homebuyer Credit
- IRS Form 8863, Education Credits
- IRS Form 8880, Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contributions
- IRS Form 8889, Health Savings Accounts
- IRS Form 8910, Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit
- IRS Form 8911, Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit
- IRS Form 8915-F, Qualified Disaster Retirement Plan Distribution and Repayments
- IRS Form 8919, Uncollected Social Security and Medicare Tax on Wages
- IRS Form 8936, Qualified Plug-In Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit
- IRS Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets
- IRS Form 8958, Allocation of Community Property Amounts
- IRS Form 8959, Additional Medicare Tax
- IRS Form 8960, Net Investment Income Tax
- IRS Form 8962, Premium Tax Credit
- IRS Form 982, Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness
- IRS Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number
- IRS Form W-2G, Certain Gambling Winnings
- Schedule H, Household Employment Taxes
- Schedule R, Credit for Elderly or Disabled
- IRS Form 8994, Employer Credit for Paid Family and Medical Leave
- IRS Form 8995, Qualified Business Income Deduction, Simplified Computation
- IRS Form 8995-A, Qualified Business Income Deduction
- Includes Schedules A through D
If you’d like to start with TurboTax Deluxe, click here to get started.
TurboTax DIY Premium
TurboTax Premium is the highest level offering for individual taxpayers.
TurboTax Premium covers approximately 500 tax credits and deductions including most complex or difficult tax situations. Specifically, TurboTax positions its Premium features for the following:
- Real estate investors and rental property owners
- Self-employed individuals and freelancers
Additionally, the TurboTax website summarizes some of the following features:
- Robust investment reporting which can be imported from hundreds of participating financial institutions
- TurboTax Premium can handle over 10,000 stock transactions and 20,000 cryptocurrency transactions
- Ability to directly import 1099-NEC information using a smartphone
- Create employer forms, such as W-2 statements and 1099 forms
Included forms and schedules
In addition to the forms and schedules provided under the TurboTax Free and Deluxe Editions, TurboTax Premium includes the following forms and schedules:
- Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses
- Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss, Including Rental Property
- Schedule F, Profit or Loss from Farming
- Schedule J, Income Averaging for Farmers and Fishermen
- IRS Form 1099-B, Proceeds from Broker Transactions
- IRS Form 2210-F, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Farmers and Fishermen
- IRS Form 2439, Notice to Shareholder of Undistributed Long-Term Capital Gains
- IRS Form 3468, Investment Credit
- IRS Form 3800, General Business Credit
- IRS Form 4136, Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels
- IRS Form 4255, Recapture of Investment Credit
- IRS Form 4797, Sales of Business Property
- IRS Form 4835, Farm Rental Income and Expenses
- IRS Form 6198, At-Risk Limitations
- IRS Form 6252, Installment Sale Income
- IRS Form 6781, Gains/Losses from Section 1256 Contracts and Straddles
- IRS Form 8586, Low-Income Housing Credit
- IRS Form 8824, Like-Kind Exchange
- IRS Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets
- Schedule K-1 (Form 1041), Estates and Trusts
- Schedule K-1 (Form 1065), Partner’s Share of Income, Credits, Deductions
- Schedule K-1 (Form 1120-S), Shareholder’s Share of Income, Credits, Deductions
- Schedule K-3 (Form 1065), Partner’s Share of Income, Credits, Deductions (International)
- Schedule K-3 (Form 1120-S), Shareholder’s Share of Income, Credits, Deductions (International)
- IRS Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home
- IRS Form 8881, Credit for Small Employer Pension Plan Startup Costs
- IRS Form 8941, Credit for Small Employer Health Insurance Premiums
If you’d like to start with TurboTax Premium, click here to get started.
Federal TurboTax Live (Assisted)
Federal TurboTax Live offers the same features as Federal DIY, but with the assistance of a TurboTax tax expert. In other words, you may still do much of the work yourself, but you have a tax expert to help you look for deductions and ensure accuracy.
Here’s what TurboTax has to say about its tax experts.
TurboTax Experts
TurboTax Live experts have an average of 12 years of experience and our team of CPAs, tax attorneys, and other experts are always up-to-date on the latest tax laws.
TurboTax provides the following expert guarantee:
A combination of coverage including 100% accurate calculations, audit support and a maximum refund. All guaranteed for the full 7-year life of your tax return.
As with the Federal DIY version, TurboTax Live has three tiers of services:
- Basic (similar to Federal DIY Free)
- Deluxe
- Premium
TurboTax Live Basic
TurboTax Live Assisted Basic is very similar to TurboTax DIY Free Federal, and covers the same forms and schedules.
Generally speaking, this includes Form 1040 preparation and limited tax credits only. As a result, only ~37% of taxpayers qualify for TurboTax’s Basic Edition. Fortunately, the software will prompt you when you might need to upgrade to the Deluxe version or Premium version.
As stated on the TurboTax website, the Basic Edition covers the following types of income:
- W-2 income
- Interest or dividends (1099-INT/1099-DIV) that don’t require filing a Schedule B
- Schedule B applies to taxpayers who receive $1,500 or more in interest income or ordinary dividends, and other specific tax situations
- IRS standard deduction
- Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
- Child Tax Credit (CTC)
- Student loan interest deduction
TurboTax Basic Edition does not cover the following:
- Itemized deductions claimed on Schedule A
- Unemployment income reported on a 1099-G
- Business or 1099-NEC income
- Stock sales (including crypto investments)
- Rental property income
- Credits, deductions and income reported on other forms or schedules
If you’d like to start with TurboTax Live Assisted Basic, click here to get started. If you’d like to see the covered forms and schedules under TurboTax Live Assisted Basic, click here.
TurboTax Live Deluxe
TurboTax Live Assisted Deluxe is very similar to TurboTax DIY Federal Deluxe, and covers the same forms and schedules. It is the next level offering for the ~63% of taxpayers who do not qualify for the free version.
TurboTax Live Deluxe covers approximately 350 tax credits and deductions, making it a suitable solution for most families and individual taxpayers. Although the TurboTax website does not specify these 350 credits and deductions, it provides a general summary of these features, such as:
- Homeowner assistance, such as itemizing mortgage interest and real estate taxes on Schedule A
- Can be used to claim expenses related to selling your home, which should minimize (or help eliminate) capital gains taxes
- Education related expenses and tax credits
- Charitable donation assistance
As with TurboTax Basic Edition, TurboTax will allow you to proceed with TurboTax Deluxe until the software determines that the tax situation cannot be handled at this level. At this point, it will prompt you to upgrade to TurboTax Premium, which is TurboTax’s highest offering.
If you’d like to start with TurboTax Live Assisted Deluxe, click here to get started. If you’d like to see the covered forms and schedules under TurboTax Live Assisted Deluxe, click here.
TurboTax Live Premium
TurboTax Live Assisted Premium is very similar to TurboTax DIY Federal Premium, and covers the same forms and schedules. TurboTax Premium is the highest level offering for individual taxpayers.
TurboTax Premium covers approximately 500 tax credits and deductions including most complex or difficult tax situations. Specifically, TurboTax positions its Premium features for the following:
- Real estate investors and rental property owners
- Self-employed individuals and freelancers
Additionally, the TurboTax website summarizes some of the following features:
- Robust investment reporting which can be imported from hundreds of participating financial institutions
- TurboTax Premium can handle over 10,000 stock transactions and 20,000 cryptocurrency transactions
- Ability to directly import 1099-NEC information using a smartphone
- Create employer forms, such as W-2 statements and 1099 forms
If you’d like to start with TurboTax Live Assisted Premium, click here to get started. If you’d like to see the covered forms and schedules under TurboTax Live Assisted Premium, click here.
Federal TurboTax Live (Full Service)
Federal TurboTax Live Full Service allows you to delegate your entire tax preparation to a TurboTax Team, with the following guarantees:
- Your expert won’t sign and file until your return is 100% accurate, guaranteed
- A local tax expert matched to your situation will find every dollar you deserve
- You can get a TurboTax estimate of your tax return cost before your expert begins tax preparation
If you’re interested in TurboTax’s Federal Live Full Service offering, click here to get started.
State Tax Returns
State income tax preparation is an add-on option for taxpayers living in a state requiring income tax returns. When you’ve completed your federal tax return, TurboTax will offer these taxpayers the option of transferring tax information from their federal to their state return.
If you know exactly what you’re looking for, click the following link to get started on your tax return: